Gus Nelson

The Berlin Wall created the most brutal controlled experiment in human history: identical people, split by ideology, watched for 41 years to see which system would prevail. West Germans embraced market economics while East Germans suffered under socialist central planning. The results? Devastating. By 1989, East German GDP per capita sat at roughly 30% of West Germany's level. East Germans consumed 40% fewer calories, owned cars at one-tenth the rate, and waited 12 years for a telephone connection. Meanwhile, their western cousins enjoyed rising living standards, technological innovation, and personal freedom that made West Germany an economic powerhouse. But the socialists had excuses ready. "East Germany started from a worse position after the war," they claimed. Bullshit. Both regions faced identical devastation in 1945. The Soviets actually stripped more industrial equipment from their zone (roughly $10 billion worth), yet this affected rural areas less than urban centers. And East Germany possessed abundant natural resources like lignite coal and uranium that should have provided economic advantages. The real difference? Property rights, price signals, and entrepreneurship versus state ownership, price controls, and bureaucratic allocation. West Germans could start businesses, invest capital, and respond to consumer demands. East Germans filled quotas set by party officials who had never run so much as a lemonade stand. You can't coordinate an economy through committee meetings and five-year plans when prices tell you nothing about real supply and demand. East Germans voted with their feet—2.7 million fled west before the Communists built their wall in 1961. After reunification, investigators found Stasi files on one-third of the population. When you need secret police watching every third citizen, your economic system has already failed.

Virginia Could Become California The democrats are trying to gerrymander VA & turn the congressional maps from 6🟦 - 5🟥 🔜 10🟦 - 1🟥. You can stop this by voting 👉NO👈 by April 21st. Please send this to every voter you know in Virginia — vote TODAY!

@miles_commodore You're a unicorn, apparently!!! Love your posts, man, keep 'em coming.

It really is an honor for you all to be following me. I'm black, with a job, ID, smart phone, and somehow survived Covid. How unique is that?

If you’re a Virginian, get to your polling place and vote NO on Governor Spanberger’s redistricting scam. Don’t wait—early voting has already begun.   Help get the message out to all Virginians and protect our federal representation. Vote NO and vote NOW! fairfaxgop.org/everything-you…

@CBR "In modern day" as if the early 2000's was the 1940's.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is an iconic film series, but it also has many elements that are difficult to watch in modern day. cbr.com/8-reasons-toug…

@RoyCooperNC What bubble do you live in guv?

Sixteen years ago, the ACA became law, giving Americans access to quality, affordable health care. Today, that progress is being rolled back. DC Republicans refused to extend the ACA tax credits, spiking costs for working families — and Michael Whatley has backed these efforts at every turn.

We leveled the playing field years ago when we overwhelmingly voted for a bipartisan committee to draw our lines. Currently we have 6 democrats, 5 republicans which is absolutely representative of how we vote. Princeton gave us an A for fair districting, even. Vote NO.

"God gave me strength, I couldn't let them folks die" 16 yr old Corion Evans was hanging out with his friends when he saw a car PLUNGE into the Pascagoula River in Mississippi. 3 teenage girls began screaming for help as the car quickly sank. Evans immediately sprang into action, diving in to rescue the girls. When asked where his bravery came from, he replied "God gave me strength, I couldn't let them folks die." Police Officer Gary Mercer assisted Evans with the rescue, but he began to drown as well when one of the panicking victims tried to pull him under. Despite being out of breath with exhausted legs, Evans swam back AGAIN to rescue both the Officer and the 3rd teen girl. Four people are alive today because a young man put the lives of others before his own. He truly is a hero. 🎖

Congress has no constitutional authority to impose a wealth tax

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🚨BREAKING🚨 Virginia Redistricting Referendum early votes by congressional district! All 5 Republican held districts continue to lead the way, despite Democrats spending $30 million to try to buy the election. Keep pushing! We can win this, Virginia! Vote NO for FAIR maps!

@Byzness Contributing to this trend is the reality that most every day Baptists know little or nothing about these things b/c their pastors don't discuss them or don't care themselves. It allows for an easy slide into the leadership entrenchment you have so aptly described.

My meta theory of what’s going on in SBC life: “The Moderate Institutionalism of the 1970s gave way to the Conservative Resurgence of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, which in turn gave way to the Cultural Engagement regime of the 2010s and 2020s. At each stage, leaders became more entrenched, less open to outside correction, and more practiced at using the machinery of the convention to protect their position.” christoverall.com/article/concis…

@dougponder @Christ_OverAll @Byzness To paraphrase TS Eliot, this is the way the SBC ends . . . Not with a bang but a whimper.

This @Christ_OverAll article from @Byzness is the best thing I've read all week. Even if you're not Baptist, there is much to glean here, as the dynamics shaping the SBC today can affect virtually any denomination. Tolle lege, tolle lege 👇🏻 christoverall.com/article/concis…

@AbbyJohnson Abortion is pro death. That's it.

No. It is not pro-woman to murder your offspring in the womb just because you feel like pregnancy is inconvenient to your life. There is nothing pro-woman about abortion.

I don’t get it - it’s a flex AOC was a bartender but it’s a negative Markwayne was a plumber? You are such a hack.

@Pastor_Gabe Just went through similar convos yesterday. Nothing but name calling from a so-called Christian who clearly thought he was vastly superior.

“Why won’t you answer our objections, you effeminate $&@! $&$& mother $&@?! whose wife $&@$ @$!?, you cuck!” Yeah, can’t imagine why I would think that would be a completely pointless conversation.

@HeraldOfPurity This fixation on virginity sounds eerily familiar to the Muslim 72 virgins business. Weird.

Professing Christian men who: 1) hate on women for their sinful pasts, shame and attack their testimonies, even when those women have had a radical change of heart since coming to Christ 2) downplay the moral harm of their own porn consumption and the damage it causes, or even justify its use, and blame women for their own sexual sins, 3) boast about their own superiority and talk about virgin women as if they're some sort of sexual reward they're entitled to They don't come across as men worthy of either salvation or marriage, since that attitude is wholly incompatible with what the Christian Gospel represents and with what a healthy relationship with both God and other people requires.

@JakeOlson61 Well said.

Let me tell you a story. There was a powerful, wealthy, pure man who fell madly in love with a woman. Their relationship was beautiful. Everything looked perfect. But one day, she cheated on him. It shattered him. He couldn’t stay with her — but he never stopped loving her. So right after discovering her betrayal, he made a decision: he was going to win her back. And for a moment, it worked. They started dating again. She showed interest. Things looked hopeful. But soon enough, she drifted. She became unfaithful again. He tried to call her back, but she spiraled. She went out every night, chasing attention, hurting herself, forgetting who he even was. He let her go — not because he stopped loving her, but because he refused to force her. Eventually, after a particularly dark moment, she remembered him. Remembered what it felt like to be loved by someone who actually cared. She came back. He welcomed her with open arms. Their love rekindled. But comfort turned into complacency. She wandered again. Broke his heart again. Left again. This cycle repeated over and over. People told him to move on. “She’s destructive.” “She’s not worthy.” “You could do so much better.” And honestly, they weren’t wrong. But he couldn’t stop loving her. One night, he saw her stumbling out of a club with two men who clearly meant her harm. She didn’t even realize the danger she was in. He stepped in. One of the men pulled a knife and told him to walk away. He had a choice: Protect himself… or risk everything to save the woman who had broken him countless times. He chose her. They beat him nearly to death. Took his wallet, his keys, his dignity. But she was safe. He recovered in the hospital, expecting she might come thank him. She didn’t. She went right back to her old life. Years passed. Then one day, she showed up at his door. Older. Worn down. Unrecognizable. With nothing left. No one else wanted her anymore. She collapsed at his feet, sobbing, apologizing, not even sure he’d take her back. He didn’t hesitate. He opened the door, smiled, wrapped her in his arms, cleaned her up, sat her in his beautiful home… and got down on one knee. Now on X this guy would be called weak, naïve, a Sim. Because as a man, it’s almost impossible to imagine doing what he did. No man would keep pursuing someone who betrayed him again and again. No man would want somebody so “ran through.” No man would risk his life for someone who forgot him, used him, and ran from him. But that’s the point. Because in this story — in God’s story — we’re not the strong, faithful man. We’re the wandering woman. We’re the ones who run, who forget, who chase lesser loves, who come back only when life collapses… and then run again. And yet in the gospel, we’re treated like the one who gets pursued, protected, forgiven, and claimed — not because we earned it, but because He loves us. People get mad when women come back to church after years of “slutting it up” and end up with a good man. But what’s even crazier is this: We get to come back after years of doing even worse… and end up with a good God. If that offends you, you’re finally starting to understand grace.

@kangminlee @LizzieMarbach This sounds much more like a justification of your position than anything else.

They are the ones who endlessly focus on her promiscuous past, elevating that as if that gives her a badge of honor for whoring herself out to multitudes of men not only in person but online as well. He said that she’s more pure than virgins and that she understands the grace of God more because of her past of fornication. A married woman who constantly brings attention to her promiscuous past means to a certain extent she still identifies with it as part of who she is. And as a wife and a mother, she has a responsibility to her husband and children that supersedes telling people online “I lost track of how many men I’ve been with.” Making IG reels about all the men who used to rail her is utterly damaging to her husband’s reputation, and him gladly going along with it is a cucked humiliation ritual that anyone can see if your mind hasn’t been utterly warped by feminist conditioning. No discretion and prudence. No Christian is saying she cannot be forgiven and redeemed from her past. The problem with this couple is not her past as much as how they use it in public to lambast honorable young men and women as if virginity and chastity are “idols” and as if people are “pharisaical” for pointing out concerns. Purity IS a part of seeking the Lord in godliness. No one would say “oh you’re making an idol out of not watching porn”. It’s patently ridiculous the lengths Christian white knights and women go to alleviate women from any accountability for their sins and current behavior. People keep saying “we need to testify to the Lord” and yes we should share our testimonies of how God saved us. But we have completely lost the art of discretion, and too much of modern evangelical testimony culture is glorifying and humble-bragging about your past and hiding behind “I’m giving glory to God.” I’ve seen way too many pastors do this too.

It just gets worse…

@Urist317427 @kangminlee I never said there weren't consequences of sin. I simply noted what Paul said in 2 Cor. 5:17. In context, this means that two Christians can marry, regardless of their sinful pasts. Whether one or the other feels comfortable with it is a choice I would acknowledge and respect.

@glnelsoniii @kangminlee No, you are naive for believing that the consequences of sin don't affect our lives even after Christ. The Bible never holds such an idea, and we carry every day the scars of our mistakes, making us more or less suitable for this or that.

This is insane. No wonder young men are leaving Protestant churches in droves.