America is Driven to Act by Guilt to Our Ruination

Defending Blessing Illegals: Can America continue to bless overly generous funding for folks not able to apply as citizens that MAGA wants deported instead of rewarded? Today’s Leftist cadre demands stunning levels of generosity for new arrivals which is now progressive’s most common liberal refrain. But such incessant urging to embrace all illegal immigrants by offering them unlimited wealth and enviable govt programs are actually a perversion of the Founder’s vision. That’s why these charitable arguments have an apparently ancient legacy. But yet, despite their seeming old derivation, they offer only insanely modern presumptions and ruinous effects. This is because the argument is all based on guilt trips, which are neither Christian, nor classically American--but sheer Marxism.

City on a Hill: The American Founding vision is symbolized by the famed ‘City on a Hill’, since in 1630, Puritan leader, Minister John Winthrop, directed his sermon "A Model of Christian Charity" to this while aboard the Pilgrim ship Arbella. This image was burned into the American psyche as our goal and duty to describe the expectation that the Massachusetts Bay colony would shine like an example to the world. Ronald Reagan cited this some millennia later as our self-understood standard.

Freebies for Illegals? So, do the lavish Democrat offerings dangled today to entice illegal entries suffice as City on the Hill level charity? No. See the WH description: “Democrats’ proposal would result in nearly $200 billion spent on healthcare for illegal immigrants and other non-citizens over the next decade — enough to fund the entire Children’s Health Insurance Program, including Medicare & Medicaid.” These offerings are illegal under federal law.

Leftism as Marxism: So where does the Leftist model of charity emulate from if not America’s Shining City on the Hill model? Marxist Socialism. And what motivates them? The ‘cosmopolitan’ notion that America’s “unearned bounty” creates a duty to share our largess to the entire world, since it is unearned wealth. Why? As all humans are international citizens of the global order, this creates Arbitrariness of Birth (Luck Egalitarianism), an unearned bounty by helpful, yet random birth. Cosmopolitans argue it is unjust for a few nations to hoard resources while others suffer. Add Global Interconnectedness meaning we are all in a single global community and borders are politically constructed artificial boundaries that don’t diminish a person's moral duty to help another human being, regardless of nationality.

Leftism & Guilt Trips: What is Guilt? See The Politics of Guilt.

“Collective guilt and liberal guilt. One hears talk of these from time to time, but what are their implications? Does such guilt play a role in the molding of political ideologies? Is there anything to back up a hunch that it is the foundation of egalitarian radicalism—and Marxism, in particular? The guilt in question might more accurately be called political guilt, for it tends to be exhibited in the political realm. It is not the kind of guilt familiar to psychologists—its origins are cultural. Nor is it engendered by past sins, faults, or wrongdoings.”

Generally speaking, Guilt is the great equalizer for political motivation because everyone in America knows we are lucky to live here and everyone else seeks a one-way ticket to this land of gravy. And so, as a Christian nation, isn’t it true God would like all the bounty of this land to be visited upon the good poor of this world. And yet this argument makes for poor public policy and bad theology.

Consider Leftist Christianity: Leftist or progressive Christianity claims to approach the issue of illegal immigration through a framework centered on systemic justice, human dignity, and scriptural mandates to welcome and protect marginalized foreigners. Core theological and scriptural arguments include:

Welcoming the Stranger: Progressive Christians frequently cite Old Testament verses, such as Leviticus 19:33–34 ("The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you"), arguing that God commands societies to protect and integrate non-citizens rather than oppress them.

The Ethic of Jesus: Movements on the Christian left point to teachings like Matthew 25 ("Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me") to argue that how a nation treats poor, hungry, and displaced migrants is a core moral test of faith.

God-Given Dignity: Progressive theologians assert that an undocumented immigrant's intrinsic human worth comes from being made in the image of God, superseding legal status defined by human borders.

Original Founder’s Law: The first American law was the Pilgrim Code. See Prof Donald Lutz on this:

The Constitution itself was the product of centuries of “guidelines,” starting with those by Aristotle and Cicero, then a long chain of Anglo-American foundational documents beginning with medieval charters, including, but not limited to, Magna Carta. They also included various European practices, the English Petition of Right of (1628), two constitutions from the time of Oliver Cromwell, the English Bill (or Declaration) of Rights of 1689, colonial charters, instructions to colonial governors, and a multitude of American documents from both the colonial and post-Independence era.

Pilgrim Code:

Among the colonial documents serving as a source of guidelines was the Pilgrim Code of Law of 1636, which Prof Lutz describes as “a candidate for the honor of being the first true written constitution in the modern world” (using the word “constitution” in the sense Americans now use it). This included statements regarding:

* specify that no laws would be adopted other than by the consent of the community,
* set an annual election day and provide for the annual election of a governor and seven “assistants,” who formed an executive council,
* grant the governor the executive power,
* provide for other annually-elected officers, including a provincial treasurer, clerk, and coroner,
* specify oaths for officers and freemen,
* require that laws be made and taxes levied only by the freemen of the province,
* provide for trial by jury, and
* empower panels consisting of the governor and any two assistants to try minor cases.

More: The Pilgrim Code of 1636: English Charter, Christian Covenant, and Modern Constitution

Returning to the City on the Hill: This sermon begins:

“God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence, hath so disposed of the condition of mankind, as in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity; others mean and in subjection."

SUMMARY: “The sermon then explains that there are two overriding "rules" which should govern all interactions within a community, "two rules whereby we are to walk one towards another: Justice and Mercy." He argues that justice and mercy should be exercised by both rich and poor, since both rich and poor have need of them. He summarizes these two rules with an overriding "law", that mankind "is commanded to love his neighbor as himself". He acknowledges that a person is responsible to make provision for one's family^[12] and also for the future,^[13] but the overriding principle is: "if thou lovest God thou must help [thy brother]."” (summary by subject)

Socialist “Charity” Must be Curtailed: The Manhattan Institute sums up the problem with Socialism as public policy:

“The overarching message of “The Opportunity Cost of Socialism”—a study recently released by the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)—is that the advocacy of socialism cannot reasonably be based on policy preferences; its attraction has always been grounded in a combination of wishful thinking and ignorance.”

True Christian Charity: Biblical charity and generosity are defined as active love, mercy, and responsibility toward the poor and vulnerable.

Key Old Testament Passages

• Proverbs 19:17: "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed."
• Deuteronomy 15:10-11: "Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart... Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land."
• Leviticus 23:22: Instructs landowners to leave a portion of their harvest at the edges of their fields for the poor and the foreigner to glean.

Key New Testament Passages

• Matthew 25:40: "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."
• 1 Corinthians 13:3: "If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."
• 2 Corinthians 9:7: "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
• James 1:27: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress."

Cost of Bad Charitable Spending in US:

1. The Cost of Existing Social Programs

Critics who view America’s current social safety net and mandatory entitlement programs as forms of "creeping socialism" look at the current federal budget.

• The Social Safety Net: The federal government spends roughly $1.1 trillion to $1.6 trillion per year on more than 80 means-tested anti-poverty welfare programs (such as Medicaid, Food Stamps/SNAP, and Supplemental Security Income). State and local governments add roughly $744 billion more to these efforts.
• Total Social Insurance: If you expand the definition to include universal social insurance programs like Social Security ($1.57 trillion) and Medicare ($1.16 trillion), the federal government spends roughly $4.8 trillion per year on individual social benefits. This accounts for more than 70% of all annual federal outlays.

2. The Projected Cost of a "Democratic Socialist" Agenda

When major think tanks and government agencies explicitly calculate the cost of implementing a full socialist platform in America, they look at the legislative agenda of groups like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). According to an official report released by the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) titled The Real Cost of Socialism in America, adopting a 7-pillar socialist platform (including Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and student debt cancellation) would add roughly $4.9 trillion per year ($49 trillion over 10 years) to federal deficits. The CEA notes this would equate to roughly $355,000 per American household over a decade.

Independent evaluations vary depending on the number of policies included: