Dean Rusk Arrives for SEATO Conference - Lcgmn.com

CURING YOUR FINANCIAL
PROBLEMS
Why IS it, despite continued prosperity, that mil/ions of
families are burdened with debts - worried about an insecure
future? There IS a cause - and here is the cure.
,
GHT NOW there is a major crisis
in money. Interest rates are
R
climbing.
Inflation is ballooning.
In the U. S., according to latest
figures , widows and retired workers on
social security are finding their savings
dwindling - their standard of living
dropping.
In Britain, Prime Minister Wilson
has been forced to adopt an austerity
program.
W hy the Crisis
Here is what's happening-and why.
Look, first, at Britain. Under the
Socialist Government, wages have been
rising the first six months of this year
at the rate of 7 percent. But production
has stagnated. Last year) increases in
wages and salaries exceeded the increase
in national output by 2 billion
dollars! Inflation resulted. The British
pound sagged. National bankruptcy
threatened if the trend were not immediately
reversed. The Government was
forced to act. Now Britons face a recession
within a few months.
Look, next, at what's happening in
the U. S. Despite general prosperity,
millions of elderly widows and retired
workers are less well off than they
were ten years ago. A recent government
statistical report reveals these
facts. The real income - after adjustments
for federal taxes and higher li v­
ing costs - is down almost 3 percent
for widows on social security. Retired
workers' real income is down almost
4 percent since 1956. .
For most Americans, however, salaries
and wages have risen faster than
the cost of living. Latest U. S. Government
statistics reveal these facts:
Workers in
the clothing industry,
by Herman l. Hoeh
for example, are over 6 percent better
off than they were in 1956. Bank
employees, almost 12 percent. Steel
workers, over 17 percent. Construction
workers, 22 percent. Auto workers, 30
percent. Federal Government employees,
almost 36 percent. And large farm
operators, 47 percent better off than
in the depressed year of 1956.
In other words, people in almost
all walks of life are better off today
than ever before in spite of limited
inAation.
Then why do so many continue to
have financial problems? worries over
job security ? nagging debts?
T he Cause
There is a Cause for every problemand
a cure.
But what do we see today? Instead
of getting at the cause of their problems,
.. peopie want to treat the penalties!
MedKal doctors, for example, generally
tre~t the sickness, not the cause of the
sickness.
When it comes to money, people
don't seek the cause of their problems:
They attempt to treat the effect. If
they are too heavily in debt, or their
monthly payments are eating up their
salary checks, they look for an "easy
payment plan," or open up a revolving
charge account, a credit checking
account, or step to a bank offering
"insured ready cash ."
Is it any wonder that those who are
in debt usually remain in debt?
These varied easy credit arrangements
do not solve the financial problems
of most people. They perpetuate
them. They keep people in the habit
of overspending, of stretching out payments-with
heavy hidden interest rates.
Families already in debt are persuaded
to think there js an easy way to get
more and pay later. The emphasis is
on getting, not giving.
The fundamental cause of financial
problems is going the way of human
nature. Human nature wants to get,
wants to satisfy and please the self.
It wants to satiate toe five senses. If
we see some object especially appealing,
the senses immediately exert a pull
on the mind. We suddenly find our·
selves wanting to have it. Instead of
asking oLUse/ves whether we can afford
it, we seek an easy out through some
fi nancing plan.
It's time we looked at human nature
for what it is. Human nature exemplifies
the way of getting. It is the way of
lust, of covetousness, of greed, of vanity.
Uncontrolled, it leads to financ ial
rum.
Human nature IS the opposite of
God's basic law- the Ten Commandments.
The law of God was given to
man to teach him the way of giving,
of helping, of loving neighbor as mudl
as self. It was given, if you please,
to teach us how to keep out of debthow
to rightly use our income. Yet
how many people today have been misled
into believing that the law of God
is evil, harsh, cruel, and bad for us?
Is it any wonder that so many religious
people are poor, debt ridden, financially
insecure? It ought to be just the
opposite!
Financial Law Regulates
income
The reason for financial problems is
broken l(lw/ It is time we recognized
that God set laws in motion to govern
everything in the universe. There are
laws of physics and dlemistry, laws of
health and success, and financial laws.