Do Pandemics Actually Preserve Civilization?

I really don't like to write this but, even before Covid I wondered if God allows pandemics to happen to preserve civilization.

The worst pandemic of all was the Bubonic Plague, the "Black Death" of the late Middle Ages. The population of Europe was gradually increasing but the death toll was so high that in 1500 the population reached where it had been in 1300. In other words the pandemic set population growth back by about two hundred years.

It recurred periodically after that. Sir Isaac Newton was a professor at Cambridge University. He made his best-known discoveries not at the university but while home in 1666 because the university was closed due to the plague.

But what about the Reformation, which began in 1517? It caused warfare across northern Europe for more than a century. The Thirty Years War was probably the most destructive war in Europe until the world wars.

The more people that are involved in a war, the more soldiers on each side, the more destructive the war is likely to be. Without the population curtailment caused by the Bubonic Plague the wars of the Reformation would have been much more destructive than they already were. The wars could have been much more destructive than the plague itself and could have destroyed European civilization which, at the time, was the center of Christianity.

The next destructive pandemic that comes to mind is the Spanish Flu. It coincided with the end of the First World War in 1918. The same principle applies as with the Bubonic Plague. When soldiers return home from war they tend to start families. There is the famous "Baby Boomers" that were born after the Second World War, and which we will get to shortly.

It is no secret that the Second World War came when the sons of First World War veterans reached military age. But have you ever noticed that while there is the Baby Boom generation following the Second World War, with rock music as their anthem, we never seem to hear of a similar baby boom after the First World War? It is because the Spanish Flu killed so many people, and it tended to kill people in their prime before they could have children.

If the Second World War came when the sons of First World War veterans reached military age what might it have been like if that generation had not been curtailed by the Spanish Flu? As it is the Second World War was by far the deadliest and most destructive conflict in human history. What might it have been like if there had been twice as many soldiers on each side? It could have destroyed human civilization.

This world order will have it's end but God was preserving it for the appointed time.

Now let's go back to the Baby Boomers. This is the great increase in people that were born after the Second World War, generally defined as from 1946 to 1964. Throughout human history young people have far outnumbered old people. The Baby Boom generation has upended this and now the consequences are becoming apparent.

Not only did the Baby Boom upset demographics but there have been outstanding medical advances during their time that have greatly lengthened life expectancy. Nuclear weapons have made it so that there hasn't been another world war to curtail population growth.

This has brought about an unprecedented crisis in many countries with a population of old people needing care and nowhere near enough young people to take care of them. Many businesses cannot find enough workers, not because politicians have brilliantly created so many jobs but because Baby Boomers are retiring by the millions and there is not enough younger workers to replace them.

The real reason for persistent inflation and high prices is that more and more older people have to be taken care of by fewer and fewer younger workers. This effectively creates more of a service economy, with more people not actually working, which drives up both wages and prices relative to a more production-based economy.

In some countries with a really top-heavy ratio of old-to-young, such as Japan, doubts have been expressed about how long society can function like this. As stated, I really don't like to write this but what if Covid hadn't reduced by millions the population of elderly people that would need to be cared for? Unlike the Spanish Flu, which tended to kill people in their prime thus reducing the number of soldiers in the next world war, Covid mostly killed elderly people, and those who would have needed care anyway. While we don't like to think about it this might have made some societies unable to operate without it.

I have always found it interesting how Jesus said "This Generation' will not pass until all of these things have taken place". During most of human history a generation, in terms of society as a whole, has not really been definable. People are being born and dying continuously so generations are not definable. The Second World War changed that. The best-known defined generation ever is the Baby Boomers. When they had children it brought about Generations X, Y and, Z. 

It turns out that the Baby Boomers were the generation that was coming of age when the Old City of Jerusalem came back under Jewish control for the first time since ancient times, which is what Jesus referred to when He foretold that "This Generation' will not pass away until all of these things are fulfilled", meaning the establishment of Jesus' Kingdom on earth after the Tribulation Period. This means that there will be Baby Boomers still alive when Jesus' Kingdom is established on earth.

Another thing that has recently been in the news is widespread concern over the dangers of AI. Remember that, in the Book of Revelation it is foretold that, in the Last Days of the world, there will be a statue of the Antichrist to "come to life" and praise the Antichrist. We saw all of this in the posting on this blog "The End Of The World As We Know It".