Neither austerity nor growth are the answer

There's currently a significant disagreement between governments and political parties about the alternative policies of austerity and growth - and there is a great deal of discussion about this in the media.

Those who say we should maintain austerity measures make a sensible point when they say that the cure for a big debt is not more debt; we must learn to live within our means. But those who promote growth also make sensible points in saying that there is no point having large sections of the population unemployed, which is both costly and unproductive; we should be encouraging growth so that people are earning, paying taxes and in that way we can all pay down our debts.

I've already written about debt (see: We're still in denial about debt). But I think both the austerity and growth arguments are fundamentally wrong; they are both built on a delusion.

Both models assume that the measure of progress is financial, that the way forward involves getting back to 'business as usual' and depends on reinvigorating the consumerist and materialist society with which we are all familiar. The disagreement is merely over the best way to get to that goal. But it's the wrong goal!

If a system is flawed, don't try to reinstate it! And it is flawed. It is built on the belief that we just need to better control the financial systems. But the Bible - and painful experience - have shown us that when you worship money and greed, they inevitably control you! Money is a very harsh god indeed:

• it promises security, but actually robs people of security
• it sets one person against another, causing scheming and deceit
• it will never bring peace, fulfilment, happiness or contentment
• it breaks up families and communities in the pursuit of the individual
• and it keeps the majority of the population in poverty, exploited for the benefit of the few.

We definitely don't need to get back to 'business as usual'. Moreover, it isn't a matter of making minor changes to the existing system - the very nature of the beast is built on a devilish lie; it is inherently unstable and definitely unsustainable.

But we have an unusual opportunity at present. When all is apparently going along 'like normal', then no one will contemplate or countenance changing course. But at present, it is abundantly clear that all is not well and a change can be considered, in fact it has to be considered!

I recognise that we cannot create a 'Christian society' simply through political change (see my blog on 'Why do we expect non-Christians to behave as if they were'). For that, a change of heart is required which is only possible through submission to Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. However, that is not to say that Christians cannot be 'salt and light', working for political change which is in line with the Bible.

We need policies that:

• put families and community at the heart of policy; this has implications for tax, housing and working time policies ...
• encourage local initiatives and local trading; this has implications for planning, food and transport policies ...
• respect careers such as teaching and nursing over roles such as investment banking, and 'being a celebrity'; this will be reflected in the values seen across government policy and where time, resources and respect are allocated ...
• create work, leisure and housing opportunities for the young; this has implications for apprenticeships, affordable housing, recreation and retirement policies ...
• work to diminish pay differentials, say to 10 : 1 (i.e. top earners are paid no more than 10 times the lowest paid workers); this has implications for tax policy, pay and grading, and regulation of top salaries ...
• look to long-term security and stability, not short-term financial or political gain; this has implications for cooperation between political parties on matters which require long-term planning ...
• value good stewardship of natural resources rather than reckless exploitation of the world's dwindling reserves; this has implications for energy policy and would discourage the 'throw-away' society.

We would end up materially poorer, but how much infinitely richer!

We're still in denial about debt

Financial debt

Financial debt - personal, corporate and national - has been much in the news recently. We're beginning to recognise the glaringly obvious: that we can't continue to live beyond our means. Debts have to be repaid sooner or later and this is usually painful.

As a nation we are struggling to put in place austerity measures which will bring the debt mountain down while still protecting the poorest and most vulnerable. So far we seem to be failing on both counts, in that our national debt is still increasing, while it is the poor, the young and the vulnerable who are being worst hit by the cuts.

The cost of addressing this debt is counted in redundancies, unemployment, longer working lives and reduced pensions. It's painful, and is likely to last years.

But this is only the financial debt - the one kind of debt we are waking up to and daring to address. There are other, much greater debts, not even spoken of or considered, and which will demand a much more savage repayment.

Debt to the third world

We in the Western world continue to live our affluent lives on the backs of exploited labour and plundered resources, which we take without proper recompense from the third world. This is a debt to the majority of the world's population, kept in poverty in order to maintain the minority in comfort - so we can pamper our pets, worry about losing weight, and have shiny cars to wash. ['The West' - the North American, European and Australasian continents plus Japan - amounts to about 22% of the world’s population.]

The cost of addressing this debt would be much greater costs for many goods, and a consequent significant decrease in the living standards in the West over the decades to come. No - let's not even think about that!

But do we think this can continue forever without some pay-back? Civil unrest, mass migration, wars and the fall of western powers are all likely.

Debt of natural resources

But there is a yet greater debt! It arises from the profligate use of the world's natural resources. We use up millions of years of coal and oil in a few decades; we take iron, other raw materials and precious natural minerals as if there is no tomorrow.

And in so doing we rape the planet, change the climate, melt the ice caps - and make it increasingly likely that there will be no tomorrow for our children and our grandchildren.

The cost of this debt is weighed in the survival of the human race in any form that we would recognise today, quite probably within the space of hundreds of years.

The debt of sin

Finally we enter the realm of debt where the cost is not just a matter of belt-tightening or redundancies, nor even significant changes in lifestyle, but is a matter of personal life and death.

All the above comes under the heading of sin. And for this there is no repayment possible other than falling on our knees in humble repentance and seeking God's undeserved forgiveness.

Don't assume this is a small matter - the cost to Jesus was death, and to us is choosing whether to acknowledge Jesus as Lord. And this decision has consequences not just for tens or hundreds of years, but for all of our eternity.


Like the financial debts, none of these other debts are going to go away; they only get worse while we pretend we're fine. The question is: are we going to continue to turn a blind eye until it is too late and we reap the consequences of our actions? Or are we going to begin right now?