Someone asked me the other day how I believed the things I believe about the economy and still considered myself Christian. She, herself an agnostic, was pulling on her beliefs about what Christianity was, which are, as usual, misconceptions about what is actually in the bible (granted, usually pulled from people who are just “preaching the word” from the pulpit) and what a capitalist is and believes.
The capitalists preconceptions are harder to dispel, so we will leave them for later, but we can, presently, clear up what Christianity preaches. Now, Christianity does preach charity and giving. There is no doubt about that. Any fool who picks up a bible could see, easily, that Christianity believes in giving things to others. But, contrary to what most believe, there is no explicit commandment to give to those who do not deserve it. Paul, in the third chapter of Second Letter to the Thessalonians, writes that no body should receive if they do not work. No one is entitled to a share of something the did not contribute to. Instead, as it says in Romans chapter four we learn that wages are the obligatory result of work rendered.
Furthermore, on a more theoretical level, we must take note that as soon as God brings His people out of the desert, he establishes basic rights. By implying a positive to the negative commandments, we learn that there are several principles to be pulled from the ten commandments. A right to life (do not murder), a right to pursue happiness (rest on the sabbath, i.e. leisure time), right to a fair liberty from tyranny (false witness), but most importantly for our purposes here, a right to property (do not steal) and right to earn unfettered
from others (do not covet). Those two are so closely linked that it is hard to distinguish. The first guarantees the right to have property, by refusing others the right to physically take it from you. That is simple enough. The second, i.e. do not covet thy neighbors things, and that is just it. People get what they earn. Do not desire someone else’s stuff. Get your own stuff. That is the positive. Earn your own. It really is just that simple.
That is Christianity, well not all, but everything that has to do with property and wages. The rest is much more simple, and dealt with on other posts in this blog.
Life, liberty, and happiness are the things that we Capitalist embrace and champion. We believe that everyone, every single individual, has the right to these things. The have the right to exist, in life. They have the right to unhindered freedom, in liberty. And they have the right to the pursuit of whatever makes them happy. Capitalists are often characterized as evil, mean, money-grubbing pigs. It is easy to see them this way when people are not told what money is, and what capitalists actually have to do with it.
Money is simply the physically representation of societal appreciation. When earned, it is peoples way of saying thank you for what you have done. Think about one of the richest men in the world Bill Gates. He got there by developing computer software to a point that were accessible and affordable for everyone. All the money he has made is only a drop in bucket compared to wealth that all the users of his product have generated through its use. Not mention the other utility people get from using Windows, e.g. computer games, writing, and many other leisure activities.
Now the point that most people try to make is that he is so rich he needs to give back. But they fail to see that he has given. It was his product that he gave, and people bought it. It was his “gift” that people are rewarding when they purchase it. You do this everyday when you buy one thing instead of another. You show your appreciation for one person’s product to another. In fact, Bill Gates has given back. He owes us nothing more. By buying something, you say that you like the product. By not buying something, you say you do not like (or at least not enough to buy it). On larger scales, it is this principle that generates wealth for one individual or does not allow another to stay in business.
But, that is not to say that people cannot give above and beyond what they offer in the marketplace. In fact most capitalists do. There are causes and charities that have a particular affinity for to which they donate their time or money. It is their time and money, and they can do with it as they please. They have a right to it, you do not. If they chose to, and again most do, they can donate extra.
Capitalism is not against Christianity, nor is the inverse true. In fact, Christianity values the same things that capitalism does: Life, Freedom, Happiness. Capitalism is the recognition people have a right to what they work for, so does Christianity. More importantly, Christianity believes in showing appreciation for good deeds, the very corner stone of Capitalism.
It is all so simple and logical when just examined beyond the surface. Capitalism and Christianity are not incompatible.
So, I caught a midnight showing of Wanted. To be honest, I was not very interested in seeing this movie. From the previews I saw it looked really goofy. But, about a week ago, I discovered that Wanted was based on a comic akin to Sin City and V for Vendetta. So, I thought, what the hell, the opportunity arose, so I went.
