Kerby Anderson

Earlier this month, I turned on the Tucker Carlson television program and heard him deliver a monologue that lasted nearly 15 minutes. It became the monologue heard around the conservative world. And nearly every commentator has had negative things to say about his comments. But I want to do just the opposite.

Sure, there were things he said that were incorrect or overstated. But I want to affirm many of the things he said that were right on target and lost in some of the critical comments about his commentary.

A few minutes after criticizing Utah Senator Mitt Romney, he wonders why we have so many deaths of despair in a country where the economy is booming and many people are doing well financially. He says bluntly, “Anyone who thinks the health of a nation can be summed up in GDP is an idiot.”

The real goal for America, he believes, should not be more prosperity. The goal should be happiness. The key ingredients might be such things as: dignity, self-control, independence, and deep relationships with other people. Many of his critics say Carlson gets off track by blaming the elites and promoting a type of victimhood populism. While that might be true, don’t miss his accurate diagnosis.

If more material goods would make us happy, then Americans should be some of the happiest people on the planet. They should be the happiest people in the history of the world. The median family income for Americans is the highest ever, even when adjusted for inflation. Yet we are lonely and depressed. Drug overdose deaths are at an all-time high. And these pathologies are not only in urban America but also in rural America.

Politics and government policies aren’t going to change this dysfunction. These are cultural and spiritual problems. Tucker Carlson’s diagnosis is generally accurate. And we Christians know there is only one answer: the gospel of Jesus Christ.