| (Copyright 2022) by James McBride (United Kingdom) |
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| As a child I could travel several miles into town by bus for half of an ‘old penny’, and ‘sixpence’ bought my weekly comic and sweets. The home in which I grew up cost £450 (new), and an aunt paid seven shillings and sixpence weekly rent. My Dad had a good income of £40 per week and we lived comfortably. The Bank of England calculates that as £350 today—so what happened? (Today’s average wage is £584.) In 1978 a gallon of petrol was 75p, and today hovers around £7. That’s inflation, and it averages over 5% annual increase with some years being much higher. During wars– and in preparation for a war— when a nation borrows, inflation soars as in 1930’s Germany, while by mismanagement in Zimbabwe (2008) inflation rose to two million percent. It is in effect a tax, reducing the value of savings and destroying lives—and nations. World debt has almost reached 300 trillion dollars. (Where does the interest go?). It’s a sorry fact that governments welcome inflation as, especially in times of crisis, it reduces the value of public debt—there’s less to pay back. (The current UK public debt tops two trillion pounds.) It is, however, devastating for those on a fixed income (e.g., pensioners) as the basic commodities inexorably rise in price. For those able to save for a rainy day, money committed to the bank for safe-keeping (which the banks profitably lend) draws almost zero interest—and may soon cost the saver negative interest (i.e., you pay the bank to look after it). It is almost inevitable that the world’s financial house is on the brink of collapse. It is built on the crumbling foundation of debt, greed, and covetousness. Nations may weather this catastrophic storm—for now, but its ultimate destructive force will precipitate financial collapse: ‘…They shall throw their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be an impure thing. Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Jehovah’ (Ezekiel 7:19). It is prudent that, when possible, we be cushioned financially and that we enjoy and use wisely the fruit of our labour. Yet we live with the knowledge that our real support is in God (‘…give us this day our daily bread’), and that whatever resources we may have accrued is destined to be swept away in the debris of a fallen world. ———————————————————————————————————- Reprinted with permission from: The Churches of God Outreach Ministries http://www.cgom.org/ ———————————————————————————————————- |
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