I would never suggest that poverty is not real. I regularly suggest that it’s not quite as real, or rather quite as widespread as many seem to think. There is no question that the sundry follies of both parties over the past decades have damaged deeply our once mighty economy, especially the past four years. Inflation is real, destructive and its fault lies at the feet of our federal overlords. It creates genuine damage, real hardship.
That said, I’m pretty sure we all have a sense of entitlement and lack a simple understanding of economics. Consider the way we speak of our economic challenges, “I can’t make my bills.” “A person can’t live on that income.” “The price of a house is out of reach.”
That first one, “I can’t make my bills” assumes that bills are like weeds. They just crop up, without our doing anything. The truth is bills are what we owe for the goods and services we have determined to purchase. Mind you, when I say, “determined to purchase” I don’t mean, “Given careful and sober thought to.” I mean, “Signed on the dotted line for, thinking said good or service is my due, what’s owed to me.” When we enter the marketplace we enter like kings. When the bills come in the mail, suddenly we’re paupers.
The same principle drives this other expression, “A person can’t live on that income.” We do not ever ask, “Live how?” We think there is a set of givens everyone has a right to expect, either a home or an apartment, for family only. Not long ago frugal people rented rooms, taking their meals in boarding houses. We think we’re owed not merely affordable transportation, but a dependable car. My parents did not have a second car until they were in their forties. We think that not only must we have a cell phone but it must be an up-to-date smart phone. Along with high speed internet, several streaming services, on a smart flat screen 4000K TV.
People all across the globe manage to live without these things. We think they are the bare minimum for a decent life. It is much the same with respect to homes. Fifty years ago the average size of a home was roughly 1500 square feet. Ten years ago is was 2400 square feet. Fifty years ago that amounted to 478 square feet per person; ten years ago it was 924 square feet per person. The problem isn’t the price of things as much as it is our appetites.
As bad as monetary inflation is, expectation inflation is far more destructive. As bad as federal debt is, consumer debt is more likely to destroy us. In the end, “I can’t make my bills” usually equates to “I don’t earn enough to meet the obligations I’ve taken on myself.” There may be perfectly understandable reasons for this, reasons that may not be the fault of the one struggling. But, more often than not, the problem is found in a mirror.
The key to contentment is not getting yourself into a situation you think will make you content. We must give thanks to the One who puts us in whatever position we find ourselves in. He always gives us better than we deserve. He has given us the Pearl of Great Price, who loves us and cares for us. Loving the Shepherd more will likely help us better keep the wolves from the door.