10. How secure is the world’s financial situation, bringing to mind what prophecy of Jesus?

¹⁰ Human governments cannot solve the problem of global poverty. Underdeveloped lands have a crushing burden of mounting debt that they cannot pay. Even developed countries have excessive debts. Symptomatic of this, dozens of banks failed in the United States last year. When one of the largest was threatened, only government intervention with billions of dollars prevented disaster. The fear was that if such a large bank failed, “the contagion would have spread to other banks as well, threatening the entire financial system,” reported The New York Times. Thus, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ward off catastrophe. In fact, with each passing year the observation of England’s Guardian takes on added force: “The world is on the verge of a human catastrophe and a political disaster . . . Whole continents have seen their hopes for the future disappear.”​—Luke 21:25, 26.

Technology’s Effect on War

11. What additional problem that governments cannot solve has been made much worse by technology?

¹¹ Technology has made much worse something else that governments are unable to stop: war. It was technology that made World War I such a slaughter with the mass use of machine guns, submarines, warplanes, tanks, and flamethrowers. British author Richard Rees said: “The 1914-18 war brought two facts to light: first, that technological development had reached a point where it could continue without disaster only in a unified world and, second, that the existing political and social organizations in the world made its unification impossible.” World War II proved his point, as newer weapons killed about 55 million people.

12. What threats confront the human family today?

¹² Today war weapons are far more hideous, and governments are far from united. Regarding nuclear weapons, author Herman Wouk said: “The ingenuity, labor, and treasure poured out on this . . . insanity truly stun the mind. If nations did not learn war any more, there would be nothing mankind could not do.” Astronomer Carl Sagan said of nuclear war: “There is little question that our global civilization would be destroyed.” And while this threat of earth-wide catastrophe hangs over the human family, numerous other conflicts take countless lives. The Center for Defense Information in the United States reported that in 1984 there were 42 different wars and rebellions in progress at the same time! Governments cannot even stop the tidal wave of crime and violence in their own lands, much less bring global peace.

13. Does global violence in our time fit Bible prophecy?

¹³ All of this fits the prophecy at Revelation 6:4 about the ride of one of the ‘four horsemen of the Apocalypse’ since 1914: “And another came forth, a fiery-colored horse; and to the one seated upon it there was granted to take peace away from the earth so that they should slaughter one another; and a great sword was given him.”

Why Human Efforts Fail

14, 15. What is a major reason why humans cannot accomplish their aims now?

¹⁴ Why is there reason to fear that human accomplishments will not ward off catastrophe? Indeed, why are humans unable to accomplish their aims? The Bible shows one major reason: “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created perfect in body and mind. But that perfection depended on their staying inside the boundaries of God’s beneficial laws. Within those laws they were given much freedom of choice. But Genesis chapter 3 shows that our first parents took free choice too far. They desired independence from God and his laws, wanting to decide for themselves what was right or wrong, an authority that belongs only to God. After they made that choice, they were on their own. The Bible states: “Jehovah is with you as long as you prove to be with him; . . . but if you leave him he will leave you.” (2 Chronicles 15:2) Separated from God, Adam and Eve began to degenerate. Sickness, sorrow, and eventually death overtook them.​—Genesis 2:16, 17.

¹⁵ After our first parents became imperfect, the law of genetics saw to it that all their offspring inherited imperfection. The psalmist acknowledged: “With error I was brought forth with birth pains, and in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5) There is no way whatsoever that medical science can overcome the consequences of inherited imperfection. Looking for some medical breakthrough to eliminate sickness and death is looking for something that humans cannot accomplish​—ever.

16. How has imperfection affected mankind’s mental condition?

¹⁶ Inherited imperfection also affects our mental condition. We are all born with the tendency to do the wrong thing. Now, this does not mean that humans cannot control their actions. They can if they take corrective measures. Proverbs 3:6 shows this, saying: “In all your ways take notice of him [Jehovah], and he himself will make your paths straight.” However, when humans ignore the proper correction, then they get into deep trouble. And the farther away individuals and nations get from God’s laws, the more ruinously they act, feeding the inborn tendency to be selfish. In this regard a New York Times editorial commented: “You can hardly take a casual look at today’s headlines without wondering where the world is going. . . . See what happens when men, institutions and nations put their selfish interests ahead of everything else. . . . The plain fact in all countries is that playing the selfish game is not working.”

Humans alone are unable to ward off catastrophe. They surely cannot replace this present system of things with a better one, as history has proved. They cannot get rid of inherited imperfection, sickness, and death. And they cannot get rid of Satan and his demons. Instead, the past course of human events has proved true the inspired words: “It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” (Jeremiah 10:23)