World debt may be ubiquitous but things aren’t quite as they seem. The world is not in debt, not as a world – the Earth owes nothing financially to the planet Mars. So if world debt is ubiquitous, then as a world we are no worse off financially. We remain as exquisitely wealthy as we can be, because creating debt doesn’t mean the money escapes.

What it comes down to is the old problem of distribution, but debt can’t be the enemy, not if everyone prospers from the wealth on their doorstep – doorstep Earth. However the real enemy is the service paid to money as our motivation – for making money. Hence we change our lives in the pursuit of money, which at best is meant to serve our lifestyle, now changed because of the need for money.

And we can see the results at the most fundamental levels of life and family, where the pursuit of money overtakes the priorities it is meant to serve. Thus debt is merely a device that binds us to the service of money – lest we forget that we have willingly chosen to make it our master.

Mike Laidler