| Highlights of Dawn | April 1974 |
“No Way Out”
BECAUSE it has so suddenly thrust upon him such massive inconvenience, and seems even to threaten his very lifestyle, the curtailed supply of gasoline to drive his automobile strikes dramatically and disturbingly home with the average man in the United States. He might less grudgingly have adjusted to the deprivation of some of the many other good things that he possesses; but the automobile is something special. He regards it as his indispensable servant, his vehicle to pleasure, his status symbol. And indeed, it is, to many, an absolute necessity.
But there are numerous other shortages in the making, some to present merely inconsequential inconvenience, others of which will be felt seriously throughout the economy, and be reflected in our daily lives. It just happens that the shortage of gasoline serves to reveal man’s unwisdom in a way that few other deficiencies would have, for it touches so very many in a tender part of their consciousness.
Only the Beginning!
As with gasoline, some of these other developing shortages are also related to the unavailability of oil and to insufficient refining capacity. Automobile tires, for instance; and plastics, fertilizers, synthetic fibers, and literally countless other products which play important roles in the economic life of the nation are derived from petroleum. Also vitally dependent on the supply of energy for their production (and therefore also largely dependent on oil) are steel and aluminum, the latter of which particularly requires huge amounts of energy in its manufacture. These and many other products will also, ere long, be in short supply, with easily predictable effect upon their cost. And the diminished supply of oil and the attendant difficulties are likely to be with us for a long time. All in all, this abruptly changed climate is something of a jolt to the complacency of the average citizen.
A visitor to our shores from France recently journeyed by car across the United States, and expressed amazement at the vast extent of our magnificent forests—and truly they are grand. Yet today, if you complain to your local lumber dealer about the cost of a few feet of shelving, he will tell you that lumber is not as easy to come by as it used to be. One substantial buyer of our forest products is the nation of Japan, which has but scant forests of her own from which to supply the demands of her expanding industry and population. And other hungry buyers are appearing on the scene.
Paper, another product placing a heavy demand on our forests, is also being vigorously sought after by other nations, and shipped home to keep their factories going. It, too, is now subject to occasional spot shortages, and in some cases to near-panic buying and hoarding. Supermarket managers in some areas report that their shelves have been snatched bare of various forms of tissue as a result of rumored shortages.
The Prevalence of Waste
And how wasteful we are of paper, as of so many other things, forgetting that these are precious resources, to be shared by others of the present and of future generations! One commentator remarked that when one goes to the lunch counter to pick up a cup of coffee, the clerk fills and caps a paper cup and places it in a paper bag, along with a paper napkin and a plastic spoon, all of which are soon (and thoughtlessly) discarded.
It should be remarked that whatever paper shortage occurs is not altogether due to a greatly expanded usage of paper products. Some of the short supply is the result of environmental considerations related to the manufacture of paper. Many paper manufacturing plants have stopped production, indicating their inability to operate profitably under the added burden of the costs required to render their operations nonpolluting. So, unable to find a way around the problem, many factories stand idle.
Massive Pollution Arrives
Environmental factors also enter into the fuel shortage in this country. The use of coal, of which this nation has an abundance, has been largely eliminated because of its high sulphur content, which pollutes the atmosphere. Also, militant local interests often successfully block the construction of unsightly refineries in their areas. As with so many other matters, we all can see that paper mills and oil refineries and steel mills are desirable factors in our lives. But please don’t build them in my backyard, build them someplace else!
Pointing up a similar inconsistency in our thinking, (and in answer to the objection raised to the intolerable noise created at some large airports, though we so much enjoy their convenience), someone offered a tongue-in-cheek observation to the effect that what is needed is a genius who can somehow create an airport in the center of the city, but which does not require the planes to fly over any houses! And so the problems multiply, but the solutions continue elusive.
And how long ago was it that our nation’s officials were worrying about the evil effects of overproduction of pigs, of wheat, and other products? Today, the nation’s housewives find that all kinds of meats are scarce and expensive; and even wheat is at least momentarily scarce, with local bakers forecasting, unbelievably, that the price of a loaf of bread will be at one dollar in a matter of months. Fortunately, the government recently recommended that the wheat farmers plant more acreage. We trust the weather will co-operate. But what is revealing is the fact that these rapid reversals of policy are adopted by our great governmental agencies, whose sole business it is supposed to be to keep the economic ship on an even keel.
Down the course of the centuries the people were largely ruled by the aristocrats. The word aristocracy means, literally, rule by the best, and one became a member of this aristocracy, or ruling class, by virtue of his great wealth, or his possession of vast lands. Among these there were doubtless some who were beneficent. But by the very fact of their position they exerted great power over the people, and it is not difficult to see that that power would be used to perpetuate their own class, and their own privileged status. If a man wished to work, it would be pretty much on the terms of his landlord. But at any rate, conditions in general were fairly stable, and life flowed on for century after century without great change.
Advent of the Labor Union
With the coming of the so-called Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries great changes were wrought. Machines began to replace hand labor, families left their farms, flowed into the urban centers, and went into the factories upon which they then became dependent to make a living. The economic tides flowed between good and bad, and the phenomenon known as “boom and bust” came into play. When conditions became bad the worker was left without a job, but he no longer had the comforting security formerly provided by his little garden patch. Hence, in the beginning of the nineteenth century the move by the working class to unite in labor unions began to take shape.
The power of the unions gradually brought about improved pay and working conditions for the laboring man. But over the decades that have passed since the first labor union was formed, these organizations have attained sufficient power to threaten the economic well-being of whole industries and even nations. Thus, while it did indeed materially raise the standard of living for the masses, one of the thorny results of the Industrial Revolution was to sharply delineate the opposing factions of capital and labor, with an intensification of the ingrained conflict between the two.
By its very nature, the Industrial Revolution gave birth to a society each element of which is highly interdependent upon every other element to do its particular job. But the power of the labor unions to protect its members can also be the power to destroy the employer when injudiciously used.
In recent weeks we have witnessed the disastrous impact on England’s economy of a “slowdown” by British miners in their struggle for higher wages, the results of which were further compounded by a strike of the engineers of England’s railroad system. So serious a threat did the resulting situation become to the economy of the nation that Prime Minister Heath threatened to call for an election to determine, as he put it, who is to run the country—the government, or the unions.
Unique Problems Engendered
So we see that along with its real material benefits, the Industrial Revolution also brought major problems, which are unique to our day, the solution to which is rendered difficult, if not impossible, by the imperfections of all concerned. And as has been so starkly demonstrated in the present worldwide oil crisis, the vital interdependence that exists between the various segments of an economy is not restricted to single nations, but extends to the relations between the various nations of the world. Failure, through selfishness or otherwise, to recognize that we all need each other, not only as individuals, but also as nations, and as one world, works havoc with the well-being of all. Meantime, the relentless struggles between the opposing parties go on.
It is now more than a year since “peace” was arranged between the divided Vietnamese, but the fighting and the suffering and killing persist. The religious hate-war in Northern Ireland has lost none of its viciousness in spite of all that worried British officialdom can devise. And even now efforts are under way to hammer out a peace treaty between Israel and the Arab nations. Here, too, religious issues are deeply involved, and it will be interesting to observe what progress can be made.
We hear very little at the moment concerning the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, which were designed to produce agreement between the two superpowers to limit, and hopefully later on to reduce, the production of nuclear weapons. It is to be hoped that something constructive might be achieved, but there is skepticism in the minds of many as to how well the United States is likely to emerge from such negotiations. In the meantime, the awesome threat of a worldwide nuclear holocaust continues to hang darkly on the horizon.
That there is trouble in the world is nothing new, for this has always been so; but what is indisputably new in the world today is the type of the trouble, and its magnitude. Certainly, the rate of population growth is new, and the intense pressures. that these new, demanding millions exert in every direction are unprecedented. Their feeding and sheltering inexorably eat into earth’s resources, the richest of which are becoming less abundant and more costly to discover and extract. This, too, is posing new problems for mankind.
Signs of the End
As farmers, manufacturers, and shippers endeavor to supply the increasing material needs of the people, pollution results. Again, there has always been a measure of pollution in the world, but never before has it existed on the alarming scale to which it is present today. And only in the last few decades has the world civilization been threatened with nuclear extinction; that, too, is unique to our day. Astonishingly, we are living in a civilization that can and has put men on the moon, but which cannot devise solutions to the problems of the earth.
When the disciples questioned Jesus as to the signs of his presence and the end of the age, he told them, among other things, that at that time there would be a time of trouble such as the world had never before experienced, nor ever would again. (Matt. 24:21) One translation describes it as a time “the like of which” has not occurred from the beginning of the world down to the present time. (TCNT) We believe we are in that time of trouble which Jesus described, and which marks the end of the age.
In describing this same period, Luke tells us that at that time there would be upon the earth “distress of nations, with perplexity; … men’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” (Luke 21:25,26) The word that is translated perplexity in this passage is revealing in view of the seemingly insuperable problems facing the world today. It is translated from the Greek word aporia, meaning, literally, no place to go, or no way out. The New English Bible says that “the nations will stand helpless, not knowing which way to turn.”
No Way Out
The world is steadily and inevitably approaching that state of affairs from which they will eventually find there is no way out—no way out, that is, through human efforts. One of the figures in the lamentable Watergate scandal recently commented on his own and the nation’s difficulties. He observed that it would be futile for the American people to conclude that they can cure their political problems simply by going to the polls and electing new (and presumably better) leaders. “We’ve been looking too much to humans,” he said “It is time to look to God.”
But the world has not as yet reached that last stage of human experience when they finally come to realize that human wisdom cannot solve their numerous problems. Though “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now,” they do not yet realize that their troubles are basically rooted in their own sin and selfishness. They do not yet see that their only hope for peace on earth, for love between men, and for life, are through the redeeming work of Jesus. They do not know of the coming glorious kingdom of God, that wonderful world wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Before the blessings of the kingdom can be poured out upon the people the poor, blundering world must first endure the pains of the death-struggle of this present evil world that mark the final phase of the time of trouble, and which will lead to the birth of that sublime new world wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Brethren Not in Darkness
But while the world is in darkness as to the awesome significance of the events now occurring in the earth, even as in the days of Noah the people “knew not until the flood came,” this is not true of the Lord’s people. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.”—I Thess. 5:4
To the footstep followers of Jesus our Lord himself made a wonderful promise. Referring to these world-shaking events that should mark the end of the age, he said, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”—Luke 21:28
The Lord’s people do not rejoice in the present and impending suffering, but they do rejoice in knowing of the glorious ultimate outcome of God’s loving plans and purposes for all mankind. The hearts of the Lord’s people are made glad, not simply because their own redemption is nigh, but because they believe we are nearing that blessed hour when the bounties of the kingdom shall be showered upon all people. They rejoice because they see the signs foretelling the longed-for consummation of that age-long prayer, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”—Matt. 6:10