For Part Two, Part Three, or Part Four, choose your link and click it.
Today we're considering Elder Mark E. Peterson's talk, "Warnings From the Past". It's a pretty strong fire-and-brimstone style talk, as many of them were back then.
Elder Peterson talks about the societal issues going on in the early 70s, and decrying the decline in faith and public morals. Then he quotes a series of individuals regarding the need for society to make some changes. This is the first:
The Quote
A generation ago, Roger Babson, at that time one of our leading economists, said:
“Only religion can prevent democratic rule from developing into mob rule.
A nation can prosper only as its citizens are religious, intelligent, capable of service and eager to render it.”
And then this great man said, and it is something to which we should give careful attention, “Every great panic we have ever had has been foreshadowed by a general decline in observance of religious principles.”
Two Quotes to Consider Today
I'd never heard of Roger Babson before in my life. Turns out he was an economist - if you have an MBA now, thank Roger Babson for it. He lobbied MIT at the time to include a course in college called 'Business Engineering' which was later expanded to become what is today a Master's in Business Administration degree. I also didn't know that MIT was that old - he was a student there in the late 1890s!
He ran for president on the Prohibition Party ticket and came in dead last. Figures. I didn't know the United States had a Prohibition Party once either!
But he knew a thing or two - he predicted the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed it. Right before it happened. Every economist dreams of making predictions and being right, but he actually was!
He almost invented the parking meter - had his patent request in, but got beat out by another guy.
His investment newsletter was one of the first in the United States.
Started several colleges, and sat as director on the board of many corporations. Very solid guy.
Another very prolific writer - a total of forty books, and many more articles.
Mark E. Peterson was right. He was a really great man - and is almost completely forgotten today.
But so are we all, eventually.
I'm looking at his book, Fundamentals of Prosperity, where the second part of the quote comes from, and reading the first part of this book, his advice sounds surprisingly fresh for having been written over 105 years ago.
In context, the second part of this quote in Chapter 10 says:
“Try as you will, you cannot separate the factor of religion from economic development. In the work conducted by my organization at Wellesley Hills we study the trend of religious interest as closely as we do the condition of the banks or the supply of and demand for commodities.
Whenever this line of religious interest turns downward and reaches a low level, history shows that it is time to prepare for a reaction and depression in business conditions. Every great panic we have ever had has been foreshadowed by a general decline in observance of religious principles.
On the other hand, when the line of religious interest begins to climb … then it is time to make ready for a period of business prosperity.”
So interesting. Very glad to meet this notable eighth cousin of mine, and looking forward to reviewing this one and maybe a few others of his books further.
