President Obama recently held a town hall meeting to discuss the details of the new economic stimulus plan intended to jumpstart the economy. The meeting itself was very interesting from the standpoint of observing the questions that were asked of the president. Most notably, three questions from three different Obama supporters stood out.

The first supporter told the president that she was in need of a new kitchen and car, and that the government had been slow in meeting her requests. In tears, she begged the president to help expedite the matter. Another supporter had recently lost his job and asked Obama why unemployment insurance doesn’t pay out at the same rate as his previous job’s salary. A third supporter explained that he had been working at McDonalds for the past four and half years and couldn’t find another job. He wanted to know what Obama was going to do to help him find a higher paying job.

Now all these people seemed sincere and Obama was very kind in his responses to them. However, these questions reveal a deeper problem in society. Too many have become dependent on government for their happiness. For the government to provide the needs of one citizen, it invariably must take from another citizen. According to Vedic philosophy, one should be satisfied with one’s allotted possessions and should not covet the property of others. Also, one is taught to live a simple life and to be as self-sufficient as possible, so that one can spend the remainder of his or her time lovingly serving God.

For proper government, the Vedas tell us that a king should indeed treat his citizens as his dependents and is responsible for their happiness. However, during the Vedic times, kings were very pious and strictly adhering to the council of their royal priests, or brahmanas. The king’s main duty was to make sure that their citizens would reach the ultimate spiritual goal of life and break out of the cycle of birth and death.

Contrast that with today’s style of democratic government, and you will see that today’s leaders aren’t versed in any type of spiritual understanding, nor do they look for advice from brahamanas. Though many are well intentioned, most politicians are living on the material platform of life, with the belief that sense gratification is the highest achievement. As a result, they pursue policies designed to increase sense gratification for their citizens. Their constituents are also interested in sense gratification, and thus become dependent on the government to supply their necessities, or what they view as necessities.

By observing nature, we can understand that God alone supplies us with what we need. The birds, bees, fish, and all other animals have no problem finding food or shelter. They don’t look to any politician to supply their needs, for God automatically takes care of that. Knowing this, we should look to God for our happiness. If we surrender to Him, He won’t necessarily give us what we want, but He’ll give us what need, namely devotion to Him.

During Lord Rama’s time on earth, he was once visited by his devotee, Narada Muni. In a previous incident, Narada had asked for something from the Lord and the Lord did not grant his wish. Narada was very angry about it at the time, and he later asked Lord Rama about that. Lord Rama explained to Him that “For my devotees, I give them what is right for them and not necessarily what they ask of Me.”

So in these hard times, we need only look to Lord Krishna to help us. Remembering Him at all times will provide us more peace and prosperity than any politician ever could.