What's the Good News About the End of Prosperity?

At first glance, not much. I doubt many of us are rejoicing and celebrating in the midst of what appears to be more than a temporary financial setback. It looks more and more like an end to excessively prosperous times. Most of us are feeling anxious about what our future holds, and how this will all play out. This is not good news, or is it?

It can be, if we play our cards right - and even if we don't, however if we choose wrong, we will need a good set of binoculars, perhaps a telescope to see the "good news" at that point.

The abundance of the last few decades has deluded those of us, fortunate enough to experience the successful, thriving conditions, of the boom, into believing that we alone control our own destiny. The wealthier and more powerful we become, the more intoxicated and subsequently, addicted to feelings of that power and our own importance.

At the beginning of any addictive process, the source of addiction generates some type of reward and perhaps exuberance. Similarly, everyone invited to the "party" during prosperous times, will find themselves inebriated by the ambiance of unrestrained high spirits that flourishing times often bring. However, just as the exuberance felt at the beginning of an addiction continues to wain over time, so does the "high" felt at the inception of prosperity.

Human beings, unlike any other living creature, come into this world ill equipped for survival. If we want to endure, we must innovate and create a materialistic world by constructing unique devices (tools) that would otherwise not evolve or come about by natural process.

Paradoxically, as we continue to evolve, much of what we think about and experience has little to do with survival, rather it has more to do with meaning...we search out meaningful experiences, many times despite the risk to life.

We don't have sex solely because it feels good, or to propagate the species...we have sex so that we may feel closer to our partner, which in turn injects significance into our lives. We like to think of ourselves as something more than a bundle of nerves operating from pure instinct...that as Martin Luther King said, "A man who won't die for something is not fit to live".

So, as we continue to evolve, the "tools" and materialistic world we create, in addition to helping us survive, enable us to seek out our "purpose" in life and give us the time to discover what is meaningful to us. Take the creation of the automobile and the airplane for example. We can survive without them, however, the car and the airplane, in particular, save us an enormous amount of time...time we can use to explore the world around us and delve into the mystery of our existence.

Long periods of excessive and escalating prosperity encourages spiritual cannibalism. Human beings inordinately consume and find "meaning" in the very tools and artificial world created in order to help them survive, evolve and explore.

Currently, we Americans are immersed in materialism, consumerism...always in constant pursuit of bigger and better, so that we may prove ourselves to ourselves and to others. We are draining our souls and the souls of our children, who not only inherit the task of cleaning up after us, they will have to replace the "cannibalistic" map we have given them in order to navigate the storm ahead successfully.

So, don't you think it's possible that deep down inside, our subconscious self may be taking delight at the prospect of the potential to replace the frivolousness and carefree self-indulgence that has reigned supreme for the last 20 years with something a little more substantial?

Well I've got some good news!
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run,
There's still time to change the road you're on.
Well I hope so!
And it makes me wonder....Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepp

Oh yeah, isn't this the song where when you play it backwards you can hear Satan? And the problem with that is? Of course you can hear Satan if you play it backwards but that's not important because when you play it forwards - the way it's supposed to be played - you hear the opposite of Phil Gramm...I mean the AntiChrist. You hear God...that's what I hear anyway.