Over many months, there has been one story line that is constant in the world news. It’s all about the financial crisis the world is in because multiple nations have been spending more than they have, and borrowing money to pay for their high flying life styles. Now it becomes clear that the whole world is in danger of sinking in debt, at a level which cannot be sustained. The European nations who have up to now been more solvent have been wringing their hands and furrowing their brows, spending day after day in urgent discussion. They don’t know just how much they should extend financial support to those other nations in the European Union who have not managed their affairs properly, but know full well that if they do not extend a substantial amount of money to them, will find themselves dragged down with all those other nations who are drowning in debt. The Italian prime minister, Silvio Berusconi, often the target of criticism for sexist behavior, survived all those assaults on his character, but didn’t survive this one. His lavish life style went into disarray, and he was out of power, while those who remained in power tried desperately to figure out just how austere their austerity measures should be, in order to keep the economy from completely collapsing. The Greek prime minister was forced out of power, for agreeing with the European Union that severe austerity measures were needed in order for the Greek economy to keep from completely collapsing. There were riots in the streets, as those Greeks who found their ease of life threatened, protested in every violent way they could. Spain has also been at risk of financial collapse because this nation has also been spending more than they have. The entire European Union is in danger of disruption because some of its members desire a more regal life style than they can afford.
None of these nations, however, can claim primacy in this phenomenon of overspending. They are either caught up in the same fervor, or are else closely following the prime example of the United States. We had our own massive financial collapse from overextended credit. The federal government, in its infinite unwisdom, relaxed the rules for banks and lending institutions. What followed was a feeding frenzy, whereas lending institutions extended credit to individuals who could not possibly support the life style that they wished. After a few years of high flying finance, the inevitable happened. One of our primary lending institutions, Lehman Brothers, collapsed, throwing the financial markets into a tailspin. Then our primary back up lending institutions, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, showed signs of imminent collapse because they too had repayment demands they could not meet. Although these institutions are supported by the government, yours and mine tax dollars, they couldn’t sustain their own high flying financial escapades. That prompted the cowboys to come to the rescue. Through a massive bailout program, meaning the necessity to borrow even more billions of dollars, these institutions were saved, and the American economy has since struggled to regain forward progress. Jobless rates remain high, wages remain static, and American jobs continue to fly overseas. Any realistic appraisal of our current economic status has to reach the conclusion that we are not going to have a rapidly progressive economy for a long time in the future, and possibly never. We almost sunk our own Titanic, and now it is floundering. The only way it will recover is for the United States of America to stop spending more money than it has, a philosophy our preening, arrogant senators and congressmen have as yet been unwilling to follow. We are in trouble forever, unless we adopt our own austerity measures, to get out of debt.
Yet this is not just a matter of irresponsible governments. It is an endemic disease in our society. I know many people in our community personally, who simply exemplify the mindset of the majority of our citizenry. They all desire and reach for a life style which costs more than the resources they have. They have nice houses, drive fancy cars, have heated swimming pools, and use multiple credit cards to the maximum amount allowed. They skirt on the edge of financial forfeiture every month. Many reach a point they cannot pass further, throw up their hands, declare bankruptcy, and then start over again. What is interesting is that even after bankruptcy, that life style of spending more than can be repaid, does not stop. This attitude of “get it now, even though we can’t pay for it,” has overpowered the attitude of “we can’t afford that right now.” This philosophy of overspending is rampant in our population, the population of Europe, in the major lending institutions of all those nations, and in all our governments.
The question that comes to my mind is, “Why?” Why do these millions of people believe that overspending is the right way to manage their finances? Surely they know that deep debt is an awful burden, which has to be constantly measured against our expected resources to pay off that debt. Surely they should all understand that the only way to prevent financial collapse is to not buy anything until you have the money to pay for it. Apparently not. Our people, our institutions, and our governments have all mistakenly believed that immense borrowing is good for everyone. The glaring fact is that borrowing is not good for everyone, and we are now seeing the results of that sad mistake. Is it all because of basic human greed? I believe that human greed is a good part of the cause. I also personally think that our religions carry some of the blame. These religions guarantee that we can do whatever foolish things we want, but will still be admitted to Heaven if we believe in certain myths.
Unfortunately for the peoples and nations of the world, there is only one chance to live our lives wisely, and not beyond our means. That only chance occurs while we are here on this earth. We will suffer dearly if we believe that our governments and our religions will give us wealth, even if misuse our resources while we are here in this life, on this earth.
We need to stop borrowing beyond our means. We don’t need any more debt.