A History Lesson

Though I have thought long and hard about what sort of post to write next--I have been dissatisfied with the tenor of most of the news I have read, little of interest has been going on in my life, reflecting on Father's Day and the 4th of July left me with rather melancholy material, and I have been quite busy with graduate school. Though these particular reflections are melancholy enough, I figured it was a suitable subject to discuss on a blogger post, as many people who read this are, no doubt, well aware of my profound interest in both history. Fewer people are likely to be aware of my interest in the generational cycles of history, but recent newspaper articles and serious reflection, as well as my own particularly deep-rooted sense of pessimism have led to this particular post, which seeks to compare our times with the age of the 1920's, our last guilded age. Additional comparisons will be made with the 1880's, another time similar to our own with similarly serious consequences. Make of these comparisons what you will.

A New Guilded Age

I have read much in the past few years about the rising wealth of corporate magnates whose own tax obligations have lowered even as the economic health of the general population at large has been hindered through stagnant wages, a crushing burden of debt, and an increasingly regressive tax burden as societal interest in defending the common people, much less the disadvantaged of society, begins to crumble under the combined weight of moral decay and corporate plutocracy. Let us see how this is so now, and how it has happened throughout critical and dangerous periods of American history that our time, in many ways, closely resembles.

Most of the articles one reads about the comparisons between the historical periods in question (the 1880's and 1920's) and our own revolve around questions of class and distribution of wealth, questions that are of interest to me (but mainly for their implications on the moral justice present in a society). In all these three times wealth was concentrated in the hands of an ever-shrinking number of fabulously wealthy people who lived in obscene wealth and privilege while the general population suffered stagnation of wages (among the middle class) or a deterioration of economic position (among the lower classes). One important measure of a society's health is how equitably its economic resources are distributed. There will always be some degree of inequality in a society through the accidents of birth, differences in diligence, ability, and education, but such factors themselves do not make for extreme differences in wealth, largely because our own native abilities and inclinations do not vary over a huge range. Societies that demonstrate a lack of concern for social justice and for the concerns of those who are not well off (witness most of Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and so on) are precisely those countries which have the most unequal distributions of wealth. To the extent that the United States persists in its increasingly unequal distribution of economic resources, the fabric of society will become increasingly frail. After all, if those who possess an ever-growing percentage of wealth and power do not share in the insecurities of ordinary people, then the concerns of the majority of the population will not be reflected in the policies a nation conducts, unless there is social unrest sufficient to remind the wealthy and the powerful of their obligations to the rest of society.

There is some evidence that this is already taking place in parts of the world. Unscrupulous populists with mandates to forcibly redistribute wealth have taken power or consolidated their hold in several countries in Latin America (namely Venezuela and Bolivia), and nearly took power in Mexico. Meanwhile, social unrest over various issues have erupted in the US (over immigration), in France (over immigration and policies designed to harm young adult workers), in China (over government corruption and population controls), and in other places as well. These are not unconnected. As wealth becomes more unequal the institutions of society (whether tax systems, justice systems, or political systems) become more unjust as they reflect the interests of an ever-smaller segment of society. This in turn leads to growing apathy about the fairness and benevolence of government, unless an authoritarian populist leader can motivate these disaffected masses to rise up against the powerful and corrupt. Paradoxically, this furthers the corruption of the state because such leaders do not tolerate limits on their power from free presses and from independent sources of power, and so personal corruption based on cronyism replaces the corruption borne out of wealth. Furthermore, the institutions of democracy (such as an independent judiciary and the market economy) come under threat because of how they had become corrupted to serve the interests of the few instead of all.

It should be noteworthy at this point that in the present age as well as the 1880's and 1920's, immigrants became a common scapegoat for the frustrated longings of the masses (this was also true in the 1850's). In the 1880's, for example, immigrants from China were often the scapegoats for the stagnant wages of unskilled laborers. In the 1920's, immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe were the scapegoats. Now it is immigrants from Latin America as well as the Middle East. In all of these cases immigrants of distinctive appearance, religion, and social customs, whose streaming from areas under extreme stress led to increasing competition among native unskilled workers and created intense social unrest on both sides.

Though my opinions on illegal immigration are rather complicated and nuanced, the immigrants themselves are the symptoms and not the problem. Illigal immigrants (then and now) find work because of official corrpution that refuses to enforce laws, as well as corruption in businesses that seek to avoid paying market wages for labor or provide adequate working conditions. In the end, a few wealthy benefit and the majority of people suffer, though the suffering of the immigrants is often less intense because the situation where they came from is even worse. Intensifying the trouble is the fact that while unskilled labor conditions become increasingly unstable and threatening, there are increasing barriers to entering professional fields due to increased requirements for education and competence. When society ceases to be one and divisions between economic classes becomes hardened, the results are increasing social unrest.

It should be noted that these times are precisely those where the burden of taxation placed on the middle and lower classes is the most severe. During the Guilded Age, for example, income tax laws were declared unconstitutional because corporations were judged as falling under the persons whose rights were protected under the 14th amdendment. This was true even though those same courts denied those rights to the people actually defined under the 14th amendment--freed slaves and their descendents. When corporations have rights and people do not, something is terribly amiss in a society. In the 1920's, incomes were taxed while capital gains were not, and so the wealthy profited handsomely through stocks and property speculation (no comment) while the tax burden fell increasingly on the middle classes (whose benefits were typically in salary and not stock). In our times, we see property taxes and income taxes and estate taxes (which tend to affect the middle and upper classes the strongest) lowered while lotteries and sales taxes (which tend to most strongly affect the lower classes) increased. This skews the tax burden to the poor, who are precisely those who can least afford it and benefit the least from the expenditures gained from those taxes. Socities that rely upon the ignorance of the people to provide for their own unust gain play a very dangerous game.

It should also be noted at least briefly that these times are also precisely those where the national and personal debt levels in society reach the highest levels. Nations, banks, and individuals borrow and lend money at increasingly bad terms in order to keep up appearances, ever putting off the day when they must pay the piper and thus ensuring that the reprocussions of those decisions are the most serious possible and extend over the entire globe. Even if people realize the situation they are in, it is as if they lack the ability to do anything constructive about it, further increasing the strains on an increasingly tense situation.

Social/Religious Stresses

It is of no surprise that during these same times the social and moral fabrics of society also becomes frayed. It is foolish to speculate upon which is the cause and which is the effect between the various factors, but it is important to note that they are all interconnected, which would seem to indicate that there is a connection between them, possibly mutually reinforcing.

It is surely not coincidental that evolution has been a major issue in the last four periods of serious societal stress. In 1859, Darwin published his book "On The Origin of Species." In the 1880's, the doctrine of social darwinism, where the wealthy (the fittest) were claimed to owe no obligations to the "lesser" and "unfit" elements of society was defended and elaborated upon. The 1920's featured the Scopes Monkey Trial and the move to teach macroevolution in the schools. Today, of course, evolution is hotly debated, as the benefits of avoiding obligations to God and fellow man outweigh a concern for the objective evidence in the eyes of many powerful people (if not the population at large). A major reason for this is that Darwinian evolution, in its materialistic universe (without room for a just God who rules sovereignly over His Creation) and its appeal to the survival of the fittest (which would lower one's sense of obligation to the poor, the old, the sick, and the unfortunate) serve against the divine requirements of social justice emphasized repeatedly and strongly throughout the entire scriptures.

Meanwhile, these times are noted also for dramatic societal trouble about drug and alcohol abuse, abortion, euthenasia, immorality in dress, objectification of women, rampant problems with sexuality, violence, and so on (see the Great Gatsby for a comment on the situation of the 1920's, or any of the works of Nathaniel West). In all of these times there is a profound dissention between the standards of the youth and the declining hold of "traditional" morality upon the behavior of the population. Furthermore, these times show a consistent trend towards rampant materialism (see above note about evolution) as well as the importance of appearance over a rigorous attention to reality. Each of these issues alone is worthy of several ranting posts, but time and energy do not permit me to spend my 26th birthday this way.

It should also be noted that these times featured the growth of superchurches (the 1920's in particular) at the expensive of denomonational loyalty. Indeed, any kind of loyalty is particularly difficult to find in these eras of history. Such superchurches are also noticed today where pastors write Horatio-Algeresque tales (see the 1880's) invoking the gospel of plentitude (see the Prayer of Jabez for a notable example of this) and where wealth and success are often taken as signs of righteousness. This has the often neglected but rather pointed corrolary that failure and poverty are the signs of unrighteousness, which serves to bring the nastiness of the outside world into the confines of congregations. Rather than preach about the gospel of social justice that is found in the Bible (notice the first speech of Jesus Christ, or the consistent and fierce condemnation of those who abuse wealth and power in the Bible, especially--but not only--in the prophets such as Hosea, Amos, Jeremiah, Isaiah), the emphasis is on numbers (money, membership) to the detriment of deep and serious examination and application of the scriptures. As a result, even though religion is popular, the Bible does not exert influence over the lives of professed believers.

What Follows

This is predictably depressing, but worst of all is the reflection of what follows after these times and is the direct result of the processes of decay and segmentation found in eras like today. When one looks at what followed the last three eras that most closely resemble our own, the results are quite striking. In the first era, the period of trouble in the late 1850's was followed by the Civil War, the most catastrophic war in American history thus far, when a group of states led by privileged and unjust slaveowners sought to create an independent nation founded on freedom from government interference with slavery but the most draconian regulations on slavery and the criticism of it. The Guilded Age of the 1880's led to the prolonged depression of 1890-1896, which led to the birth of the American Federation of Labor and the Progressive reforms of the early 1900's (including antitrust laws and the first laws regulating the quality of food, among others). The "Roaring Twenties" was followed by the Great Depression and the rise of facism and militarism around the world, leading directly into the Second World War, the most destructive war in recorded history. Obviously, this is not good. What can be done about it at this advanced state is difficult to say, but when I look at the state of the world today, and the inability of people to deal with the full extent of the moral roots of this present state (including those people who see apocalyptic signs in these times) is not a pleasant one.

What will follow these present times, I do not know, but such times have never ended well. Perhaps one of the conflicts in our present society will lead to some bitter rift and ugly civil turmoil. Perhaps there will be a depression like that of the 1890's or 1930's, with delayed federal action to respond and laws that swing the pendulum too far to the other side in response to the current imbalance. Perhaps some unscrupulous leader will take advantage of the righteous indignation of people and promise unrealistic solutions in exchange for the further weakening of our freedoms and our democratic system. Perhaps there will be riots and unrest in the streets. I am no prophet, I do not know. What I do know from all the history I have been able to find on such times like these is that the situation will not be tackled until there is no other choice, and the solution will be more expensive and more troublesome than it has to be if the problem is dealt with sooner. We lack the leaders with the moral vision to understand the depth of the problems we face and the moral courage to deal with the problems and how they interrelate. What can be done about that, I do not know. History lesson concluded.