I had the pleasure of hearing American satirist PJ O’Rourke this week. He was giving the 25th John Bonython Lecture for the Centre of Independent Studies at Luna Park (of all places).
His lecture entitled “Invisible Hand versus Visible Fist” ended with a ringing attack on big government policies that are all the rage at the moment, which he based on the tenth commandment!
Here it is.
[I want to end making a point from] the tenth commandment. The first nine commandments concern theological principles and social morals "Thy shalt not make grave images, murder" etc. Fair enough.
But then there's the tenth commandment. "Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's house, thy shall not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant nor maidservant, his ox or anything that is thy neighbour's." Here are God's basic rules of how we should live. A brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts and right at the end of it is "Don't envy your buddy's cow."
How did this make the top ten? Why would God with ten things to tell Moses chose one of these things to warn against jealousy of your neighbour's lifestyle? Yet think how important that tenth commandment is to a community, to a nation, with democracy, to any political systems. If you want a mule, if you want a pot roast, if you want a cleaning lady, don't whine about what the people across the street have- go get your own!
The ten commandment sends a message to the G20, to all the world's political leaders, to all the world's political activists. And it's a message about their political promises, for fairness, for bailout, for stimulus packages, for regulation, redistribution, entitlement programs, tax, borrow and spend policies, and for every other kind of fairness. And the message is clear and concise - go to hell!
That's all I know. Thank you.
I was pleased that O’Rourke, who is a practising Roman Catholic as far as I can tell, brought his prestigious lecture to a climax with scripture. Whether you like his application is another thing, although I must say I am inclined in his directions.
