Not in Our Time
“Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?” With those words King Hezekiah comforted himself while setting aside Isaiah’s warnings that his descendants and his kingdom’s wealth would be taken by the Babylonians. Millennia later, a “not in my time” attitude is one of our most formidable cultural and political challenges. Too many seem to say, “tomorrow—leave that to the forecasters” (and chance).
Unlike the prophet Isaiah, today’s prophets (really forecasters) rely on facts, human assumptions, mathematics, and the processing power of computers. Daily we see new forecasts on entitlement shortfalls, prospects for global warming, troubling trend lines of wealth distribution, and the like. Paired with these forecasts is the predictable polemic. Outspoken, often stridently partisan spokespersons sound off, either apocalyptic or dismissive, like fireworks in a celebration gone awry. Assumptions are attacked; common ground is infrequently sought. For the self-comfortable, the level of disagreement is sufficient for at least the subconscious to mutter, “not in my time.”
King Hezekiah was warned that some of his descendants would be made eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon. While today’s warnings do not anticipate the castration of our children or grandchildren, many of them forecast significant economic burdens at a moment in history when economic structure is rapidly changing.
At the turn of the century, the United States possessed about 23 percent of the world’s wealth. This outsized status was in part due to the fact that many of our competitors spent the second half of the twentieth century recovering from war while many others suffered under state-dominated economic systems. As China and India lead the developing world in embracing market-oriented economics, these favorable circumstances for the US are vanishing. While the growth of world markets will be an advantage to the best educated and most enterprising regardless of nationality, those whose incomes are tied to lesser value-added jobs will face increasing pressure. And as the US economic advantage erodes, issues dealing with intergenerational bookkeeping will become even more difficult to resolve.
At this point the temptation is to review unfunded liabilities (Social Security, Medicare, public pension obligations), profligate consumerism (energy consumption and pollution), and severe educational gaps. But these subjects are so well known that the briefest mention quickly shapes a word picture in our mind. It’s the cognitive dissonance that is most alarming. Able people of good will could solve or at least ameliorate these troubling conditions, but to date partisan and ideological cleavages have largely immobilized so-called government leaders. The culture of short-termism has been a useful ally to the partisans.
Relatedly, we in the US have been willing to fight two wars with about 1 percent of our citizens. Nations should fight wars, or they should not be fought. We should not all be asked to become soldiers, but we should all be rallied to provide war-footing financial support, to aid the families whose sons and daughters have risked or given their lives, and to personally help rebuild the nations we have attacked. This is our time, and leaders across the full social and governmental spectrum should inspire us to play constructive roles.
We are now embarked on what will undoubtedly prove to be the longest political campaign on record. I believe we are turning so early to selecting our next leader because of a profound discomfort in the current relationship between the elected and the voters. Simply stated, I believe voters sense that to candidates the game has become more important than the outcome. Missing so far from twenty-first century political rhetoric is reciprocal obligation. Candidates who seek to govern, if they are to be trusted, must talk about the obligations of the governed. The best leaders inform and inspire.
Sure, we all suffer to some degree from a “not in our time” mentality. But the history of our country convinces me that the vast majority is eager to elevate political discourse and decision-making and is looking for leadership that will help us do just that.
Al Sikes, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, is a Trustee of The Trinity Forum. He formed Hearst Interactive Media and continues as a consultant to the Hearst Corporation, and is the founder and chair of the Reading Excellence and Discovery Foundation.
6 Responses (comments are closed) • Provocations, Leadership, Society, Thu 12 Apr 2007
Al’s thoughtful piece, particularly his comments on what we owe those who serve in the armed forces overseas (and their families), reminds me how separated we are from each other and from the concept of service to each other and to community. We do owe those who serve and their families much more than they receive today.
Perhaps during this predictably long campaign ahead, the concept of community service can gain some traction. People of faith, and volunteers around the world know that real happiness comes from service to others. We could all be more connected to each other if we served each other more. Although I would prefer that service sprang voluntarily from the heart, a requirement for 18 - 24 months of service to society in various forms sometime between the ages of 18 and 24 would seem to be an idea whose time has come.
This reflection is quite wise in its observations and applications. But I couldn’t help but notice one thing additionally—and it is noticeable primarily for its irony. This same society which can’t be bothered with dealing with difficult issues “in my lifetime” nevertheless has a deep yearning to achieve or experience personal gains to the full “in my lifetime.” Even among those who hold to Christian truths, there seems to be conviction that the length and breadth of God’s purposes and promises should be contracted to this fifty, sixty, or seventy years of my existence. How else should we account for the sky-rocket sales of a book called “Your Best Life Now”?
It amazes me how many values and principles are trampled under foot while society runs after their own peace and affluence. No one seems to understand the person or group that believes some things are worth suffering for. To most, these people only appear foolish. Isn’t it greed and obcessive self love and importance that has created an environment where any cost or sacrifice is too much. Envy has replaced hard work and struggling through. Then when those bankrupt characters crumble they scream even louder. Living in this screaming and divided society is like trying to fing joy in a shallow heart, IMPOSSIBLE. As for me, there will always be principles and values I’m happily willing to endure suffering for. My priceless reward is anothers joy.
very helpful, short term thinking and lack of genuine engagement is causing huge problems around my own work area in surgical training in the uk
Dallas, Texas
on 2007 04 17
While I agree with much of Mr. Sikes comments, my research continues to reveal that very few individuals in leadership really go to the root of many of the problems discussed in this article. Money and how it is created.
The cognitive dissonance is coming from all of us because we really fear investigating our history critically and asking “How did we get to this juncture?”
Last week, David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, stated that to see a nations debt climb from $20 trillion to $50 trillion in the last six years, was immoral. I would encourage every American to read his recent piece, A Critical Challenge Facing Our Nation (PDF).
Contrast Mr. Walker’s bold statement with two other individuals who are highly recognized for their contribution to economic thinking and our current monetary system that supports our 20th century way of private and public life.
I was born in 1957. The oldest numbers I have found from the Federal Reserve online were taken from January 1959. At that time the money supply as measured by M3 was $288.8 billion. When I went to college in September 1975 the money supply had grown to $1,145 billion. The month I was married, December 1983. At that time the supply had grown to $2,681 billion. My last son was born in May 1995 when the money supply had climbed to $4,449 billion. February 2006 was the last time the average individual could see this number and at that time it was $10,298. If this is so painful that you can not fathom what you are reading, then I would encourage you to take your own life events over the last 50 years and map them according to our massive increase in money, or more accurately, debt. link.
As of March 2006, the leaders of the Federal Reserve System felt that the number was not needed for public viewing anymore and for that reason, it was being removed from public viewing. link
I would encourage each individual reading these comments to go to Webster’s dictionary and look up the definition of inflation and deflation. Then compare the answer you read with those final words of John Maynard Keynes from his 1919 work, The Consequences of Peace..."The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.”
May God have mercy on us. May we use this time in world history to point all men, women, and children to Him and His word. For only in Him will man ever find any peace or purpose.