Capitalism As an Idol
My friend, Craig Morton, has challenged me to make a comment on the Wall Street crisis and the bail out. I don't usually comment directly on newspaper headlines, prefering the news that isn't so obvious and sticking to the Bible, but since he wants to hear my opinion, I'll give it.
Frankly, the whole thing is stupid.
Republicans are supposed to be all about capitalism. I just listened to a debate about national health care and how much "better" a free market system is for health care than socialized medicine. But this debate focuses on an ideal of capitalism, not how it really works.
The ideal of capitalism is this: That a businessman wants to make money. He or she will only make money if he provides what the consumer needs or wants. If the consumer obtains what he or she needs or wants at a price that seems equitable, then the businessman, in the end, will make money. Then both the consumer and the businessman have benefited.
This is the ideal situation as described by the moral and economic philosopher, Adam Smith. What most people don't realize, however, is that Adam Smith was operating on the assumption of a common misperception in the eighteenth century: the noble noble. That the person with money feels a moral obligation to assist those under him and act in their benefit. Smith, before he wrote his book on the Wealth of the Nation, wrote a moral philosophy about empathy, and how it is the foundation of moral action. Smith assumed that the wealthy who had power would have empathy with those under them, and so act for them. It is a basic underlying principle of Smith's capitalism. (Jefferson and other framers of the Constitution had the same false assumption. It is from this assumption that the electoral college was created, causing much consternation in modern American politics.)
But the reality of capitalism is different: The businessman wants to make money. If the businessman can trick the consumer into wanting what he or she doesn't really need or to lie to them to say that they are providing what isn't really there, then the businessman can make money and the consumer is defrauded.
The fact is, in modern capitalism, the bottom line is the bottom line. It is all about profit, no matter who gets harmed.
What does the Bible say? When talking about economics it has much to say to the rich who take advantage of those under them. For example, "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted and their rust will be a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you hve stored up your treasure!" (James 5:1-3)
Jesus said, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor, then you will have treasure in heaven... for where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be also."
If Bush and McCain and the rest of Congress were really as "Christian" as they say they are, they wouldn't be interested in "bailing out" corporations who acted on greed, trying to get something for nothing, when they knew there was no real capital behind it. They wouldn't be trying to support the corporations, who in their greed, undermined the economy and caused people to lose their homes.
Rather, they would assist the poor and needy who are suffering the most. The enormous amount of money could be given to corporations who didn't break the law or who recognized the obvious fact that giving loans to people without capital is idiotic and damaging to the consumer.
But no. As much as the pro-capitalists talk about a "free market" and "letting the market balance itself out", in reality, all they want is to use government money to support the people they see as the "good guys"-- the wealthy who are interested in making more money for themselves.
So for all you prayers of the Lord's prayer-- I just want to let you know that each time you pray "Your kingdom come" you are asking God to destroy this system of capitalism in which everyone is the slave of the wealthy corporation and to replace it with a system in which the poor who seeks the benefit of others who are poor will receive the greatest "bail out" of all-- all the wealth of the nations.
Frankly, the whole thing is stupid.
Republicans are supposed to be all about capitalism. I just listened to a debate about national health care and how much "better" a free market system is for health care than socialized medicine. But this debate focuses on an ideal of capitalism, not how it really works.
The ideal of capitalism is this: That a businessman wants to make money. He or she will only make money if he provides what the consumer needs or wants. If the consumer obtains what he or she needs or wants at a price that seems equitable, then the businessman, in the end, will make money. Then both the consumer and the businessman have benefited.
This is the ideal situation as described by the moral and economic philosopher, Adam Smith. What most people don't realize, however, is that Adam Smith was operating on the assumption of a common misperception in the eighteenth century: the noble noble. That the person with money feels a moral obligation to assist those under him and act in their benefit. Smith, before he wrote his book on the Wealth of the Nation, wrote a moral philosophy about empathy, and how it is the foundation of moral action. Smith assumed that the wealthy who had power would have empathy with those under them, and so act for them. It is a basic underlying principle of Smith's capitalism. (Jefferson and other framers of the Constitution had the same false assumption. It is from this assumption that the electoral college was created, causing much consternation in modern American politics.)
But the reality of capitalism is different: The businessman wants to make money. If the businessman can trick the consumer into wanting what he or she doesn't really need or to lie to them to say that they are providing what isn't really there, then the businessman can make money and the consumer is defrauded.
The fact is, in modern capitalism, the bottom line is the bottom line. It is all about profit, no matter who gets harmed.
What does the Bible say? When talking about economics it has much to say to the rich who take advantage of those under them. For example, "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted and their rust will be a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you hve stored up your treasure!" (James 5:1-3)
Jesus said, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor, then you will have treasure in heaven... for where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be also."
If Bush and McCain and the rest of Congress were really as "Christian" as they say they are, they wouldn't be interested in "bailing out" corporations who acted on greed, trying to get something for nothing, when they knew there was no real capital behind it. They wouldn't be trying to support the corporations, who in their greed, undermined the economy and caused people to lose their homes.
Rather, they would assist the poor and needy who are suffering the most. The enormous amount of money could be given to corporations who didn't break the law or who recognized the obvious fact that giving loans to people without capital is idiotic and damaging to the consumer.
But no. As much as the pro-capitalists talk about a "free market" and "letting the market balance itself out", in reality, all they want is to use government money to support the people they see as the "good guys"-- the wealthy who are interested in making more money for themselves.
So for all you prayers of the Lord's prayer-- I just want to let you know that each time you pray "Your kingdom come" you are asking God to destroy this system of capitalism in which everyone is the slave of the wealthy corporation and to replace it with a system in which the poor who seeks the benefit of others who are poor will receive the greatest "bail out" of all-- all the wealth of the nations.
posted by Steve Kimes at 8:23 AM
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