Zimzum and the ailing patient

By Johnny D. Symon

I took what was for me the unusual step of time out, a time away from the grit, grind, and gripe, emanating from our so-called world economic crisis. And for a short spell all I did was to find a suitable palm tree to lie under to muse about life and catch up on some sleep. I did read a text message though from a Spaniard who said, "the PSOE government tricked me into voting for them twice, and now I'm ruined." That message reminded me of a remark a Spanish lady who owns a drugstore conveyed to me just a few weeks back, and hers also was in reference to the self-same dreaded PSOE government. She said, "It must be very difficult to be a politician, trying to please all of the people all of the time."

This remark has stayed with me, even under my present favored palm tree. Her sentiment is no doubt a common one throughout the world, for I've heard it before on many occasions, but the fact is that each time I've heard it I've always felt detached. I can't relate to it because I don't believe that politicians should be in the business of "trying to please all of the people all of the time," and besides I reckon it's a foolish and impossible task.

National leaders are supposed to create a climate throughout their land that enables each and every one of us an opportunity to begin "pleasing ourselves," and it happens to be an irrefutable maxim in the Bible too. Leaders are endowed with the ability to create a climate so positive, that each creative individual finds their time and space, their own moment, to move up their productive ladder. And that's all that's required of a national leader. Everything else takes care of itself. But if they choose to "try to please all of the people all of the time," the result is certain to be ruin for the majority. And besides, the very act of trying to please all of the people all of the time ultimately, and most certainly, leads to the climate of control.

You know, while I'm beneath the palm tree I have the luxury of free time, and it's a space where inevitably I start to dig deep into many aspects of life, the universe, and everything. I start to form my own hitchhiker's guide, but hey, it's my time out, and the luxury is mine.

In Hebrew mysticism there's the term "zimzum," related to the "En Sof." I have the time, but I don't see the need to expand on the nature of those terms other than to illustrate a point, and it's a point I feel most strongly about, because there's an acute difference between control-freaks and God-fearing leaders. Control-freaks worm their way into controlling every aspect of everyone's lives, and they do it through stating that they wish to do their best for everyone, resultantly, they feel obliged to know everything about everyone in their country. They continue by placing their fingers in the industrial pie, and revising the recipe's contents.

That's my brief explanation of the opposite type to those that emulate the "En Sof" in "zimzum." The genuine variety are thin on the ground nowadays and as rare as hen's teeth, so rare that I myself cannot name even one, and Lord knows I've tried. But if there is one around that's escaped my notice, here is what you'll find them doing:

They'll base themselves on Biblical principles, and by doing so, as if by magic, a new positive energy will permeate their nation. They'll then just sit back in an easy chair to watch as their nation reforms and grows, ie, the people will begin to work and their efforts will be rewarded, in turn, they themselves will discover that they have in fact pleased themselves from the sweat of their own brow. This was the process enacted by our Creator after He created the heavens, the earth, and all that is therein, for when He rested on the seventh day, He shrunk back to provide a space for mankind to continue the creation process in His stead.

One of the strangest things about zimzum for me is that I find it in every aspect of life, and even death. Mothers make space for their unborn child to grow, and parents make space for their kids to gain an education and learn suitable skills, to provide them with the ability to fend for and please themselves in life, and by doing this they begin to fill out some prime space that we had already provided for them. Inevitably our final space-making will be our departure from the mortal coil. Life's final frontier, and the last bit of space-making left at our disposal. Therefore, simply put, life's most productive individuals are space-makers, not space-takers. We gain to give, and we give to those most worthy to inherit our prime creative space. We're exhorted to go forth, multiply, and replenish the earth, ie, to recover space for others to creatively inherit and inhabit. Progress. Industry. Labor. Invention. Art. Science ... Work.

Sometime back I was in a Spanish Decathlon sports store to choose a new pair of sport shoes. I had dozens to choose from, most of them were made in China and the Far East, but not one pair did I find with USA on them. But I was pleasantly surprised to find one well designed and made pair actually boasting that they were made in the United Kingdom, yet another example of our present-day hen's teeth Western manufacturing condition.

I took note of an article in a world-renowned economics publication a few days ago, where it studied the markets today in respect of the years 1929-39, both situations were close to identical, about 50% down. And this news is bad enough because 1939, of course, saw the start of the Second World War, a crisis that pulled us all together and fired up industry with one purpose, one goal, in mind ... to defeat the oppressor. Our present-day crisis finds us with a near identical financial problem and no sign, thankfully, of a Third World War. But since the WW2 war effort proved to be the beginning of a short Western industrial revival, our present crisis must be solved by different means.

I listened carefully to President Barack Obama's new plan for recovery this week, and I swear I gave the man every chance to persuade me that it would work, but the truth is all he provided was hogwash promises of a swift recovery starting this year, and an America that would depart the crisis stronger than ever before. Now I'm not trying to undermine his best intentions, but plainly put, the rosy picture he painted made no sense at all when one considers each aspect of this crisis. Every month more and more people are out of work, and more and more businesses are folding. Many businesses, and people too, are defaulting on their loans. The scenario across the board in real terms is abysmal because the potential fabric for recovery has been ripped asunder.

But you know something? things should not be so grim, for America still has the potential to rise above it all, whereas Europe is in dire straits because, with the exception of Germany that still can boast of a viable manufacturing industry, most other EU nations have shed their industrial base and handed over their wealth-creating tools to China and the Far East.

I've lost count over the past few years of people who've said that we can't produce products cheap enough to beat China at its game, and the fact is that it's a damn lie, for where there's a will there's a way, and like zimzum there's a void that we can readily fill, for if stores can reduce prices by 70% and still make a profit, and supermarkets are in many cases selling produce for 2000% more than they paid the farmer, there's a problem, or barrier, that must be removed.

High tax, high spend, governments, to my mind, are the chief villains. Therefore the first step to economic recovery is to strip government down to the bare bone, and free up industry, leaving them the luxury of going forth, multiplying jobs, and replenishing their manufacturing base. Zimzum in action. An Industrial Rebirth requires mother government to make space for the new baby. The financial sector will then take care of itself also, as it always does in a free market climate. But all of this would first require an end to the dreams, false hopes, and blatant lies of our political Brothers Grim.

I was amused to receive some news earlier this week about the Antarctic. Scientists have declared the existence of mountain ranges similar to The Alps under the icecap. Now before we go any further, let me remind you all of where I stand as regards the Polar Icecaps. I want to see an end of them, for after all they've been receding of their own volition for around 10,000 years. I dream of the day that the Southern Alps are so free of ice, and I'm still young enough, that I'll choose the highest peak in the range, climb to the top, and be the first to plant the flag and yodel on it. That's what's called taking up space, and making use of it. The zimzum of life. But you know something? One more thing has to be done to restore our Spirit of Progress and Industry, and that thing is for me the most vital of all:

In order to recover and grow we would have to outlaw ecology, and throw the bums in jail who stand in industry's way. You see it's quite interesting to ponder on the climate surrounding and permeating the first Industrial Revolution, for on searching high and low there's one thing missing that's only too prominent today, and that is "ecological opposition," the enemies of industry and progress. Had they been around back then, the world would be in a far worse position than it is now.

Maybe I'm biased because as far back as I can remember I've learned new skills, and worked my fingers to the bone. I can shoe horses, make gates, strip and rebuild automobiles, fix roofs, and do Joe-the-plumber. My favorite music is the ring of hot steel, hammer, and anvil. I've never forgotten the pungent scent of an old rope works, the smell of a White Truck cranking up. There are many things that once bombarded my senses that I swear, if I only could, I'd can so others in the future could rip it open, even the faint smell I once detected of benzine in a German town had my head spinning.

I love the smell of Industry, the sound of machinery, and smokestacks painting portraits in the sky, depicting all there is to know about a sound economy and a strong nation, of bread on the family table, and a sense of satisfaction through knowing that all of it came about by the sweat of your own brow.

As I said at the start, national leaders are not there to please all of the people all of the time, they're there to initiate an ambiance of zimzum that works down the ladder to the very bottom. By doing this a nation can be reborn and the people will begin to feel free to please themselves, then others. Bankers and the financial sector are more than ready and able to joint-venture in the art of progress, as they always have in the past. They were a vital element of the Industrial Revolution, and most vital have they been throughout the Technological Revolution. But when a leader goes astray, and rest assured many have in the recent past, "credit" takes over from industry, and the financial sector is led astray along with it.

It's more than possible to re-industrialize a nation and produce quality goods at such competitive rates, that it would relegate China to its former status of the producer of bad-value-for-money trash, for that's all they are. But here's the bottom line. Obama's plan will only spell disaster. His rose-tinted lies of a quick recovery are only that, but he's not alone, for most of Europe is receiving the same message. It's a message that for me can only be likened to a doctor's diagnosis that states, "influenza," yet later on is discovered to be terminal cancer.

Now is the time to get real, to recognize the facts, make the correct diagnosis, and prescribe the most effective medicine. We need space to breathe again, and the freedom to move. The banks don't need treating. Industry is the ailing patient.

© Johnny D. Symon