Seven or eight years ago, one of my favorite bands of all time, the Corrs (a band made up of three lovely Irish women and their brother, whose music is Celtic pop at its finest) released their (to-date) most recent album of original material, with the ironic title of “Borrowed Heaven.” Given that the nation of Ireland (and much of the developed world, myself unfortunately included) was seeking to live a life beyond our means in “borrowed heaven” at the time and for some years afterward, it seems particularly appropriate that I have the Irish to thank for today’s post. Let us discuss why.
Today I was sent a rather alarming video from an Irish financial expert named Eddie Hobbs [1]. It gives some alarming but rather sage advice about how the wealthy of Italy, Spain, Greece, and Portugal have been scrambling to get their money out of bonds while their nations collapse. Italy’s failure would mean the failure of the Eurozone, given the weakness of Europes’ economies in general and the inability of Germany to keep bailing out these nations. I have to say, I think Mr. Hobbes, as pessimistic as he is, is pretty spot on. My concern is that a collapse by Southern European economies will lead to a vastly less friendly European experiment, similar to the gloomy mood of the 1930’s with European bank failures and stock panics.
Do you want to know why the Stock Market plummets every time that a European nation looks like it is going to fail and spikes every time that a nation is bailed out? Because we’re all in this ship of fools together. There doesn’t appear to be a captain. The ship is taking on water, everyone is bailing furiously, and everyone wants some kind of life raft. Somehow I am deeply concerned that like the Titanic there aren’t enough lifeboats for everyone, not enough life preservers. We have spent years in a borrowed heaven with the thought that our health insurance and our old age could and would be paid for by government entitlement programs, and nation after nation is facing utter collapse because those promises are becoming bankrupt. If this continues, any government that endures to other side will be a lot leaner and a whole lot meaner–not that I like this, especially since we are in a period of collapse of institutions like families, churches, and communities that should take care of their own but don’t.
After all, in the Corrs’ album, while dealing with the melancholy loss of their mother, their own stoic determination to endure the “time enough for tears,” and their reflection that sweet beginnings in the summer sunshine often have bitter endings, they celebrate the fact that “even if the world comes tumbling down” they still have loved ones to rely on [2]. They are luckier than most of us (myself included). Without trying to sound overly alarming, we need to build our own communities with people we can trust. If we have close and tight-knit families, groups of friends and brethren and neighbors, now is the time to make sure those bonds stay strong while daylight remains. It is not the time to try to build bonds when one is a penniless mendicant and has nothing to offer except for a mouth to feed. Rather, it is the time to build networks when times are relatively good, so that there will be social capital and cohesion to draw on when times are poor. I wish I did a better job of this myself. It is better to build networks and houses than to be the spiteful sort of Danite, like Samson, who brings down the house upon one’s self, as in the video for the Corrs’ single from this album, “Summer Sunshine” [3].
Nonetheless, it seems ironic that a fantastic Irish band with a suitably ironic title and a Mark Faber-esque doom and gloom Irish financial expert would provide an intriguing insight into the mindset both of the borrowed heaven of the 2000’s as well as the sort of debtor’s hell many of us are facing either now or in the very near future. I wonder if there is enough time for us to pull ourselves back from the brink. If not, may God have mercy on us all, and may we have mercy and kindness on each other. For the worst torment can be averted so long as we remain sensitive and considerate to the needs of others, and not selfish and ungenerous with that little that God has given us. Let us hope we do not succumb to the worse aspects of our nature if the worst happens. We may not have to wait long to see whether we will have need of the support and encouragement of our friends and family. I know in my own case that my family is a week reed to rely on, but at least I still have good friends around the world. May we all be so fortunate, for we may need such help and encouragement very soon.
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLxkyWhgaSQ&feature=player_embedded
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boAyQj3YQlQ
[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BWBk1IjxgM
Edge Induced Cohesion 
Nathan, what lesson is it for us in America? First, the majority that does not understand this coming of the time called “globalization.” Despite the drastic changes that we rapidly experienced especially within the last 10 years, this isolationistic mindset is still prevalently pervasive in shutting the world out so as to concentrate only in domestic issues, why so many are so critical toward foreign affairs, foreign policy, the military, and so forth. The echoes thus sound good and I thought about these in the past. Let’s say every single American returns home to participate in propaganda concerning injustice on health care, unemployment, etc. Most often, we find ourselves caught in between the pros and cons, be it anti-___ or pro ____. But do we really understand what is happening in our rapidly changing world? How about the attitudes? How about blame it on circumstances? On the other hand, if I look in the mirror and see reality about the world around me, I hope that the light bulb goes, “ding!” Am I part of the solution or part of the problem? What about my mindset? The average mindset is where opinion seems to be much valuable than facts, BUT until put to a test that nothing can stop an idea whose time has come is My Diplomat colleague reiterates “global village” in this pluralistic world in which we presently live has always been present in the ancient world. Was this surprising to the Roman Empire that was evidently aware of such? The Roman roads were the ancient world’s internet. Should the average American continue to sit in his small, rural town where life is slow like the good ol’ days, to live the generations of simple-mindedness that continually dismiss education because the hand to mouth life is sufficient in the changing world around him? How about the urban city folk that is preoccupied with the reality show which ultimately is in “fantasy world,” living in delusion? Two different folk yet live in that false sense of security. What about this American disease called “entitlement” that generated from individualism’s self-serving mentality of “it’s all about me?” But “seasoned” travelers living abroad have become part of cross-cultural and Diplomatic relations, and they know that working collectively like the Three Musketeers’ “one for all, all for one” mindset, have been proven to be effective since the beginning of time. Despite the economic disasters that we are currently faced with, shall we then describe them tragic or accept the fact that we have entered the age of globalization? There will always be greed and that is human nature and therefore a given.Thus, the internet reduced the “big” world into “small” world of pluralism. Despite the mixed feelings, why not make the best of it regardless of the change? Perhaps this is a positive challenge in the comfort zone mindset. In support, there is no reason why people around here should not consider networking valuable. Quite simply, there is no reason why people around here should not care about others. Lastly, there is no reason why anyone should be a lot more friendly and do something good to others at least once in their lifetime.
LikeLike
I’m not sure what you’re getting at. Most Americans don’t live in rural towns. Most, in fact, have cable or satellite tv (about 85% of Americans), high speed internet. And this globalization is not an unmixed blessing. What happened to the Roman Empire? Their masses started screaming for bread and circus, their religious beliefs got pietistic, not seeking involvement with the outside world, their worldview got insular, and they would not lay a finger to protect their realms from foreign attack as taxation and inflation destroyed their empire’s economy. Do we want to follow that example? We’re doing a good job of it now.
Indeed, we are part of the problem, and this world has had numerous ages of globalization. We are in one of them, but what it does (and what I have commented on at length elsewhere) is makes us more vulnerable to what happens a long way away from us. We have increased our vulnerability without making “plan B” for what happens if it all goes South. We have sought to decrease our personal costs for products, meaning that we are dependent on conditions in a host of unstable developing countries, all without knowing what we were getting into or counting the costs. And then we have people promoting globalization as if it is sort of a panacea for our problems. No, it is not. And just as prior ages of globalization ended or created grave troubles, so this one may if we are not wise. And I do not see a lot of wisdom around us. But we are part of the problem. We are living on borrowed time, without a sound moral worldview, with societies that are crumbling around us in physical, moral, and political infrastructures. What are we going to do about it?
LikeLike
Pingback: In The Heat Of Summer Sunshine | Edge Induced Cohesion
Pingback: Rebel Heart | Edge Induced Cohesion
Pingback: Book Review: The Match King | Edge Induced Cohesion