How news makes a crisis
News is not a merely a neutral report of events.
Though reporters are rarely unbiased, this is not the reason news is not neutral. Even unbiased news is powerful and can change the world. The current global financial crisis (GFC), which has become a political crisis, is a case in point. How did news of a few financial failures in the US create news of a panic that led governments to fall in Iceland and Latvia?
How news becomes bad news
To understand how it happened we can look at history. Very ancient history.
The history of Israel's beginning is so frankly honest that we can see clearly the working of human nature. On the occasion of first reaching the promised land they were so plagued by bad news leading to rebellion, that we can feel they could only have become a nation due to divine aid.
After the exodus from Egypt there had been a few instances of complaints about conditions in the economy, but they managed to reach the borders of the promised land. There Moses, who had retained leadership, sent out 12 spies (all leaders of their tribes) to bring back news of the state of the land. We have a record of their first unbiased news report to the whole nation. They showed them the fruit of the land and said
“We came to the land where you sent us; and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is its fruit.
However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there.
Amalek dwells in the land of the South: and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan.” (Numbers 13:25-29)
From this we see very a balanced news report: firstly the good news, then in the centre the bad news, then at the end some facts, neither good nor bad. But the crowd, it seems, hears only the bad news. They become negative, fearful then unhappy. Caleb, who was one the 12 spies, steps up and gives his reassuring opinion,
Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”(Numbers 13:30)
One of the other spies, a leader of one tribe, senses the negative sentiment and says
“We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.”(Numbers 13:31)
Other tribe leaders, who were spies, agree and add exaggeration to the negativity,
They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:32-33)
But there is more as the negativity snowballs into the next day,
All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?”(Numbers 14:1-3)
Just think at how negative the news becomes in 24 hours. It goes from a report that the cities are fortified and the fact that there are some sons of Anak (a tall and strong people) to fight, to the fear that all the people they would have to conquer are of great stature, to the idea that they would all die. In the days following the initial news some leaders even stood up said it would be better to go back to Egypt, which meant having their children killed and slavery!
The modern parallel
Let us compare the steps in negative thinking to those taken in current financial crisis. The first news of the bank failures featured reports both negative and positive where opinion articles spoke of ex-bankers taking a new path in their lives, just like the first news of the spies. But there were some who only saw the bad news and became nervous selling shares causing the stock market to fall, which created more bad news and increasing fear. The news became increasingly negative with even possibly positive news being cast as bad news. Then many people began writing absurd opinion articles from those who saw events as apocalyptic, to others fearing the erosion of freedom. The news then featured actions by leaders. Just as in ancient Israel, instead of increasing confidence they added to the fear as they keep wanting to go back to the way it was before, despite the fact that it was not so good before, in reality.
Did even one nation leader in this current crisis speak confidently of going in a new direction? Or were all actions to go back to the way it was before? They have repeated what the Israelites wanted to do: go back to Egypt. Now the past is gone, it looks better back there than going forward, but they forgot that it was not all sunshine back there.
But there are more parallels in the situation in ancient Israel, the truly negative idea of of going back gains support. Noting that conditions going back were not the best involving slavery, and an unhappy gathering of possibly warlike Egyptians.
They said one to another, “Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.”(Num 14:4)
They elected leaders to go back to the way they were. The fear, resulting from the negative view of the news, leads to political consequences, even before the people have taken one step to see how bad it might really be to go forward. To protect the nation's leadership 2 of the 12 spies stand up for the existing leadership.
Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes: and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey. Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them.”(Num 14:6-9)
We can notice Joshua and Caleb go back to the initial news and speak of a way forward, asking the people conquer their fear. But sadly such common sense is not heard by those who are fearful.
But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones. (Num 14:10)
And the result is civil violence. In some nations in the current crisis the people are not willing to work and are not listening and have resorted to protest and violence.
The Israelites, it must be noted were only rescued from the consequences of their political crisis by the direct intervention of their God.
To teach Israel they wandered in the wilderness until Joshua, the leader they had wanted to stone, led them to the promised land. Joshua in Hebrew is Yeshua, Y'shua or Yahshua otherwise known as Jesus. Shortly Jesus will return to lead all nations out of the consequences of their fear.
