USAID violates Biblical principles of government

Some Christian organizations lament the death of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Should they? What Biblical principles might apply? 

Let's assume the agency only kept poor children from starving, as the left claims, and ignore the charges of abuse and waste brought against it by Republicans. In the last article, I wrote about how tariffs will hurt the poor. So, shouldn't I support USAID? No. 

Sell everything and give to the poor

Jesus told the rich young ruler in Mark 10 to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. In Luke 12, he encouraged his disciples to sell their things and give to the poor. In Mark 12, Jesus told his disciples that the poor widow who tossed two copper coins into the temple treasury had given more that all the rich people because she gave everything she had, appearing to commend the widow and align with the teaching that we should give everything we have to the poor. 

Trump's tariffs will hurt the poor

 

Immediately after his inauguration, President Trump said he would impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on February 1. He has repeated that he loves the word tariffs. "To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff. And it’s my favorite word. It needs a public relations firm to help it."

Does the Bible say anything about tariffs? Not explicitly. But it has references from which we can extrapolate principles. Jacob imported wheat from Egypt during the famine in Genesis 42. Solomon imported cedar and cypress lumber and gold from Tyre for building the temple in Jerusalem in I Kings 5. He bought horses from Egypt in I Kings 22. And in I Kings 9, the wisest king ever built ships to conduct international trade, imports and exports. 

California fires show danger of government owned land

Americans are searching for a scapegoat for the most devastating fires in California history. Republicans blame Democrat politicians and bureaucrats and DEI. Democrats finger climate change. But the real problem is government owned land. Government owned land is the most polluted, burned and abused land in the country. 

Weyerhaeuser and other corporations that grow trees for paper and lumber own tens of thousands of acres across the U.S. without headlining the news because of fires ravaging their forests. The Nature Conservancy, an environmental group, privately owns over 100,000 acres in a dozen preserves that rarely have major fires. Almost all the horrific fires in the West take place in national forests and state parks.