Faith Meets Life: An end to the ‘get rich quick' economy
At times it feels like we are being transported into the world of Margaret Atwood's “Oryx and Crake.” There, genetic experiments have gone out of control, and the world is faced with terrifying creatures. In that world, our technologies generate untended consequences.
The unintended consequences I am thinking of at the moment are not related to genetic experiments, but to financial ones. No one intended that the very financial technologies that are supposed to make us secure would create so much economic insecurity on Bay Street, Wall Street, and around the planet.
What has gone wrong? Most of what we hear puts the blame on faulty financial instruments such as derivatives (I'm not sure what those are), lax regulations or overzealous lenders and borrowers.
But perhaps the cause of the economic crash we have witnessed during the past several weeks is not, in the end, merely the result of poor management or faulty regulation. Perhaps the true cause is something deeper: that all of us are highly tempted to get in on financial arrangements that promise a lot of money, or that allow us to buy a lot of stuff quickly. We are hooked on success defined in materialistic terms.
The borrowers of all those bad mortgages were told not to worry because the real estate market would magically make them richer. Investors were told not to worry because those richer borrowers would make the payments the investors counted on. No one would loose; everyone would get rich.
Maybe what people need more than a review of financial regulations and improved investments strategies is to ask, “Why is having a great deal of money and possessions so important?”
This is a question raised by Jean Vanier in the September 27 issue of the Globe and Mail. Vanier is the founder of L'Arche, a movement made up of 137 communities where the able live together with the disabled. There are two L'Arche communities in London.
Vanier responded to a comment made by journalist, Ian Brown. Brown, father of a handicapped young boy, reflected on the time he spent with Walker, his son. He wondered how his experience with Walker at L'Arche could possibly make a difference to Bay Street, “where success is an addiction and always more valuable than weakness?”
Vanier's response was, in effect, a challenge to the way we all tend to think. We tend to think that the more possessions and experiences we can buy, the more human we become. But Vanier offers a different perspective, no doubt supported by his Catholic Christian understanding of life.
He wrote about our culture of competition where the weak are seen as a nuisance. For Vanier, it is not individual (financial) success that makes us more human. It is the practice of encouraging and supporting each other in our weaknesses. “I find strength,” he wrote, “because I live in a [L'Arche] community, in a place of belonging. We encourage and support each other, but even more, we love each other and celebrate life together. We human beings are made to be people of joy, of fun and celebration.”
Maybe, if more of us could embrace a little more of Vanier's perspective, our financial systems would not be under the enormous pressure caused by our “addiction to success.” Could we become more fully human, not so much by achieving upscale financial goals, but by embracing the weaker ones around us?
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
The unintended consequences I am thinking of at the moment are not related to genetic experiments, but to financial ones. No one intended that the very financial technologies that are supposed to make us secure would create so much economic insecurity on Bay Street, Wall Street, and around the planet.
What has gone wrong? Most of what we hear puts the blame on faulty financial instruments such as derivatives (I'm not sure what those are), lax regulations or overzealous lenders and borrowers.
But perhaps the cause of the economic crash we have witnessed during the past several weeks is not, in the end, merely the result of poor management or faulty regulation. Perhaps the true cause is something deeper: that all of us are highly tempted to get in on financial arrangements that promise a lot of money, or that allow us to buy a lot of stuff quickly. We are hooked on success defined in materialistic terms.
The borrowers of all those bad mortgages were told not to worry because the real estate market would magically make them richer. Investors were told not to worry because those richer borrowers would make the payments the investors counted on. No one would loose; everyone would get rich.
Maybe what people need more than a review of financial regulations and improved investments strategies is to ask, “Why is having a great deal of money and possessions so important?”
This is a question raised by Jean Vanier in the September 27 issue of the Globe and Mail. Vanier is the founder of L'Arche, a movement made up of 137 communities where the able live together with the disabled. There are two L'Arche communities in London.
Vanier responded to a comment made by journalist, Ian Brown. Brown, father of a handicapped young boy, reflected on the time he spent with Walker, his son. He wondered how his experience with Walker at L'Arche could possibly make a difference to Bay Street, “where success is an addiction and always more valuable than weakness?”
Vanier's response was, in effect, a challenge to the way we all tend to think. We tend to think that the more possessions and experiences we can buy, the more human we become. But Vanier offers a different perspective, no doubt supported by his Catholic Christian understanding of life.
He wrote about our culture of competition where the weak are seen as a nuisance. For Vanier, it is not individual (financial) success that makes us more human. It is the practice of encouraging and supporting each other in our weaknesses. “I find strength,” he wrote, “because I live in a [L'Arche] community, in a place of belonging. We encourage and support each other, but even more, we love each other and celebrate life together. We human beings are made to be people of joy, of fun and celebration.”
Maybe, if more of us could embrace a little more of Vanier's perspective, our financial systems would not be under the enormous pressure caused by our “addiction to success.” Could we become more fully human, not so much by achieving upscale financial goals, but by embracing the weaker ones around us?
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
