Economic Tsunami

The economy is worsening daily and I fear that there could be a major depression. Young folks do not know much about the depression of the 30’s, but it was terrible and people suffered. Banks collapsed all over the country and millions of Americans lost their jobs and stood in soup lines in order to obtain what amounted to their one and only meal for the day. The government helped to resolve the problem in part by creating large numbers of jobs to build dams and roads and other federal projects, but it was a terrible time and it took our country years to recover.

I predicted that this situation would occur several months ago. Most folks want to blame it on the President, but that is just poppycock. I’m no fan of President Bush, but one man is not responsible for the state of the economy. The economy should be likened to a perfect storm developing with the mortgage crisis, huge national debt, personal credit card debt completely out of control, fuel costs rising unchecked, and the Iraq war and other terrorist related costs all coming together to wreak havoc upon our economy. It was like looking at dark menacing clouds forming on the horizon and knowing that a nasty 100 year economic storm of the century was brewing. Combine that with scary politicians who might deliver on promises to raise taxes, it could be the final blow to our fragile economy and like a tsunami surge will devastate and finish off businesses that are already struggling to survive in these tough times.

No entrepreneur or businessman wants to risk it all and work 100 hour workweeks in order to see their money taken away from them and given to those greedy politicians who line their pockets and their friend’s pockets, squander it on inefficient government programs, or give it to those in our society that refuse to work and want a handout. Tax increases kill incentives to invest and expand businesses; instead businesses will simply cut back and tighten up their budgets and hunker down until a better economic climate develops, which means cutbacks, lost jobs, lower wages and benefits, and a stagnant economy. Most of these politicians have never worked an honest day in their lives, nor have they run a business, and sound business principles are lost in their Ivy League view of a utopia world where big government redistributes the wealth and everyone has an equal share including those who have never worked a day in their lives. It is right out of Karl Marx’s playbook.

Believe it or not, the Bible has much to say about our current situation. There are sections in the Bible with dire warnings about greed and coveting, which are at the root of most of the problems of which we face. Greedy bankers loaned money to people to buy houses that they could not afford, but deeply coveted. They sold those lousy loans to greedy brokers who in turn sold them on Wall Street as marketable securities and in which ordinary people invested their life savings. It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out that these folks would soon default on those bad loans and the whole mess would come tumbling down like a row of dominoes and people would lose their life savings. They did the same thing with credit cards. Greedy bankers, (who are not properly regulated because they line politician’s pockets with campaign funding and payola), wanted the high interest, (that is over 24% in some cases), that some poor folks are paying on these cards. They let people load up on these cards in spite of their inability to pay the money back and now they are stuck with debt that essentially cannot be repaid because the high interest exceeds their ability to pay any principle.

The lesson here is not to buy something that you cannot afford, but that lesson has been largely ignored. No entity has ignored it more than the federal government and the trillions upon trillions of dollars that it does not have and yet borrows daily to spend like a drunken sailor on social programs galore to buy votes and keep inept politicians elected leaving our kids and grandkids to deal with a mammoth mess. The story goes on and on with greedy oil companies gouging every time they get a chance completely oblivious to the pain they cause worldwide.

What to do? We did not get into this situation overnight and we will not get out of it overnight. Hunker down and develop a budget. Live within your means. Do not spend what you do not have. Work and don’t worry. Worry will not accomplish one useful thing; however work will solve a multitude of problems. If you have a good job, treasure it. Give your employer 110% and help them to help you. Vote against higher taxes and those who want to expand government and increase our debt even more.

Most importantly pray that the country will return to God in the face of this crisis like it did right after 9/11/01. God can heal this nation if it will turn to Him. God blessed the United States as none other because it was founded “One nation under God”. Do not stand for a few Godless individuals turning it away from our God. God can heal us if we turn to Him. Sorry to be negative this morning

Psalm 33:12
Blessed is the nation whose
God is the Lord.