Before Jack Black played the part, Ted Danson was Gulliver. The original tale was a parody showing the ludicrousness of current government and economic theory.   In this clip from the TV special, Gulliver tries to defend the current economic theory to a Queen of a far off land.   He tries to defend the corrupt government that rewards the politicians, denies fair trials to the poor, and inflates the currency.  It is a hilarious exchange that unveils a painful similarity to America today.

The Queen: “How can a kingdom spend more than it receives in taxes?”

Gulliver: “Well, that’s simple. We just… Ur.. Um… We just borrow more from ourselves.”

Queen: “Why are you always at war?”

Gulliver: “We need to attack others before they attack us. Gaining the element of surprise”

God warned his people long before Gulliver of the problems of a intrusive government. He told Samuel to show them the behavior of a king. He clearly laid out that a big government would take excessive percentages of the population’s profits and funnel them into government luxuries, corruption, and “pet projects.”  He noted the insatiable appetites of kings for war -of which- he would use their sons as the “fuel” for the armies. 1 Samuel 8

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, ⁵ and said to him, “Look,  make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. ⁷ And the LORD said to Samuel, “However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

¹¹ And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. ¹² He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to beperfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴ And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your sheep.

And you will be his servants. ¹⁹ Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel

For more information, check out www.godonomics.com or watch this clip of me explaining this warning from God about spending and government from 1 Samuel