No, I’m not saying the sky is falling.
Nope, I’m not saying it’s the end of all time.
But this quote caught my eye in this morning’s paper:
“I’m a free market person,” President Bush told reporters after the summit ended, “until you’re told that if you don’t take decisive measures then it’s conceivable that our country could go into a depression greater than the Great Depression.”
(Click here for the full text of the President’s statements following the conference.)
So, what is President Bush really saying here? And, remember, this is George W. Bush speaking, who has co-owned the Texas Rangers, made millions from the oil industry, and always spoken up for the expansion of free trade and capitalism. This statement wouldn’t be nearly as remarkable coming from socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, but it is being made by our current Republican President.
We’ve already seen communism fail. And although we keep hearing the press clamoring about rendezvous between the leaders of China, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, and North Korea, communism clearly failed, accented with the felling of the Berlin Wall almost 20 years ago.
Nevertheless, President Bush leaves no doubt that the United States, as well as the rest of the world’s leading economies, plan to enter into a financial alliance that will be something quite different than free market capitalism. Are we seeing the end of capitalism? Are we seeing a the dawn of something different? Something new altogether?
I personally don’t know that there will be anything truly “new,” but I do think it may be new to the United States. It may resemble the New Deal policies of the 30s with one unique twist – an international mix. We shall see. What do you think? Is this quote something to notice and what can it mean?
Regardless of what it means, those of us who follow Jesus need to keep praying as He taught us to pray – that God’s Kingdom would come and His will be done, on earth just as it is in Heaven.