What Can You Do About It?
REALLY, there is little that you can do to influence today’s troublesome world economic conditions. You did not cause them, but, instead, you are a victim of them.
Yet, there are things that you can do to help ease the burden of making a living today. Often, this revolves around self-control. How so?
Exercising Self-Control
One of the greatest problems regarding debt today is that many people cannot exercise self-control when it comes to buying things. Before they fully realize it, they have spent too much and must borrow money needlessly.
But in difficult economic times, stern measures should be taken. A family’s needs should be carefully reassessed. Is the family living within its income?
If not, then nonessentials can be cut out, or at least reduced. True, one’s neighbor may have, say, an expensive color television set. But if this is going to put the family deeper in debt, why not wait until it can be afforded?
Expensive entertainment and luxury foods, as well as costly liquors, can be curtailed with no loss. Smoking should be eliminated; this not only will save a great deal of money over the course of a year, but may save one’s very life!
For those who gamble, it would be well to ask themselves how gambling establishments, such as racetracks and betting “parlors,” exist. They can exist only because gambling is a losing proposition for the overwhelming majority of people. If it was not, then the gambling establishments could not make their huge profits. So self-control here could save large sums of money that could be better spent, or saved for future purchases.
The key to saving money is to lower one’s desires and expectations so that they realistically conform to income. It does no good to dwell constantly on what would be nice to have. Instead, consider what you can afford without going into debt.
Pay Cash
There is great encouragement to borrow money these days. Money lenders are everywhere. But why? Because money lenders make a good profit.
True, the cost of 6 or 7 or 8 percent for borrowing money may not seem high. But in actuality that comes to about double or triple over the life of the loan. Why? Because you do not have the use of all the money all that time, but must begin paying it back almost immediately.
For instance, in a recent year average car loans in the United States cost $860 in interest charges. This is above the actual cost of the car. Now, while it usually is not possible for most people to save in advance for such a large-item, it does demonstrate how much loans can cost. The same principle is true of smaller loans. So, buying on credit is indeed costly. Pay cash (or by check) whenever you can.
A major problem is the use of credit cards. More and more people use them for purchases, including food. But credit cards should be used as if they were dangerous weapons. It is easy to purchase things when you do not have to pay cash. But trying to pay for hasty, unnecessary credit-card purchases can cause money hardships later.
If at all possible, save money in advance for purchases instead of borrowing. This not only prevents debt and large interest payments, but, if put in a bank, would collect interest.
On the Way Out
There are some things, then, that you can do to protect yourself financially at present. But there is nothing you can do to help the present economic system to survive. Why not? Because any recovery it makes in the near future will only be temporary.
God’s unerring prophetic Word tells us that all of today’s systems, including its economic ones, are “passing away.” (1 John 2:17) They cannot last long, because it is God’s purpose to intervene soon in man’s affairs and to bring this unsatisfactory system to its finish.—Dan. 2:44.
That is why God’s Word cautions: “Do not be loving either the world or the things in the world.” (1 John 2:15) It will do no good to try to hold on to this system, or perpetuate it. Soon, as Jesus Christ foretold, “there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.” (Matt. 24:21) During that “great tribulation,” today’s money system undoubtedly will collapse.
Viewing the mountains of debt now building up everywhere, one can appreciate how swiftly such an economic collapse could occur. Indeed, the Bible shows that, as has happened before, “into the streets they will throw their very silver, and an abhorrent thing their own gold will become.”—Ezek. 7:19.
Nor is that “farfetched.” Even many observers of the world scene feel that something drastic must happen. For example, in The Eco-Spasm Report, author Alvin Toffler states: “What we are seeing today is not simply an economic upheaval, but something far deeper, something that cannot be understood within the framework of conventional economics. This is why increasingly mystified economists complain that ‘the old rules don’t work any longer.’ What we are seeing is the general crisis of industrialism . . . What is happening, no more, no less, is the breakdown of industrial civilization on the planet.”
Toffler observed that pessimistic predictions about the world economy were once dismissed as “lunatic.” But, he notes, they “are now being taken seriously.”
Because of what is certain to come in the future, you would do well not to put undue trust in material things. Money is necessary to daily living, true. But putting one’s confidence in it is bound to result in disappointment.
What we all need to learn more about, and put our confidence in, is what will replace this old system. That will be God’s new order, under his heavenly Kingdom government. (Matt. 6:10) Here, on earth, under a righteous administration, all of mankind’s distressing problems will be solved. This includes the economic ones. And they will be solved to our total satisfaction, since the Bible says of the Almighty Creator of the new order: “You are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing.”—Ps. 145:16.