Prudent Leadership vs. Simple-Minded Leadership

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Proverbs 22:3

The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
    but the simple go on and suffer for it.

(ESV)

Webster’s Dictionary defines prudence as 1) the ability to govern and discipline oneself using reason, 2) sagacity or shrewdness in the management of affairs, 3) skill and good judgment in the use of resources, or 4) caution or circumspection as to danger or risk.  (1)  The Hebrew word translated prudent in Proverbs 22:3 is the Hebrew word aw-room and carries the meaning of someone who is subtle, shrewd, crafty, sly, or sensible.  (2)  In contrast, the Hebrew word translated simple is peth-ee and carries the meaning of one who is simplistic, naive, simple, foolish, and open-minded.  (3)

World leaders recently met in Hamburg Germany at the G20 meeting.  G20, an acronym for Group of Twenty brings together the worlds 20 leading industrialized and emerging economies.  The group accounts for 85 percent of the world GDP and two-thirds of the world population.  (4)  This year’s G20 was the first time for President Donald Trump and represented an opportunity for him to present his ideas on a global stage.  It was also an opportunity for him to tout the positive impact the United States has had in the world instead of the apologies offered up by his predecessor.  (5) (6) 

Many issues face our world requiring strong leadership.  Let us look at what I believe are the three main issues facing our world today and determine whether they require prudent or simple-minded leadership.

1)      Security – The attacks of 911 changed life in the United States and much of the rest of the world.  911 led to the creation of a new cabinet department in the United States, and increased security not only at airports but at other public events.  The prudent leadership of President George W. Bush led to the implementation of these additional security measures and thankfully no additional terrorist attacks occurred on U.S. soil during his tenure as President.  (7)  Unfortunately, since the end of President W. Bush’s tenure as President, the United States and much of the rest of the world have let their guard down and are now allowing potential terrorists into their countries touting it as humane and vilifying anyone daring to question them.  (8)  The leadership of President Obama is an example of simple-minded leadership where people are asked to keep an open-mind towards potentially dangerous people entering the country.  Recent attacks in Europe are an example of how dangerous open unsecured borders can be.  (9)  With the main duty of government being keeping its citizens safe, score one for prudent leadership when it comes to security.

2)      Economy – The debate over whether a free market economy or an economy with governmental centralized control fairs better continues.  Those supporting free markets tout the stark differences in standards of living in North versus South Korea, East versus West Germany, and Cubans living in Miami versus Cubans living in Cuba.  On the centralized government control side supporters argue that free markets lead to monopolies, chronic economic crises, income inequality and increasing degradation of the poor.  (10)  President Ronald Reagans prudent leadership on the economy (11) led to an economic boom with,

·         20 million new jobs were created

·         Inflation dropped from 13.5% in 1980 to 4.1% by 1988

·         Unemployment fell from 7.6% to 5.5%

·         Net worth of families earning between $20,000 and $50,000 annually grew by 27%

·         Real gross national product rose 26%

·         The prime interest rate was slashed by more than half, from an unprecedented 21.5% in January 1981 to 10% in August 1988

In contrast, the simple-minded leadership of President Obama with its higher taxes and increased environmental regulations coupled with Obamacare led to the first time in American history where the economy failed to achieve a year of 3% GDP growth.  (12)  When one compares the economic record of President Ronald Regan versus President Obama it becomes obvious that the citizens of the United States fared much better under the prudent leadership of President Ronald Reagan.  In contrast, the leadership of President Obama was simplistic in that it was naïve in its ignoring the Reagan record on the economy.  Score another one for prudent leadership when it comes to the economy

3)      Environment – Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris accord could be likened to a massive hurricane striking land and causing massive destruction to the environmental movement.  (13)  Donald Trump’s main justification for pulling out of the accord were

·         Job losses

·         Failure of the accord to significantly reduce global temperatures

·         Negative economic impact on the U.S. Economy

·         Blackouts and brownouts

·         Billions of U.S. dollars being paid into the Green Climate Fund thus significantly increasing U.S. debt  (14)

Once again, we observe prudence of leadership as the President demonstrates a desire to preserve U.S. jobs, grow the U.S. economy, avoid power outages that could cripple the economy and lead to dangerous situations in extremely hot or cold climates.  Under President Obama’s leadership decisions were naively made using junk environmental science.  (15)  Score another one for prudent leadership when it comes to the environment.

We need prudent, not simple-minded leadership to solve the major issues facing our world.  While Donald Trump is not perfect, his prudent leadership has helped him achieve massive success in the business world.  I say instead of constantly trying to find a reason to stop his prudent agenda or throw him out of office, we pray for him and give his agenda a chance.  After all, the American voters put him into office as they have every other President.

1. Merriam Webster. Prudence. www.merriam-webster.com. [Online] Merriam Webster. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prudence.

2. Godrules. Mexr. www.godrules.net. [Online] Bibleexplore.com. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] http://www.godrules.net/library/strongs2a/heb6175.htm.

3. —. IZT. www.godrules.net. [Online] Bible Explore. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] http://www.godrules.net/library/strongs2a/heb6612.htm.

4. Mustafa, Jamil. What is the G20. www.telegraph.co.uk. [Online] The Telegraph, July 3, 2017. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/0/what-is-the-g20-and-how-does-it-work/.

5. The Guardian. 'Make America Great Again': Trump tweets G20 montage set to stirring anthem – video. www.theguardian.com. [Online] The Guardian. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/jul/10/make-america-great-again-trump-tweets-g20-montage-set-to-stirring-anthem.

6. Gardiner, Nile. Barack Obama's Top 10 Apologies: How the President Has Humiliated a Superpower. www.heritage.org. [Online] The Heritage Foundation, June 2, 2009. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] http://www.heritage.org/europe/report/barack-obamas-top-10-apologies-how-the-president-has-humiliated-superpower.

7. Payton, Bre. Top Terrorist: George W. Bush Stopped Us From Attacking Again After 9/11. thefederalist.com. [Online] The Federalist, November 29, 2016. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] http://thefederalist.com/2016/11/29/top-terrorist-george-w-bush-stopped-us-attacking-911/.

8. Holcomb, Justin. Religious Equality: Obama Admits 12,486 Muslims and 68 Christians to the US in 2016. townhall.com. [Online] TownHall, October 3, 2016. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] https://townhall.com/tipsheet/justinholcomb/2016/10/03/obama-admits-12486-muslims-and-68-christians-in-2016-n2227083.

9. Hawkins, Awr. Europe’s Example Shows Dangers Of Open Borders, Gun Control. www.breitbart.com. [Online] Breitbart News, November 18, 2015. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/11/18/european-example-shows-dangers-of-open-borders-gun-control/.

10. Lawson, Robert A. Economic Freedom. www.econlib.org. [Online] Library of Economics and Liberty. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/EconomicFreedom.html.

11. Edwards, Lee. The Classical Virtues of Ronald Reagan. www.heritage.org. [Online] The Heritage Foundation, February 1, 2011. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] http://www.heritage.org/report/the-classical-virtues-ronald-reagan.

12. Durden, Tyler. Barack Obama Is Now The Only President In History To Never Have A Year Of 3% GDP Growth. www.zerohedge.com. [Online] ZeroHedge, January 27, 2017. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-27/barack-obama-now-only-president-history-never-have-year-3-gdp-growth.

13. Funes, Yessenia. Politicians and Environmentalists React After Trump Pulls US From Paris Agreement. www.colorlines.com. [Online] Colorlines, June 2, 2017. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] https://www.colorlines.com/articles/politicians-and-environmentalists-react-after-trump-pulls-us-paris-agreement.

14. Dana Varinsky, Dave Mosher, and Ariel Schwartz. 5 claims Trump used to justify pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement — and the reality. www.businessinsider.com. [Online] Business Insider, June 1, 2017. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] http://www.businessinsider.com/fact-check-trump-reasons-for-leaving-paris-agreement-2017-6/#job-losses-1.

15. Dixon, Hayley. Top climate scientists admit global warming forecasts were wrong. www.telegraph.co.uk. [Online] The Telegraph, September 15, 2013. [Cited: July 15, 2017.] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/climatechange/10310712/Top-climate-scientists-admit-global-warming-forecasts-were-wrong.html.