Great Babylon Falling

ByBrooks Alden

I remember one time as a young man standing in a brokerage office watching the ticker tape reflecting the rapid downward trend of all those speculative stocks in which I had invested everything. I had lots of company, and as I looked around at the faces, I saw a great feeling of shock and despair. We thought gambling on speculative stocks was great fun, until the dream of riches turned into disaster. Millions of investors experienced the exact same thing when the market collapsed in 2008. Yet, most of them jumped back in when it looked like a turnaround was taking place. I received a frantic call from a reader who waited until three months ago before summoning up the courage to try again. When the Dow declined by nearly a thousand points on May 6th, before leveling off at 347 points down, it was like being in that long-ago brokerage office, seeing the face of greed changing from smugness to fear. Everyone who is back on the losing path are again wondering, “What’s next.”

[div3 class=”quote” class2=”quote-l” class3=”quote-r”] The Great Depression was one that was so severe that in the post-World War II era., those looking at economic cycles tried to come up with a euphemism for “depression.” They didn’t want to create the image of or remind people of the 1930’s. Basically, they called economic downturns recessions, and most people think of a depression now as a severe recession.” John Williams, Economist [/div3]

I certainly don’t have a crystal ball to determine the short-term scenario but we who study the Bible, armed with the Israel Truth, know full well the ultimate outcome, because Revelation 18:10 tells us, “…Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.”

migrant-mother
The photograph that has become known as “Migrant Mother” is one of a series of photographs that Dorothea Lange made in February or March of 1936 in Nipomo, California.

Now, we don’t often do this but an article that we ran only months ago is too important not to place before all our readers once again. It was taken from the Nov/Dec, 2009 issue of “the Trumpet” entitled “Great Depression ReMix” and subtitled “The lyrics are different in 2009 [2010] than 1929 but it’s still the same song.” Here are just a few of the excerpts as they compared the 1929 Depression to current times.

  • Every time stock investors thought it was safe to get back in the dance, they just lost more money.
  • Every time consumers thought it was safe to start spending again, the job scene hit another low note.
  • Businesses couldn’t hold a tune— they went bankrupt by the thousands.
  • Eight decades later, the question facing the world is this: Is the worst really over, or is it just the opening note of a very familiar hymn?
  • In the area of trade, our world is also worse off than that of our predecessors. Trade levels have fallen off a cliff.
  • In 1930 America was a producer. Today, America is a net consumer, relying on other nations…
  • America has gone from being the world’s greatest lender nation to its greatest debtor.
  • America is spending money like it is going out of style

All the money might buy a little time … but it doesn’t really change anything. A problem caused by too much spending and debt cannot be fixed by more of the same.

History is repeating; you can feel the rhythm. The crescendo awaits.

Now, they may be able to summon up the resources from various plunge protection sources to turn things around temporarily but I do believe the jig is up because the entire world is sitting on a powder keg. The question is, “who will light the fuse,” will it be the one-worlders who perhaps see this present course as a planned step toward their long-sought goal. Or will it be the one-worlders, but directed by God Almighty, who is using them to destroy their own selves. I like the way the Knox Version of the Bible describes their fate, “You have feasted here on earth, you have comforted your hearts with luxuries on this day that dooms you to slaughter.” (James 5:5)

  • we-should-never-forget Even after Black Tuesday in the 1930’s, they called the economy “fundamentally sound.” Does this sound familiar?
  • Since 1933, inflation has increased by 1,627%
  • Today’s real unemployment is close to the 25% figure often cited for the worst levels of the Great Depression
  • The Depression of the 1930’s was deflationary, today it is on the road to hyperinflationary.

Courtesy “The Panic is On” by Keith Johnson

So, will we soon see Economic Babylon Fall?

Picture from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.