This Page is being written while an economic downturn noted in the Freshman edition of this date continues, perhaps with greater fear and disappointment in the population than attended the unexpected break with prosperity in 1987. The first decade of the new century, and millennium, has moved from rather high optimism to a hunker down population, weakness in the banking system, teetering bankruptcy for whole governments and major businesses, failure of managements, and insecurity on many sides. My purpose here is not to become an amateur economist, but to address issues as I believe they ought to be encountered, in a biblical concept of life management. My views are related to the concepts of Scripture related to righteousness, to personal welfare, to service to others, to social responsibility in freedom, to whatever is activated for the good of the people of the world. This is the working out of the common grace of God extended to all persons, and blessing for all, whether faithful or unfaithful to the creation. Jesus accented the point in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5 -7) The reader here is reminded again that these Pages perceive God’s Grace as divided between two large perceptions: Common Grace for all of creation, and Divine Grace for those admitting God into life. Christians following biblical standards are taken by the authority found in God’s Divine Grace so can say with the Apostle Paul that they can both enjoy prosperity and suffer want with understanding in favorable and unfavorable cycles. (Philippians 4:11-12)
The willingness to accept comfort or discomfort in society with faith and fortitude is not to say that one should accept it without sincere and energetic effort to correct whatever needs to be corrected for the common good, and safety. The action, in righteous context, leading to safety for self and others is intelligent and biblical, offering a mature approach to nature’s life. It is related to responsibility, not first for oneself, but for family, and outward to community. God is highly interested in his first institution, the family. How does one manage to provide for the needs of family in all factors, from the cradle to the grave? Planning for the unproductive years (too young, too old), or troubled years (nature’s catastrophes, economic downturns, etc.) – we need to make social institutions strong, and management of resources to cover (wait out/work out) cycles – as Joseph did in Egypt. So, designs for working, saving, accumulating property, avoiding debt, and the like are, or ought to be, followed. The motive is gained from the creator for the care of the family and community. Scripture warns of pitfalls and offers solutions.
The answer for economic problems offered by the economists is usually growth. That means everything has to be enlarged. Persons have to buy more. Prosperity is built on consumption. Everything has to get fatter. However, some analysts argue that the government is too big, some corporations are too big, the purchasing public is too big, and so the story goes. Our purpose here, as noted above, is not to become amateur economists. We may believe that solutions are more in service and management than growth. Raising problems, and observing them, we have some obligation to suggest solutions. One relates to the ethics of those closest to the engines driving the economy. I was recently impressed that a business school has decided to accent the centrality of ethics in its programs. The public has declared for some decades that business is business, and the matters of right and wrong are found in laws, not in a public righteousness. But, the opposite is played, in that persons commonly resist laws, especially in circumventing them. Another approach is to find creative ways to take the place of consumer driven economies. Such economies are prodigal in the rape of resources and manufactures in lower quality to help increase demand for that which is new. In recovery mode there appears improvement in quality, but undue increase in prices. Find ways of cooperation in the use of resources, in the pace of production, in sharing with the public the advances of technology, and the like. We wait for the controllers who will serve with fresh ideas for human care and equity. We return to basic values so to order our ways in all contexts. There are hints that society may move in both negative and affirmative directions. We are forced to wait and see. If the desire for peace, for education, for health, for justice continues, we have hope for improving society. There must also be a way that will assist society to share with laborers the growing technology. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020