It appears I touch a nerve with many evangelicals every time I contradict the popular opinion among them that Christians are divinely duty-bound to punch a ballot every time there is an election. In an attempt to clarify what I’m arguing, as well as prove to my fellow-evangelicals the fallacy of their thinking, I’ve come up with a good illustrate—our nation’s laws against monopolies.
What prevents businesses in America from offering cheap and inferior products and services to the American consumer at exorbitant prices. It is this simple fact; no business in America can take their customers for granted. They can’t count on customer loyalty if their customer service is deplorable, their products defective, their prices exorbitant, and their business guarantees insincere and dishonest. Any business taking its customers for granted is doomed to bankruptcy, since its customers will quickly be lost to a competitor.
On the other hand, what if all competition was eliminated and one specific business was given a monopoly on a particular product or service? The American consumer would then be at the mercy of that one business, which could treat its customers shabbily, sell a shoddy product, and charge sky-high prices. Anyone needing that company’s goods or services would have no alternative but to do business with that company. The consumer would have nowhere else to turn and that company would have no incentive to provide any customer satisfaction, being enabled by its monopoly to take its customers for granted.
What is prohibited by Washington politicians in commerce is both practiced and protected by them in politics. Our two-party political system has evolved over time into a political monopoly. Today, Republicans and Democrats have a monopoly on our politics. The electorate is left without any viable alternatives; consequently, voters are taken for granted, especially those comprising the base of each party, as well as each party’s patronized minorities and special interest groups. Today’s politicians know they can count on their political party’s catered to constituencies to cast their ballots in their favor, regardless of whether or not they renege on their campaign promises once elected and prove themselves to be self-serving rather than public servants once in office.