International Politics: A Global Shell Game
AutoBahn is a road for cars in Germany, LifeBahn is the path to prosperity for people. Through the LifeBahn lens, we see only human beings. We are -ism blind - we do not see socialism, capitalism, sexism, racism, or any other -ism, but humanism. We believe that:
In our last post, we defined a dilemma: in our global economy, the increasing national debt across the globe is hurting us beyond measure. All of us, families, no matter where we live, are simply trying to provide for our families and help them prosper. Wealth is a key component of that prosperity. Wealthy is when our income is greater than our expenses, allowing for disposable income to invest and grow our wealth.
We decided to heed this wake-up call and took the first step of acknowledging that we are in big doo-doo! Next, we said we would look at a few countries to see if the same pattern emerges, determine why this debt is increasing, and find ways to achieve disposable income for investment, growth, and prosperity.
This week, we examined the national debts of the US, UK, France, and Russia. Additionally, we looked at the national debts of China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. A pattern is emerging: regardless of the type of government or who we elect to manage our money, we are constantly let down, and our national debt keeps increasing.
The point is not that we have debt; the issue is that it is constantly increasing. To test the hypothesis that a country's prosperity is tied to its increasing debt, we looked at countries with some of the best standards of living, such as Switzerland. What strikes you immediately is that their debt is pretty steady; it rose slightly early on but has since decreased to a manageable level.
This confirms that increasingly unmanageable debt is a path to economic disaster. Manageable debt is essential debt that you have the ability to pay back over time, such as a mortgage. It is when the debt is unmanageable that we get into a downward spiral, which is often impossible to get out of, as many Americans are finding out at their peril.
This is how most prosperous families function. They have essential debts, such as mortgages, and maintain a reserve for emergencies. Occasionally, due to unforeseen circumstances beyond their control, such as health issues, they incur additional debt but pay it back as soon as possible. In fact, one of the lessons in our "A Lifetime of Education in 52 Weeks" program is: "Pay now or pay later; later is always much more expensive."
What can we learn from this, and how can we use it to our benefit? A Pakistani artist has perfectly and beautifully captured this dilemma in an image labeled “Pakistani system – Pakistani Nizam.” Those who have plenty, much more than enough, are further fed by those who have little and are constantly in debt, getting deeper.
Hence the growing prosperity gap between the 1% and the 99%. Most would look at this picture and say the big bad guy is taking from the poor. It is so much easier to blame someone else for our troubles.
The LifeBahn perspective is: why is this poor man feeding the big fat guy who already has his hands full? This is the conundrum we need to solve. In the LifeBahn community, we believe that:
This simply means that we are all responsible for our actions and no one else. This is what being human means. Now, let's be clear – this is not easy. Taking responsibility for our actions is the hardest thing. But then again, prosperity doesn’t come easy. In the 1960s, during the peak of American growth and prosperity, when America decided to go to the moon, JFK when asked about taking on such a hard challenge, replied, "We are going to the moon not because it is easy but because it is hard."
So, in our LifeBahn community, we choose to take on the hardest challenge of all – taking responsibility and control of our own life and destiny. We start this challenge first by acknowledging that we are in a big doo-doo, as we have done in this blog. Next, we learn how to succeed in life through GREAT education and finally develop and practice a collaborative mindset to help each other succeed.
In fact, our “Lifetime of Education in 52 Weeks” program does exactly that for families. It teaches how to prosper by increasing wealth, understanding our environment, and learning from past lessons. This 52-week program is free. It is online with the next session on July 14 and every Sunday thereafter at 10 AM EST (NYC) and 4 PM CET (Madrid). To reserve a spot, go to edugreat.org.
The bottom line is that understanding the global debt crisis and taking responsibility for our actions are crucial steps toward prosperity. By learning from past lessons and adopting a collaborative mindset, we can help each other succeed. Remember: in a competitive environment, only a few succeed. Collaboration is the better way
