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THOUGHTS by Doyle Duke
The Last Great Hurrah
Through the ages many societies often held their elders in high esteem because of the wisdom they acquired with age. However, in today’s society of high technology and competitive job markets the younger generations soon surpass their parents in formal knowledge and then regard them with bored impatience or outright distain. On such occasions, too often knowledge is confused with wisdom. One might have the knowledge to sail a boat; but only wisdom will see him through the turbulent shoals of life. I have very little formal education and because of that fact, coupled with a lifetime of mistakes, I have never considered myself to be a wise man. I still don’t. That is why when I see troubling events occurring within our society that I feel should be obvious to any observant man or woman I have to question my own reasoning. And I keep asking myself: Am I becoming one of those deluded doomsday cranks, or is the world blinded by its own fanatic agendas? And when I consider the probabilities I can’t help but question my own sanity. We live in a world of extremes: while the very planet we live upon groans under the abuses we are inflicting upon it, mankind pursues any conceivable means to make a dollar—or to simply survive. And while we, here in capitalistic America, concentrate upon wealth millions throughout the world are starving. Is that our fault? Would justice be better served if we shared our wealth with them? Would such kindness alleviate hunger and starvation? No: such action would only hasten our own demise. It is all a matter of economics and crippling social values. Each day the morning news presents us with more and more shocking stories of drug abuse, murder, sexual perversion, corporate scandals and government mismanagement. Escalating prices, increasing trade deficit, the real estate meltdown, and an inflating national budget testify to an out of control economy; and I’m not referring only to the United States for there is no such thing as an independent national economy any longer. All progressive nations are tied into a one world economy that is rapidly dividing the nations into the haves and have nots. Developing nations are growing stronger while undeveloped nations are becoming military fiefdoms similar to those that flourished during the Middle Ages. China and India are emerging as the new economic and military powers while the U. S. plays Robo-Cop to the world. On one hand we’re living in the most prosperous, most wonderful era known to mankind; on the other, our world is cracking like a fractured egg. Where are all these events leading us? What might we expect for the future? As should be expected our politicians and think tank geniuses point to fantastic strides in technological developments while denying the inevitable burst of our inflationary economy. Others, with a more realistic understanding of the situation, warn that there must be a “correction”, but quickly assure that such is only a natural occurrence and afterwards we’ll come back stronger and more prosperous than ever. And then there are the theists, specifically the Muslims and Christians, who belabor the wickedness of the world and look forward to an eternally perfect heaven. The latter view is undoubtedly a wonderful expectation; however it discounts reason and leaves unanswered the question, “How do we solve earth’s problems?” The theist’s solution is to convert everyone to their faith, then somehow, miraculously, God will speak the word and we’ll have a new and perfect world. There’s just one problem with such thinking—it has absolutely no basis, no facts, or evident to recommend it. In effect, the theist is giving up on our present world and hoping for a supernatural miracle. Their answer to crime, famine, environmental pollution and over-population is to pray, persevere and await a new earth. It is almost impossible for them to consider the possibility that there might not be a supreme being standing in the wing to step in and save us from our own self-destructive greed. Such thinking is not logical because it does not address real issues. But let's just assume there was a supreme being; that all he taught was true; and that everyone, somehow—believed. Let’s assume that suddenly, overnight, every person on our earth converted to the Christian faith and immediately began practicing that religion’s principals and precepts. Let’s suppose that overnight crime ceased, drug addicts destroyed all illegal drugs, warring armies tossed their weapons aside and embraced their enemies, world governments consolidated into one governing body in total agreement; all hatred and animosity vanished to be replaced by unselfish love. Wouldn’t that be wonderful beyond description! Would it? Let us just try to imagine the issues that would arise under such circumstances. Probably one of the foremost occurrences would be the outpouring of charity, because, of course, all greed would dissolve and there would be no readily available excuses to refrain from giving. Man’s love for man would be that of a brother for a brother and no longer could one distance himself from another because the need was for an Asian, African, Hindu, Muslim, capitalist or loafer. The starvation and diseases of third world nations such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan would become unacceptable. And the charity necessary to alleviate such suffering would entail a redistribution of the world’s wealth. At long last the cry to take from the rich and give to the poor would be heeded. Wealth would flow from the rich to the poor, from the first world nations to the third; from wealthy capitalist corporations and from the private individuals, to the starving masses. But the results would not be the expected end to poverty. What is the one main difference between capitalism and communism? Why does capitalism succeed where communism fails? Greed! It may be more glibly expressed as “the desire to succeed,” “personal achievement,” “individual drive,” or a number of equally well turned phrases, but the bottom line is greed. Why do Americans strive for success? To obtain finer homes, three automobiles, or college tuition for their kids. Why do Hispanics risk their lives to cross from Mexico into the U.S.? Why do most immigrants see America as the land of opportunity? To make a better life—to get things! Why are the miserable conditions in third world countries so hopeless—precisely because there is no hope. And that hope, that desire for self-betterment, will be destroyed in a communist society such as a theocracy demands. As the wealth shifts from the workers to the non-workers the will to strive and succeed will deteriorate. And as the desire to “serve the Lord” increases so will the tendency to “look forward to the coming Kingdom”. The results would be a return to the first century Christian practice of communal sharing and an entire world of starvation. But we must remember that in a society such as Christians anticipate there would be no loafers, nor dissenters; everyone would function like an army of ants rushing busily about their chores. And since everyone would be entitled, or limited, to the same necessities, privileges, and services; everything would pretty much have to be regulated. All forms of luxury and excess would cease. Production of Mercedes and BMWs would stop when every family received their Ford Focus. Motorcycles would be replaced by bicycles; and mountain bikes, video games and skateboards would disappear because teenagers would be too busy becoming productive members of society. And, obviously, it wouldn't be fair for an Alabama farmer to eat cornbread and buttermilk while a Paris executive dined on Filet Mignon and a twenty year old red Bordeaux wine. Wait, will there be alcoholic beverages? If so, then I suppose this problem could be solved by gathering all the Baptists in Alabama and shipping the Catholics to Paris. Otherwise I suppose everyone would be limited to a cornbread diet. Is this beginning to sound less and less like paradise? So, they're silly analogies; the point is that people are different, their requirements are different, and their occupations entail differences. Unless a god zapped all humans and changed them into a mindless race of harp-plucking angels, (in which case humans would cease to be human) those inherent differences would never conform to the Christian's concept of a perfect world society. So, we must look to our own abilities. There is a truism commonly recognized within the business and financial world, though seldom voiced today; that truism is, ‘grow or die’. To survive a business must grow; if it simply breaks even or posts a minimum gain, larger, competitive companies will eventually force them out of business. Examples of this truth are evidenced by the displacement of "Mom and Pop" businesses, the constant up-scaling of mall and office complexes, and the ingestion of smaller corporations by larger ones. To understand the significance of this statement and how it relates to our society today we only have to compare it to the American way of life in the early twentieth century. While there were large conglomerates such as the railroads, electric corporations, foundries, textile mills, and banks the U.S. was still thinly populated in relation to land area, and privately own businesses was the norm. Banks were held in suspicion or contempt by many, and private investments in financial institutions were stymied by the market crash of 1929. Self-pride and honor were treasured assets. A man's word was his bond. Charity was viewed by many as a degradation of one's character. And to place one's self or one's family under the obligations of a mortgage was often viewed as a form of enslavement. Even today, my father-in-law and his son refuse to purchase anything on credit—and they are among the fortunate few in this day of financial chaos. How does all this relate to today's economy? It should be obvious. Prior to the middle twentieth century people lived within their means; today, we are a society of debtors. Even more significant: we are a world society of debtors—meaning that as one nation goes, so goes the world. This great capitalistic economic system that we have launched upon the world may be likened to a humongous, worldwide, corporate empire that must grow! No longer is it possible for a nation to stand alone, isolated from the world. No longer can any nation supply all its needs from its own resources. We are a world of competing nations, composed of different ethnic and religious races, vying for dwindling earthly resources—yet, forced to depend upon one another. The rich and powerful nations delude their citizenry with platitudes of “foreign aid” and “humanitarian efforts” while they strip the weaker nations of their wealth. And all the while we speak of the great strides mankind is making in medicine, technology and world betterment. Today, the financial direction of that world society is on the verge of imploding. Why? Because our world economy has stopped growing and unless we find someway to instill consumer confidence (such as the very controversial "stimulus package") and "jump-start" an economic recovery the world is going to experience a reversal that will be reminiscent of the seven plagues predicted in the Book of Revelations. Why do we find ourselves in this situation? How could the financial might of our great nation suddenly disappear in only a matter of months? There are a number of factors: (1) the necessity of growth to create jobs for the millions who enter the workforce annually; (2) the increased cost of energy, research and development, and raw materials to produce consumer and corporate products; and (3) the needs, and perceived needs, instilled within the psyche of the consumer by advertisements to sale those new products. We are living in an artificially created financial bubble (surely you're familiar with such terms as the real estate or tech bubble bursting). It functions something like this. We have a world population that is increasing by one billion every fourteen years or so, with that time period decreasing exponentially. To feed the increase we must have jobs. To create jobs more products or services are necessary; which means, businesses must find buyers for those products and services. Who are the consumers? They are, of course, the wage earners and their families. Simply a common supply and demand economical system that works effectively until the value of one factor is altered. For instance, let's say the cost of food increased, more people joined the workforce, or the value of real estate deescalated. Any fluctuation would require a re-adjustment of the other values. Consider home mortgages. Although home mortgages date back to the year 1190 they didn't catch on here in the U.S. until the early 1900's and often the borrower was required to put down as much as 50% for a 5 year mortgage on which he paid the interest for 5 years. At the end of five years the balance was due and he had to either pay it off or refinance. But after the Great Depression that system collapsed because the lenders had no money to loan. What resulted was the creation of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in 1934. Then, in 1946 the first credit card, or "charge card," was issued by a bank, and the U.S. quickly became a debtor nation. When I was a young man, under the Carter administration, my wife and I were required to put down 20% to purchase a house; quite an improvement over the previously mentioned 50%. Recently, prior to the real estate crash, a young couple was able to move into their dream home by simply signing a “stated income” form. Why should lending institutions expose themselves to such foolish unsecured risk? The same reason that induced automobile dealerships to sale vehicles to anyone who could produce a down payment, and for the same reason finance corporations financed those contracts. To keep a booming economy moving! At this point, if you can’t comprehend the danger in such economics it may be that you are of the younger generation and lack that ‘age-attained wisdom’. (Or perhaps it isn’t wisdom and I’m only an alarmist—I certainly hope so.) I will try to reduce the problem to a simple statement. We have an ever-increasing population that requires more and more jobs so workers may earn increasing amounts of money to pay for food, necessities and luxuries. Those jobs produce or manufacture astronomical amounts of products and services which require massive amounts of raw material. That material either comes from our earth’s natural resources or uses those resources, such as coal, oil, water and forests, to manufacture those products. The population, their needs, jobs and requirement for raw material is ever-increasing; it is an economic system that cannot cease or even slow down. Contrarily, the earth’s resources are static; they do not increase. Thus our world is caught upon the mad treadmill of survival. We must grow to survive, but we are literally running out of a place to stand. It has been estimated that the world population was about two hundred and fifty million at the time of the fall of Rome, in 550 A.D. It took approximately a thousand years for that number to double, then only three hundred for it to double again to reach the one billion mark in the early 1800’s. And in 1954, only one hundred and fifty years later, it tripled to three billion. Today, 2009, it stands at six and one half billion! According to Index Mundi.com, the annual world birth rate is about twenty per thousand; the death rate is eight, an increase of over two to one. "Population explosion," was one of the constantly used phrases in print and on everyone's lips during the sixties. It was even speculated by one comedian that by the year 2000 we would all be standing around shoulders to shoulders. That was an era following the "baby boomers" here in the U.S., since then the growth rate has declined, or so we're told. But during my sixty-nine years I've seen millions and millions of automobiles crowding ever-expanding freeways that were only imagined sixty years ago. I've seen cities spill over and engulf small communities while housing developments and shopping centers devour acres and acres of prime cultivatable soil. I've seen statistics; whether they be population, monetary or production, go from millions to billions and trillions. I've read and seen news events of millions starving and dying in third world countries. I've heard of a great and ancient nation imposing birth limits upon their citizens that restricts off-springs to one per family. I have been witnessing the earth’s destruction by an over-population of human beings! Our leaders and politicians speak of alternative energies; wind, solar, and nitrogen. Scientists are even studying ways to reap the untouched bounties of our oceans, studying ways to economically convert sea water to fresh water, and they are even looking to other planets: for what—colonization? Here I must ask: If we can’t save our own fruitful, life-sustaining planet, how can we hope to survive on a dead planet where we must transport every life sustaining need necessity? Why then, are we expending massive amounts of energy and trillions of dollars on space exploration instead of using that effort and wealth to attack the core of our problems—over-population? Because we can’t stop growing, can’t even slow down! Space exploration diverts government funds to develop new technology (just look at the fantastic strides in communications) to create new products, greater needs, more jobs, and more revenue. We can’t even reduce the population growth because a national growth model must be based upon a pyramid structure; that is, the base should be broader, greater in number, than the upper levels so there will be more young workers than non-productive elderly. A prime example is the ‘baby boomers’ mentioned earlier. And, of course, you’ve heard that our children will soon be forced to pay an ever increasing Social Security tax in an effort to support the elderly. That is a top heavy pyramid in evidence. The same problem exists in the European communities. So, it should be evident that we, as a worldwide society are on an ever-increasing treadmill—the harder we work, the greater the need. Have you noticed that you’re working harder and longer to make ends meet? That you’re earning more but there are more and more ‘needs’ to stretch the paycheck? And we can’t slow down or the whole system will crash. What is the answer? I don’t think anyone knows. It appears that the general policy is to run like hell and keep praying that financial genus, technology, and human ingenuity will be able to keep pace until we stumble upon a permanent solution; before we run out of energy, air, or water…
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