The War on Confidence

I am amazed at the confidence we place in capitalist economies that can go sour so quickly. Look at us! With costs surging all around us we've made a bed of nails for ourselves! The big, petrol thirsty vehicles housewives used to choose over the nippy city car have now become huge liabilities. Totally unsellable on the market, panicky owners secretly hope that the theft of vehicle statistics will include their 4 X 4 next time. The insurance settlement will go a long way to cooling an overheated budget. "Where is the crime when you need it!"

Our confidence is harder hit than the stock market in times like this. Doom and gloom predictions of up to 70% repossession of houses by banks is positively chilling. It is also fear mongering propaganda. Designed to crush your confidence.

Speaking of propaganda, check my current favourite advert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A6YZc78NnE (By the way don't believe that message saying the video has been removed. Try again, Youtube are too embarrassed to admit their server is busy.)

I am speaking at Urban edge on the War on Confidence this weekend. The power of negative propaganda will defeat you before you offer a fight. Propaganda? you say. From who? Who would want me to fail like that? And how can I fight the rising price of oil and the credit crunch?

I don't have all the answers. I do know I cannot make sense of life without God, who can reach down into the swirling waters of an economic storm. I also cannot make sense of life without believing that my soul has an ultimate enemy. Even though I am my own worst enemy most of the time, it is the Enemy of my Soul's propaganda that is at war with my confidence.