Our Comfortable America
I watch the news and I hear about the many investigations into corrupt politicians, several in my state (Massachusetts) alone. That some politicians are corrupt is certainly nothing new. That some business men are corrupt is nothing new. Our country is in something of a mess right now, economically as well as in other areas. I don't often write about money, however, so I thought I would take a stab at it. I don't need to take a lot of time to go in to statistics about how the economy is doing - we all know that it is quite terrible. If we were to ask what brought us to this point, we could talk about the lack of accountability in the housing market (i.e. sub-prime mortgages) as well as other factors. I think we can boil all these factors down to just one.
Greed.
I know that it seems like an overly simplistic approach, a black-and-white response in a world that we declare is full of morally gray hues (if we even believe in morality anymore). Let us examine this a bit further, however.
Our country used to manufacture things. While my understanding of economics is feeble at best, as well as the history of economics, I think it is safe to say that what helped to establish the USA as a financial power was the production required of us in World War II. We used to make actual things, which required people to make them (thus employment opportunities). Now, we "manufacture" cell phone minutes, advertising, tourism, pornography and films. At the same time we spend more than ever, and are encouraged to spend despite the hard times because we are a "consumerist" economy. In order for the country to be "healthy" we must "buy stuff" rather than "make stuff."
The government wants more money so it raises taxes, both on corporations and on people. The people who run the corporations want more money so they give themselves pay increases while looking for ways to cut costs, such as in manufacturing and labor. As a result jobs begin to leave the country as foreign factories staffed by foreigners requires far less cash. Thus we lose jobs here in America, and competition grows fiercer for what jobs are available.
You'll notice, however, that it is not those who lack money who seem to do awful things to get it. It seems to be people who have large sums of it already who always seem to need more. Most actors, I'm sure, don't need the millions of dollars they receive for starring in films. Strangely enough, they don't ask for a lot in their first films, their breakthroughs, when they still might be struggling financially. Indeed - the profit for actors only gets higher - simply because: enough is never enough.
Greed is a sin. Saint Thomas Aquinas had this to say about greed, that it is "...a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things." I am not saying that actors, politicians and CEO's are the sole source of why the USA is in such an economical mess. What I am saying is that they are the most obvious picture of a whole society that has gone wrong. It is not wrong to be affluent - but it is wrong to allow that affluence to get in the way of that which really matters.
The result is this: our goal is pretty much our own comfort. Not only do we pursue it ourselves, but as we all do it, those who lack true comfort feel compelled to struggle for the same things, all the while ignoring those blessings that come to us when we are poor, and when we suffer. You see, our collective sin is the same sin as Jonah's - falling asleep on a boat during the midst of a storm, refusing to budge from the shade of a tree to save the Ninevites. Jonah was in love with his comfort: of being in Israel, of enjoying the shade of his tree, and ultimately he was comfortable in his hatred for the Ninevites while God was calling him to go and preach to them that they might be saved.
Our people are having to choose between food, heat and medecine. We were lured into sub-prime mortgages without accountability to make quick, dirty money and find that happiness we think is waiting for us when we are finally comfortable. Locked away in our own comfort, however, we are not alive - we are dying. Oh, the anger that arises when facebook sever is down, the DVD player doesn't work, or we the AC is on the fritz! Then we think that it is only a passing anger because the world is not as it should be, we will be good when our stuff works the way it is supposed to. In doing these things, however, we are shown by God that we are not doing the things we are supposed to. Our comfort hides us from who and what we are. When we are comfortable we are not angry, depressed, or anxious. Since we are comfortable mroe oftent han we are not, our comfort also serves to hide our true nature from us.
It also serves to hide ourselves away from God. Why should we change whent here is nothing wrong? We are comfortable in our habits, our hatreds, our annoyances with our noisy coworkers, inane family members or arrogant friends. Greed is not a sin because it is about getting all of my "stuff." Nor is greed taking pleasure in the blessings such possessions can provide. Greed is a sin because it makes my life all about me, and we were not made for ourselves - we are bought with a price, the very steep price of Christ's blood.
As the opening of a very popular book begins: "It is not about you." (The Purpose Driven Life)
Making your life not about you, your job, your reputation and your happiness will require a lot of changes. Nor do I say this with any sense of having mastered living this way myself. Such changes will not be easy, nor will they be comfortable. See, we can pass all the laws that we like to prevent such things as government and corporate corruption, but laws will not change the heart and will of a person and that is their ultimate weakness. What we need is to be changed from the inside out, after which we will want to avoid corruption and, thusly, obey laws. Being changed in such a fashion requires God, and the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, made possible for us by the crucifixion. Without the crucifixion there is nothing elft for us but the law, and laws cannot bring life. Only Christ can. There is only one catch.
Your life can't be about you.
Greed.
I know that it seems like an overly simplistic approach, a black-and-white response in a world that we declare is full of morally gray hues (if we even believe in morality anymore). Let us examine this a bit further, however.
Our country used to manufacture things. While my understanding of economics is feeble at best, as well as the history of economics, I think it is safe to say that what helped to establish the USA as a financial power was the production required of us in World War II. We used to make actual things, which required people to make them (thus employment opportunities). Now, we "manufacture" cell phone minutes, advertising, tourism, pornography and films. At the same time we spend more than ever, and are encouraged to spend despite the hard times because we are a "consumerist" economy. In order for the country to be "healthy" we must "buy stuff" rather than "make stuff."
The government wants more money so it raises taxes, both on corporations and on people. The people who run the corporations want more money so they give themselves pay increases while looking for ways to cut costs, such as in manufacturing and labor. As a result jobs begin to leave the country as foreign factories staffed by foreigners requires far less cash. Thus we lose jobs here in America, and competition grows fiercer for what jobs are available.
You'll notice, however, that it is not those who lack money who seem to do awful things to get it. It seems to be people who have large sums of it already who always seem to need more. Most actors, I'm sure, don't need the millions of dollars they receive for starring in films. Strangely enough, they don't ask for a lot in their first films, their breakthroughs, when they still might be struggling financially. Indeed - the profit for actors only gets higher - simply because: enough is never enough.
Greed is a sin. Saint Thomas Aquinas had this to say about greed, that it is "...a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things." I am not saying that actors, politicians and CEO's are the sole source of why the USA is in such an economical mess. What I am saying is that they are the most obvious picture of a whole society that has gone wrong. It is not wrong to be affluent - but it is wrong to allow that affluence to get in the way of that which really matters.
The result is this: our goal is pretty much our own comfort. Not only do we pursue it ourselves, but as we all do it, those who lack true comfort feel compelled to struggle for the same things, all the while ignoring those blessings that come to us when we are poor, and when we suffer. You see, our collective sin is the same sin as Jonah's - falling asleep on a boat during the midst of a storm, refusing to budge from the shade of a tree to save the Ninevites. Jonah was in love with his comfort: of being in Israel, of enjoying the shade of his tree, and ultimately he was comfortable in his hatred for the Ninevites while God was calling him to go and preach to them that they might be saved.
Our people are having to choose between food, heat and medecine. We were lured into sub-prime mortgages without accountability to make quick, dirty money and find that happiness we think is waiting for us when we are finally comfortable. Locked away in our own comfort, however, we are not alive - we are dying. Oh, the anger that arises when facebook sever is down, the DVD player doesn't work, or we the AC is on the fritz! Then we think that it is only a passing anger because the world is not as it should be, we will be good when our stuff works the way it is supposed to. In doing these things, however, we are shown by God that we are not doing the things we are supposed to. Our comfort hides us from who and what we are. When we are comfortable we are not angry, depressed, or anxious. Since we are comfortable mroe oftent han we are not, our comfort also serves to hide our true nature from us.
It also serves to hide ourselves away from God. Why should we change whent here is nothing wrong? We are comfortable in our habits, our hatreds, our annoyances with our noisy coworkers, inane family members or arrogant friends. Greed is not a sin because it is about getting all of my "stuff." Nor is greed taking pleasure in the blessings such possessions can provide. Greed is a sin because it makes my life all about me, and we were not made for ourselves - we are bought with a price, the very steep price of Christ's blood.
As the opening of a very popular book begins: "It is not about you." (The Purpose Driven Life)
Making your life not about you, your job, your reputation and your happiness will require a lot of changes. Nor do I say this with any sense of having mastered living this way myself. Such changes will not be easy, nor will they be comfortable. See, we can pass all the laws that we like to prevent such things as government and corporate corruption, but laws will not change the heart and will of a person and that is their ultimate weakness. What we need is to be changed from the inside out, after which we will want to avoid corruption and, thusly, obey laws. Being changed in such a fashion requires God, and the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, made possible for us by the crucifixion. Without the crucifixion there is nothing elft for us but the law, and laws cannot bring life. Only Christ can. There is only one catch.
Your life can't be about you.
posted by Brian at 12:14 PM
2 comments
