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What happened to all the money?

Published Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Most of us are aware of the news that bombards us each day concerning the state of the economy both here in the U.S. and around the world. We are familiar with terms like “global recession,” “economic downturn” and “financial crisis,” even though we do not fully understand them.

Companies have laid off employees and reduced spending. Their profits are down from the last quarter or last year (almost every financial fact is based on the “previous quarter” or “the same quarter last year”). People who are out of work are spending less because they have less to spend. Those who still have their jobs are more cautious about their spending habits. Simply put, there is less money to spend and so the whole problem centers itself around money or the lack of it.

So where did all the money go? No one burned it! It didn’t just blow away in the wind! You didn’t “lose” money in your 401K, your mutual fund retirement account, or your investments. The money is not “lost.” It is still in existence. The fact is, someone else has it now!

We, the American people, have put our trust in money and in other people who were supposedly going to make more money for us. Many of those money managers proved to not be trustworthy because they kept our money. But money itself is not worthy of our trust either. All of our currency, both coin and paper, have the words “In God We Trust” written on them. It’s ironic and sad that we trust more in the money than in the God we claim to trust. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. We have all witnessed that. Money is not worthy of our trust; only God is. We wouldn’t be in this mess today if we would only trust God, who alone is worthy. The choice is yours. Trust money and material things which eventually fail us, or trust in the God of all creation, who never fails.

Gordon Loverink

Hollandale


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Comments

Posted by jojo (anonymous) on May 13, 2009 at 9:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Thank you Gordon for you letter and thoughts. There is so much truth that you wrote about and I thank you for stepping forward and sharing this.

Posted by trifid (anonymous) on May 14, 2009 at 2:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Good point. Investments were made. Companies used these investments to grow. They pay investors for the use of that money. But where is the real wealth? Was there any real wealth gained? The bubble collapse showed very little real wealth was gained by average people. Alot of people earn a living passing wealth around. But in the end our standard of living is stagnant at best. As usual the wealthy and power elite continue to accumulate, yes, more power and wealth.

Posted by trifid (anonymous) on May 19, 2009 at 12:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

If God was simply 'Love of God and neighbor' I would believe.

If capitalism were simply "...making a living or making money..." I would be a believer in capitalism.

Humans corrupt both God and capitalism. It is the corruption that is unacceptable and unhealthy.

A corrupt God and corrupt capitalism, in turn, corrupt humans. And so the downward spiral continues. Sheep, in the care of corrupt shepards, will follow downward. Cuz they are sheep. And the wolves sit to the side, shake their heads in disbelief, and wonder if it is even safe(or ethical) to eat such lost souls, souls which cannibalize in a race to the bottom.

9/11 proved that some wolves' bellies are grumbling, and so they risk biting into the soft fat herd. Will the shepards protect the herd? Or will they run....overseas to distant lands where vast young herds wait to be led?

On the radio today, an interesting observation. Capitalism is more popular in China and other Asian countries than in the USA. The bright lights of capitalism reflects in their eager eyes. Now it's their turn.

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