Perspective

   By L. Jim Tuck

   June 15, 2023

Prepare to Greatly Reduce Your Standard of Living

            No one doubts the days of old are gone, basically due to the change in the economy of the world. The world for a long time was based on an agrarian system where dad, mom, and the children worked together to take care of a farm to survive. Families didn’t have much, but because they worked together, they had a closeness.

            The great affluence of this age came about because of the new industries of the twentieth century. Men like Rockefeller, Carnegie, Henry Ford, and other titans of industry got the world headed down the road of business, which put millions of men to work. It provided a standard of living for the masses which allowed for a better way of life. It created a middle class which could enjoy the accoutrements of a decent life, like a home and a car, and at the same time, it left the family unit intact.

            Mom was still at home for the children when dad went to work and returned home at the end of the day.  Such a configuration in most homes today does not exist. It is estimated that over forty percent of children return home after school to an empty home, and they must wait for their mother and father to return from work. In more extreme situations, some children spend so much time without their parents they are labeled as “latch key children.” 

 

            How did it become this way? The big change came during World War II.  Millions of men went off to war, and the factories which produced armaments for war were suddenly shorthanded. The United States, which had resisted entering the war but now as a participant, lacked the manpower to produce the jeeps, tanks, aircraft, and other war materiel needed to fight the war against Germany and the Axis Powers. Women with the missing breadwinner lacked the income to support the family and were forced from the home to find work.

            Women by the millions sought employment in industry in order to fill the income needs of their families. Children were left at home when not in school to fend for themselves or were looked after by extended family members such as grandparents.

            By the time World War II ended in Europe on May 7, 1945, the die was cast for American families. When the fathers came home, the mothers very often did not stop working outside the home, and so it has been increasingly for the last 78 years. Nowadays the inflationary economy and the rapidly rising cost of living has forced families to have two incomes to survive, and even with two incomes it is still getting more difficult to maintain a decent standard of living. A new survey found that Americans living paycheck to paycheck increased over the last year, with about 64 percent of consumers saying they were living paycheck to paycheck at the end of 2022, according to a report from Pymnts and LendingClub. The modern way of supporting a family obviously for many just is not sustainable, and something needs to change for many to survive financially.

            The motto of Ambassador College was “Recapture True Values.” We struggle to hold fast to right ways in our families and personal lives. Jeremiah 6:16 says, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, “We will not walk in it.”’”

            Man has always stubbornly resisted and rejected God’s ways, and they have said, “We aren’t going to do it!” This world will not turn around and recapture the values which worked in the past.

            Where is the world heading? The pre-industrialized world, which was based on farming, was more stable because a family could adjust in a national crisis; they could produce food for themselves. Families today don’t generally have that option.  What would happen if the economic structure of this world collapsed? Most simply would be ill equipped to survive, and many would go hungry or starve.

            In both World Wars millions of families had their own gardens to feed themselves. “Victory gardens,” also called war gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia during World War I and World War II. In wartime governments encouraged people to plant these survival gardens.

            Some saw the coming great economic demise of this world’s economic system long ago. Herbert W. Armstrong, who was ahead of his time, wrote an article in the January, 1980, Plain Truth, titled, “Prepare to Greatly Reduce Your Standard of Living.”

            Do we believe the economies of this world could collapse? Consider this, the emergence of the Antichrist will very likely occur to rescue a collapsed financial system, and he will rise up and stabilize the economy; it will be a system where no one can buy or sell without the mark. Of course, we cannot and will not take the mark of the beast; anyone who does will partake in the end time plagues (Revelation 16:2;18:4;19:20; 20:4). 

 

            First and foremost, God’s people trust God with all their heart, soul and mind. We have faith in God’s divine care.  Secondly, since most don’t live on farms or in the country, as much as possible, we ought to, in a balanced manner, prepare for difficult times should they come.

            It is unwise to go overboard as some have done in the past, but it is prudent to lay up some emergency supplies for your family to survive a few weeks should something suddenly happen. We should not rely on the government or others in such a time to come to our immediate rescue. Proverbs 27:12 says, “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”

 

            Wisdom would dictate we be prepared as we would for any disaster like a tornado, or an earthquake. Above all, we prepare spiritually, asking our Father for His Spirit to be renewed in us daily and to lead us as we navigate uncertain times when we may have to greatly reduce our standard of living. 

 

            Have a good Sabbath and a peaceful weekend.