Circular Letter March 2009

Circular letter
March 2009


An early crisis in the spirit of this century
By this time it will have dawned on most of us that we have been plunged into a deep global crisis. Ever since the roaring sixties of the last century we have dreamt about all kinds of global ideals based on ‘sharing together’ and ‘flower power’. The so called ‘carnation revolution’ in Portugal and the student revolts in Paris and Berlin marked a break with the past and its authoritarian systems. But this idealistic dream did not last very long and soon the revolutionary world of Che Guevarra and the so called paradise-state of Fidel Castro’s Cuba had to give way for a much more businesslike approach which was prompted by the economic hard times of the early eighties.

The utopian world had receded. Earning money, making a career and personal development were the new motivators. In the U.K. the miner’s strike was effectively broken in 1985 by the Thatcher government. Before, Britain defeated the Argentinians in the 1982 Falklands war. In the U.S. Ronald Reagan built up US military strength whilst Soviet power was crumbling and by the end of the decade the Berlin wall was torn down. Personal ambition and shareholder-value were the banners. Few can escape the spirit of the time. At most it is possible to stay aloof, decide not to participate and accept the consequences. Even then the time-spirit remains a dominant factor. However, the new businesslike approach soon appeared to be an even bigger dream than the utopian world of ‘flower power’ and the ‘hippies’. In 1968 the Beatles hit the world with their song Hey Jude don’t make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. That was the sound of the sixties: to make a better world. Ten years later Billy Preston sang with Syreeta with you I am born again. In ten years time the spirit of that time was transformed from world-improvers to the adepts of personal development aiming to be born again in the arms of a woman. In 1994 the Dutch singer Marco Borsato composed a song called dreams are empty.

Facts and dreams were swapped for personal ambition. Hefty bonus schemes and ‘big deals’ helped to inflate the balloon even further with hot air. In that dream of personal ambition we ignored our sense of measure. The sky was the limit. Bankers started to finance castles in the air and, finally, the ordinary people ran to the Icybank and got an ice-cold shower. They lost their savings. Now it is time to sober up and contemplate the astronomic bill we all, as taxpayers, will have to pay. That bill will only be paid if we come back to our senses, if we wake up and start to observe, once more, the natural measures in everything. Bankers have lost their trading stock in the form of trust and confidence. They do not even trust each other knowing how much ‘baked air’ has been pumped into their respective balance sheets. If the banks do not trust each other how can the money flow? The present crisis demands a new beginning, a new sound; the sound of our conscience in its sobering simplicity. Discover how things really are. Look at the facts and love the truth. Deflation helps because it stimulates new impulses. At low tide innovation is necessary in order to survive.

Paul G. van Oyen