Easy Money, Greasy Grace (Part 2)

Slowly and then suddenly, that is how empires fall.

That is how most things fall apart.

What is ignored or tolerated now is always paid for later.

We know we should deal with the inconsistency while it is small, but history shows us that human nature prefers to wait for the spectacular failure.

The damage done from someone not repaying a $1,000 loan is much less than a business going bankrupt with $1 million in debt. Now imagine if this doomsday scenario continued until the debt is $38 trillion! Oh wait, too late.

The logic for bailing out a business is it will hurt too many other businesses and people. It is “too big to fail.” Remember that? But by merely injecting cash into the business or monetary system, the problem is only being exacerbated. This is the proverbial “kicking the can down the road.” The issue is not being dealt with and is allowed to continue, like a wound being covered with a band-aid instead of deeply cleaned and mended.

This is how infection spreads. The same conditions and behaviors continue because they were not forced to deal with the reality of failure. They continue acting the same because they were shown that they’ll be bailed out. Also, investors and businesses are prevented from seeing what the actual problem is, and continue on in a trusting, albeit hoodwinked, relationship. They are still tied to a sinking ship floating in a sea of “quantitative easing.”

Let’s consider this elsewhere. After lying, you must either confess and repent, or continue lying to cover up the previous lie(s). This is the case in every circumstance where you choose dishonesty and selfishness: fix it or perpetuate the fraud with deception and distraction.

If there is no final reckoning, then the natural choice becomes avoiding short-term pain, aka self-preservation. But choosing to perpetuate the lie requires you to work overtime to cover up for your misconduct until you can fix everything without anyone finding out.

Inevitably, your scheme is discovered and it all falls apart. Relationships and trust are broken, and you hurt yourself as well. If you had only dealt with it honestly when it was small, the consequence would have not been so shameful, and the repercussions not so widespread.

Why Getting Away with It Is Dangerous

The pain of fessing up and suffering the consequences is a deterrent to repeating the bad behavior. The fact that you were able to repair everything without anyone knowing may have saved some people from trouble and pain, but it also entices you into considering doing the same thing in the future.

You will inevitably face another tough decision of being honest, or some other moral dilemma. Without this painful lesson firmly planted in your character, you will be inclined to try and do the same thing again. After all, it all worked out last time, right?

Avoided pain teaches permission.

These things always have a way of unraveling. When they do, all the smaller, hidden inconsistencies and decisions are pulled out of the shadows once the whole cover is blown. And a scandal is born.

People begin to look at history and ask questions. These questions lead to painful discoveries being made, and thus, the destruction is much more amplified than had we dealt with the dishonest, immoral or irresponsible behavior responsibly when it was small.

But alas, we chose to misappropriate grace and now we have a big mess on our hands.

What is delayed is not avoided. In money, in relationships, and in the soul, postponed consequences compound quietly until they surface all at once. Systems that promise relief without reckoning don’t eliminate pain — they store it. And when the cover finally breaks, the damage is far greater than it ever needed to be.