Varvel: John Maynard Keynes
by GARY VARVEL
The First Commandment is clear: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3).
Obedience to this principle is the foundation of a stable society; conversely, replacing God with any earthly power is a form of idolatry doomed to ultimate failure.
While the first five men in this series rejected the God of the Bible through science, psychology, or social theory, John Maynard Keynes achieved it through economics. His philosophy effectively replaced divine providence with government management. This is why he is the sixth figure in Dave Breese’s book, Seven Men Who Rule the World from the Grave.
Born in Cambridge, England, in 1883 — the same year Karl Marx died — Keynes became the most influential economist of the 20th century. To understand his impact, we must look at the world he changed.
In the early 1900s, America was basking in post-Civil War prosperity. Optimism eventually turned into euphoria, fueling a lust for instant gratification. This was made possible by a new phenomenon: buying on credit. Between 1920 and 1929, 90 percent of all pianos, washing machines, and sewing machines were purchased on installment plans.
When the stock market crashed on Oct. 29, 1929, the music stopped. Massive unemployment led to a wave of defaults, which triggered bank failures. In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected on the promise of a “New Deal,” but the Depression persisted because the private sector was hesitant to invest. Keynes provided the “solution”: Government Intervention.
Unlike classical economists who believed markets would naturally stabilize over time, Keynes argued that the government must actively manage the economy through spending and taxation.
Dave Breese noted that Keynes initially viewed government intervention as a “temporary stimulant” to jumpstart employment. However, once the door was opened, the government became the “final resource” for every human problem. As G.K. Chesterton famously warned: “Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God.”
Keynesian economics was the catalyst for that transformation. When critics asked about the long-term consequences of this massive government involvement, Keynes famously brushed them aside, saying, “In the long run, we are all dead.”
In the early days of the New Deal, the Roosevelt administration assured the public that the rising debt was no problem because “we only owe it to ourselves.” Today, that is a distant memory as countries like China and Japan hold vast portions of our national debt.
The shift became permanent when even conservative leaders surrendered to this philosophy. President Richard Nixon once made the startling admission: “I am now a Keynesian.” From that point on, the promise of a debt-free America vanished from the political stage.
The numbers tell a staggering story:
- 1990: $3.3 trillion
- 2000: $5 trillion
- 2009 (Post-Bush): $10 trillion
- 2017 (Post-Obama): $19 trillion
- Today: $38.9 trillion
Beyond the debt, our social safety nets are fraying. In 1945, there were 42 workers paying into Social Security for every one retiree. Today, that ratio has plummeted to 2.3 to 1. With the system projected to run out of money by 2033, the only remaining “Keynesian” solution is to print more money — further devaluing the dollar.
The American experiment succeeded because it was built on a foundation of moral, self-sufficient people. However, by turning the government into a provider, we have created a culture of dependency.
In his Farewell Address, George Washington warned: “Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
Washington was right. By excluding the First Commandment, we have lost our moral compass, leading us to a place where society now calls “evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20). We got here by following the godless philosophies of men like Keynes — men who, though long dead, still rule our world from the grave.Gary Varvel, an adjunct scholar of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, describes himself as “a Christian, conservative, cartoonist and speaker in that order.” Varvel was the Indianapolis Star cartoonist for 24 years. Now his work is syndicated through Creators Syndicate. In 2015, he was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.
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