Is Material Prosperity Enough?
THE desire for material prosperity is not wrong in itself. But is it enough to bring true happiness? Have capitalism, communism and socialism forgotten the primary ingredient for true happiness? And could this important lack explain, at least in part, why these systems have failed to make people really happy?
The sincerity of men who devote their entire lives to efforts aimed at making capitalism, communism or socialism succeed cannot be denied. And each system has succeeded in raising the standard of living in certain countries, for certain people. But have they brought genuine happiness to the majority of those lands? Have they ended crime, violence and war? Has any one of these systems wiped out suicide, drug addiction or alcoholism? Do happy people commit suicide, “escape” by means of drugs, or “drown their sorrows” in alcohol?
The avowed purpose of these various human systems is to further a way of life that is considered to be the best for all or, at least, for “the greatest number.” They attach more or less importance to freedom or to equality as being basic to human happiness. Capitalism is willing to sacrifice equality in favor of freedom. Communism puts equality above freedom. Social democracy tries to make the best of both worlds. But not one of them has succeeded in changing human nature. Human selfishness brings out the worst in capitalists, making many of them unjust exploiters; it has converted communist experiments into state capitalism, the common people being exploited by the state instead of by individual capitalists or huge corporations; it has ruined socialist Utopian dreams.
Technology Is Not Enough
Until quite recently, political and economic ideologists of all tendencies pinned their hopes on scientific progress and technology. We read: “The new technology seemed to fit [free-enterprise capitalism] like a glove and to guarantee the rapid realization of the Utilitarian philosophers’ ideal of ‘the greatest good for the greatest number.’ Even Marx and Engels, approaching from a radically different political orientation, saw in technology nothing but good.”—Encyclopædia Britannica.
Yes, from the most die-hard capitalist to the most revolutionary communist, men hailed technology as the key to mankind’s future happiness. New and better machines would do away with drudgery. Working hours would be reduced, leaving people with more leisure time for travel, culture or pleasure. How could this result in anything but happiness?
Nowadays the optimism has subsided. Technology has created as many problems as it has solved, or would you say, even more? The reference work just quoted goes on to speak of the “social defects of technological progress, such as automobile fatalities, air and water pollution, urban overcrowding, and excessive noise.” It also mentions the serious problem of “technological tyranny over man’s individuality and traditional patterns of life.”
Who, today, can seriously claim that technology has improved family life, provided people with satisfying jobs or made the world a safer place in which to live? Undeniably, something more than technology is necessary to make people happy.
“Not on Bread Alone”
As the technological revolution got under way, a few farsighted men foresaw its dangers. British statesman William Gladstone (1809-1898) issued a warning against the “increasing domination of the things seen over the things unseen,” and against the “power of a silent, unavowed, unconscious materialism.” American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) gave this poetic warning against rising materialism: “Things are in the saddle and ride mankind.”
In his book Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, R. H. Tawney denounces the “illusion of progress won from the mastery of the material environment by a race too selfish and superficial to determine the purpose to which its triumphs shall be applied.” He criticizes the idea “that the attainment of material riches is the supreme object of human endeavour and the final criterion of human success.” Additionally, he emphasizes the need of “a standard of values . . . based on some conception of the requirements of human nature as a whole, to which the satisfaction of economic needs is evidently vital, but which demands the satisfaction of other needs as well.”
Yes, for true happiness, man must have a “standard of values.” But the present state of the world shows beyond doubt that human philosophy, political economy, science and technology have all failed to supply man with a valid set of values. People would, therefore, do well not to despise the only book that does supply a reliable standard of values—the Bible.
In both the Hebrew and the Greek Scriptures, we find this basic truth: “Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.” (Matt. 4:4; Deut. 8:3) The Bible puts the emphasis where it belongs—on spiritual values. Giving a fundamental prerequisite for happiness, it states: “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need.”—Matt. 5:3.
Man has proved incapable of filling such spiritual need. By making technology and materialistic goals his top priority, he has come face to face with a crisis summed up as follows: “For all his intelligence, man behaves in communities with a thoughtlessness for his environment that is potentially suicidal. It is debatable, then, whether technology is a blessing or a bane [cause of distress, death, or ruin]. The history of technology has led from the earliest technological achievements of man the toolmaker to the crossroads at which the species now stands, in the last third of the 20th century, confronted by a choice, that of self-destruction or a millennium of adventurous growth and expansion.”—Encyclopædia Britannica.
A Millennium of True Prosperity
The Bible not only supplies here and now the spiritual values that are the primary ingredient for happiness but also gives a wonderful hope of a millennium of peace, justice and material prosperity right here on earth. (See page 13.) Well over two million Jehovah’s Witnesses living in 205 countries whose governments represent the whole gamut of economic and political systems—from capitalism to communism—have found immediate happiness by the practical application of the Bible’s moral values, while placing their hope of peace and justice in God’s sure promise of a new order.—2 Pet. 3:13.
In the past, many who are now Jehovah’s Witnesses had put their faith in the political and economic systems invented by men, or thought something could be done to reform them. Some were ardent believers in capitalist free enterprise. Others thought welfare-state socialism would solve mankind’s problems. Still others were militant communists. One of these latter, living in France, writes: “I believed that all working-class people could attain material happiness by practicing Marxism. For about 12 years I was an active member of the Communist Party. I sold L’Humanité [a French communist newspaper] on the streets and pasted propaganda posters on walls late at night. I was very much convinced that communism was the only way to put an end to the exploitation of man by man. But eventually, I became tired of the Party. We were always the same few to be asked to do the work. The rest just bought the Party Card.”
Explaining why he became one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, he adds: “The Witnesses were able to answer all my questions. I realized that God’s promises were more realistic than those of the Communist Party. I was overjoyed to meet with kind people who really loved one another. I now learned that the paradise I had hoped to see through communism would come through God’s kingdom.”
Other Witnesses have learned the hard way that material prosperity definitely is not enough to bring happiness. They have experienced the truthfulness of this Bible axiom: “The love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things.” (1 Tim. 6:10) This has proved to be true of both rich and poor. Whatever their social level may be, Jehovah’s Witnesses follow the Biblical counsel that says: “Train yourself spiritually. . . . the usefulness of spirituality is unlimited, since it holds out the reward of life here and now and of the future life as well.”—1 Tim. 4:7, 8, The Jerusalem Bible.
The “future life” that the Bible offers on a paradise earth is an eternity of spiritual and material prosperity, an eternity of life in happiness for those who prove faithful to the “happy God,” Jehovah. (1 Tim. 1:11; Rev. 21:1-5) This is a hope that neither capitalism, communism nor socialism can dare to offer.
[Blurb on page 11]
“Even Marx and Engels . . . saw in technology nothing but good”