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The Anthropocene Age of Corruption
By Wilfred Hahn ((Eternal Value Review) / Rapture Ready
Apostle Paul opined, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:21-23). Who would disagree with Paul? It is far better to be with Christ than to continue to sojourn here in this fallen world.
Mankind was sentenced to “toil” after the fall of Adam and Eve. “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17). We must labor. We are bound by the physical laws of gravity, which is always pulling on our bodies. There is no such thing as “standing still.” There is yet no final rest.
In fact, all of creation labors. Says Paul, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Roman 8:22). It groans under its corruptible nature of sin and imperfection. The Second Law of Thermodynamics (entropy) is in operation, causing all of physical creation to deteriorate…to tend toward randomness. Isaiah 51:6 states that the entire earth is wearing out like a garment.
Elijah has not yet come who “[…] restores all things” (Mark 9:12). As such, the world is still in spiritual turmoil, with the spirit of the antichrist at work, incessantly driving mankind to an insurrection against God (1 John 4:3). It marches to the “ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient, both succumbing and pandering to Mammon. The “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16) remain the overwhelming motivations for much, if not most, of human action.
Thankfully, we can exult in the knowledge that the day will come that “[…] this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). Until that time, we here on earth do continue to groan. Why? “For everything in the world […] comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:16). Everywhere we look, the world is wearying itself.
A World Wearied by Corruption
Though philosophers and New Age thinkers may proudly declare that the world has recently entered the Anthropocene Age—the Age of Man—it only shows signs of deterioration. The world at large, busily trying to make its appointment with history, is ever further removed from the wisdom of God. This statement of Isaiah reflects the attitude of the Age of Man: “You wearied yourself by such going about, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless’” (Isaiah 57:10). God’s plan of salvation is doggedly refused and denied.
In every direction, we see growing burdens, corrosions, and the taxes of sin. We list here just a few of the corruptions that continue to weary the world.
1. Shrinkage. In the retail industry, “shrinkage” refers to decreasing inventory for reasons other than sales. Mostly, this is attributable to stealing. According to the Worldwide Shrinkage Survey, “the annual cost of shrink is equal to a ‘tax’ on every family worldwide of about $229.”1 It is estimated that the equivalent of 1.34% of all sales (estimated at $104 billion in 2008) are lost due to theft. Here we see that honest consumers end up paying more because of the cost of doing business. In effect, every consumer bears this burden of “shrinkage” whether it is fair or not.
2. Insurance Fraud. Fraudulent insurance claims are a serious problem, adding enormously to insurance costs for honest consumers. False claims plague virtually every type of insurance; according to the Insurance Research Council in the U.S., fraudulent auto injury claims added $4.8 billion to $6.8 billion in excess payments in 2007. That is equivalent to a 13 to 18% increase in payments under private-passenger auto policies from 2002.2 According to a study by the insurance industry association Canadian Coalition Against Insurance Fraud (CCAIF), at least 26% of all personal injury claims in Canada contain elements of fraud.3
3. Wages of War. The world remains in a fractious, competitive and evil state. Vested interests, whether economic or religious, continue to foment wars and strife. The impact of wars in human terms is incalculable; only the Lord can know the total cost of suffering, terror and inconvenience they cause. Everyone would agree that the world would be a less corrupt place if there were no more wars on earth. Consider that the defense-related expenditures for the U.S. in 2012 are estimated to be greater than $1 trillion. While these expenditures indeed support many jobs, we can still agree that a world not burdened with the costs of war would be a better place. One organization provides comparisons to alternate expenditures to warfare. For example, instead of spending $80 million on an F16 fighter plane, one could buy 205,128,205 meals for starving people or 2,515,723 adult cataract operations, restoring sight to the blind. Of course, such calculations are not entirely valid. But nevertheless, such comparisons illustrate how much less the world would groan if there were no war.
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