Something New Under the Sun: From Scarcity to Abundance

The modern world really is different. Throughout history, we evolved to grapple with scarcity. Today, our greatest challenges stem from abundance.

The American Spirit Essays #9

(Previous essay: The Lessons of Rejection)

Modernity is Unique

This essay presents the first truly substantive consideration relevant to understanding the spiritual crisis poised to destroy America.  It raises a critical question: What makes the modern world unique?  Perhaps more pointedly: Why has the Western abandonment of traditional faith become so pronounced over the past few centuries—and accelerated so greatly in recent decades? 

It’s a question that every contemporary faith leader should ponder.  None of the cheap answers work.  Selfishness, hedonism, materialism, ease, freedom, etc. merely scratch the surface—particularly if you agree that spirituality is a core human need.  No, it turns out that there’s a genuine dynamic at play that all faith leaders and faith communities must understand: Recent centuries really have marked a discontinuity in human existence.

“What was will be, what’s been done will be done, and there’s nothing new under the sun” is perhaps my single favorite biblical quote.  Yet something new under the sun has indeed arisen to dominate recent existence.  From time immemorial, the basic condition of human existence has been scarcity.  Industrialization and capitalism ushered in an era of abundance.

It’s impossible to overestimate the importance of that shift.  Until fairly recently, the overwhelming majority of all human activity was dedicated to the production of food.  That allocation of effort was hardly frivolous.  The overwhelming challenge facing humanity—in all eras, all cultures, and all parts of the world—has been the provision of enough food, with guaranteed consistency, to feed the community.  Well fed communities, in turn, then expended considerable efforts securing their food sources, trade lines, and storehouses against the inevitable attacks from poorly fed neighboring communities.  And it was not just food.  Potable water was at least as scarce (far more so in some parts of the world).  Other resources posed similar problems.  Quality shelter, safe energy production, clothes, tools, sanitation, medication, safe navigation, and information were equally scarce.  Those gifted in producing and securing them could command positions of wealth and honor.