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from Satan- is the same spirit that
has swayed humanity into the way
of strife, competition and retalia–
tion for the past 6,000 years.
Man Far Astray
Through the centuries man has
been led far away from God's way
of living.
In the beginning, God offered
the first humans all the land and
resources necessary to support their
lives and secure their livelihood–
free and clear. He offered them
bountiful and fertile land. He gave
them an agricultura] heritage upon
which to develop their families .
They were to dress and keep this
heritage as the primary base upon
which to develop their lives cul–
turally and socially.
But from the beginning, nations
cut off from God rejected the way
of give or love-they rejected living
peaceably and cooperatively with
their neighbors. They chose the
way of competition, war, lust and
greed. The way of get and competi–
tíon filled their minds. They would
trade cooperatively only if they got
the better of a deal.
lf
they got less
they threw aside all signs of civi li ty
and ·chose war or retaliation.
What Could Be
1
n such a world God called a spe–
cial people- ancient [srael- from
slavery. They were to have the
opportunity to experience a totally
different way of life. They could
experience fantastic economic and
social blessings if they obeyed
God's
revea/ed
laws.
The first thing God commanded,
when Israel entered the Prómised
Land , was that each tribe and fam–
ily was to receive a permanent
inheritance in fertile land. God did
not want ·his nation to become a
country of landlords and impover–
ished tenants without a secure
means of earning a livelihood.
For obe.dience to God's way he
prorri'ised to protect them from
their enemies. He promised rain in
due season. Moreover God com–
manded eacb landowner to rest his
land every seventh year to preserve
its fertility (Lev. 25:1-6,20, 21).
If a family through carelessness
fell into debt and had to borrow
money, it would be Ioaned from fel–
low countrymen without interest.
28
And if the debtor couldn't repay all
the debt , it would be forgiven in
the seventh year, a set year of
release for the whole nation. Mon–
ey didn't need interest.
It
held its
value. And God promised to bless
the creditor if he released the debts
owed him (Deut. 15:1-11 ).
If
for sorne reason a family fell
into deep debt and had to sell part or
all of the family inheritance, that
part which was sold would return
t~
the family without cost on the jubi–
lee year-the 50th year of God's
economic cycle (Lev. 25 :10-16, 23) .
That meant the fundamental means
of earning a livelihood would never
be out of a family's possession for
more than one generation.
God set all these laws in motion
to correct the causes of inflation
and depression, laws that would
protect everyone's security and
livelihood.
How different from the ways of
mankind through the centuries!
Man's Jeopardized Livelihood
Through the centuries man has suf–
fered or feared loss of land and
means of livelihood from wars · or
from confiscation by governments
claiming to act in the name of the
people. In much of history landles$
impoverished bordes were little
more than serfs under powerful
landowners or governments. In areas
of the earth the same is.true today.
The Industrial Revolution dra- .
matically changed the way man
lived.
It
offered employment and a
means of earning a living to the land–
less, but it offered no security or
place to turn if people lost their
jobs.
So what do we find in our own
century? What caused the Great
Depression in thé 1930s and the
trade wars that inflamed and pro–
tracted it? Before the Great Depres–
sion people had been encouraged to
spend unwisely rather tban save.
They had iow financial reserves.
People were trying to get more
than they earned or produced .
Depression was fueled by uncon–
trolled speculation on stocks
inflated beyond their worth. People
wanted to make a quick killing by
bidding low and selling higher.
Speculators in the markets sud–
denly realized they couldn't recoup
their costs. Panic selling ensued and
the stock market in the U.S. col–
lapsed, causing many to pull wbat–
ever savings they had out of banks,
collapsing the banking system.
Nations who had through the
1920s been building up barriers to
imports to protect their own indus–
tries, clambered for higher, more
protective barriers. The world econ–
omy shuddered. Nations met trade
barriers with retaliations of their
own.
But within the world's competi–
tive system, there are industries
and nations who are staffed by
workers who are more willing to
sacrifice and work for the good of
the whole company or nation; will–
ing to receive pay increases only
when they produce more and earn
more; willing to hold down their
standard of living for sorne greater
good. They can beat out greedy
competitors over tbe long term.
Do you want to know who is living
more by the law of give, if only in the
area of the production of material
goods or services? All you need todo
is look and see where tbe workers
and managers labor in harmony,
work efficiently and honestly-give
to their companies, earn their wages
and increase productivity by im–
provements in work and machinery.
They are the ones who wi ll win in
this world's trade competition.
T~ay
Japan and a few other
nations are practicing sorne of the
ways of "give" on their jobs more
than their . competitors. Only be–
latedly have workers and unions in ·
many advanced industrial nations
awakened to this fact. Millions in
their greed for self forgot they were
competing with all laborers of the
world.
But every nation- including Ja–
pan-possesses fatal flaws in eco–
nomic and social structures. None
can escape serious economic and
trade difficulties in the years ahead.
Look at your own life. How
secure is your job? Where would
you turn if you lost your means of
livelihood? How many humans in
this world can boast of a secure
means of livelihood?
The issue of trade war boils
down to attempts on the part of
governments~ften
for selfish po–
lit¡cal reasons-to protect jobs, the
essential means of people's liveli–
hood and security.
The
PLAIN TRUTH