I got my application for a loan from the government. All I need to do is click a button and fill out a form to have thousands of dollars deposited in my bank account. Hundreds of people have told me to take the money. Here’s why I’m not going to do it.
Money doesn’t fix fear or greed.
The last thing my fearful, greedy self needs is more cash. There will never be enough money to bring me peace. I’ll be fearful about what happens when the loan money runs out. I’ll be jealous because somebody else got more than I did. If I take the money because I don’t think I’ll “be okay” without it, then I won’t “be okay” with it
It is wrong to profit from a crisis.
A couple months ago, many people were upset by hoarders gathering up all the hand sanitizer so they could sell it at inflated prices. Panic created an opportunity to make some serious money. The Economic Injury Loan is also an opportunity for me to profit from panic. It is money that is only available because there is a crisis. Taking this money is not much different from price gouging hand sanitizer except I don’t even need to provide a product or service.
“Everybody else is doing it,” is terrible reasoning.
The day I start making decisions based on majority consensus, is the day I lose my soul. My faith informs me that the gate to destruction is wide and most people go through that one. Righteousness is narrow, inconvenient, and unpopular. When I learn that “everybody else is doing it,” I think twice before doing it myself. If “everybody” is grabbing cash from the government, that is a bad thing. I can’t justify doing a bad thing because “everyone else is doing it.”
The government doesn’t create wealth.
A lot (I mean A WHOLE LOT) of people have scolded me for complaining about the lock down because it has shut-off my income. These people (again…A WHOLE LOT of them) tell me that I should stop being selfish and apply for unemployment. They tell me to quit griping about zero income when there is a pile of free money available from the government. The problem is: I know where that money came from.
Any money the government has, was taken from my neighbors. It’s called, “taxes.” The government taxes people with the promise that the tax money will be used FOR THE GOOD OF EVERYONE. The purpose of taxes is NOT to help John Branyan pay his monthly bills. And it is CERTAINLY NOT to provide John Branyan with spending money.
Taking money from the government is stealing money from my neighbors.
I want to stand on principles.
When this crisis is over, I want to rail against the evils of tyranny. I want to decry government overreach. I want to stand against authoritarian oppression and fiscal irresponsibility. And I want to proclaim faith in God over money. It would be the height of hypocrisy to take government money today and condemn the evils of socialism tomorrow.
These are my reasons for not taking the Economic Injury Disaster Loan. I’m annoyed with myself for thinking this way. I confess, it’s tempting to fill out that application. I mean, I payed taxes and so that money is mine anyway, right?
Sigh. A conscience is only a burden when you follow it.
2 Responses
If the tyrants do their thing “right”, the crisis will never be over, so we might not want to wait to rail against them.
I applaud you, John!
Last year, taxes crushed us. My husband is self-employed, I’m disabled but take no cash from the government (same reasons as yours). He only just started working again, this week. He is in a high-risk group, yet is technically considered that stupid term “essential”. He wisely chose not to be “essential” as we drew down our savings until we were both ok about his travel and work arrangements.
We fall through the cracks, as his is an unusual working situation, and are not eligible for stimulus or loan checks. We are, however, responsible for paying our work expense bills (no longer deductible under Bill Clinton and other Democratic administrations – federal and state). We can barely make a living with taxes piled on top of careful living and medical (no longer deducted either) expenses.
We can feel our backs creaking as the Fed prints out obscene amounts of money, that we, personally, will have to additionally cover, through increased taxes to pay back these loans that are going to so many.
I have considered suicide, frankly, at very low moments, when seeing the threatening seas I’m thrown into, wanting to get out from under the drowning stress of these financial burdens; that is not an option however, as a Christian my body and life no longer belongs to me, but to God. My job is not to despair, but to have hope in Christ, to stay focused on His face, to help my beloved spouse and others, to continue to give wisely, to pray, to endure and to read Scripture and your writings to laugh, increase my faith, find peace and treasure Truth.
You have chosen the narrow path. Thank you! Linking arms along the way, and keeping you and your loved ones in my prayers.