The world has undergone a bifurcation or, perhaps better, a trifurcation. The
limited world that we and our governments dealt with a generation or two ago
has gone global. Many of our corporations no longer hire at home. They hire
in China or Southeast Asia. Our governments increasingly focus on globally
determined issues such as trade pacts, making certain that our currencies keep
us competitive, and creating conditions that bring investment in from abroad.
Less and less official attention is being given to domestic stagnation issues
such as university graduates desperately needing jobs to pay off their debts,
to homeless families, and to people who can't afford decent food for their
children.
An increasing amount of slack needs to be picked up in our economy, which
raises the question of who will pick it up. I've argued that government might
do it, but there would be no quick or sufficient response. So it may be up to
us. Fortunately, we have institutions at hand by which we can mobilize our
efforts. Whether they recognize it or not, churches are looking for new roles.
While they still see their role as sending believers to heaven, more and more
people are no longer sure they want to go there or that believing in ancient
mythology will get you there. And if there is a heaven, might not your chances
of getting there be helped by doing something good here on earth? God would
like that.
I have no idea of what our world will be like in ten or twenty years, but what
I'd like to see is churches and other charitable institutions organizing
themselves to become an increasingly necessary sector that looks after the poor
and displaced in an increasingly globalized society. And yes, I do see the poor
and displaced growing in our society: Asian and at some point Africans will
compete with us for jobs and many of those jobs will increasingly be
mechanized, hence needing fewer people.
Yours in gloominess,
Ed
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