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| Written by Mr. Trev McCallum | |
| Monday, 02 March 2009 | |
ASH Economics
with
Trev McCallum  Capitalism 1
A crisis brings out the best and worst of people. Otherwise desperately hidden worldviews float to the surface. The current crisis has been no different. Economic policy and philosophy are under fire. The heathen are desperate to find a scape goat. Nothing seems to escape their scourging attempt. Well, one thing does, but more about this later. Everybody has become an economist, seeking the goat to tether.
Australia's prime minister has labelled neo-liberalism the culprit. This is a brand of extreme capitalism and greed which became the economic orthodoxy of our time. He calls social democrats to save capitalism from itself. Now in The Monthly (February 2009) article Mr Rudd cleverly constructs a straw man capitalist. Then, in the name of socialism, boldly sets it alight. A mythical foe is easily defeated, and politically advantageous too. Politicians are driven by the next election. Finding a culprit, especially in the form of greed driven capitalists, causes many voters to salivate...
First, what is economics? It is a fact that resources (e.g. raw materials, human labor, finished products, services, etc) are scarce. There simply is not enough of every resource to supply everyones' desires. Economics studies the use of scarce resources against their alternative uses [1]. Scarcity is the result of God's curse on man, animals and the earth ( Gen 3). The economist seeks to establish what the best use of scarce resources is.
Second, what is capitalism? Originally the word was a Marxist smear against western economists. Basically, it is an economic system that asserts people are free to use their private property without outside interference[2]. The major assertions of private property and the freedom of the owner to use it must be Biblically tested.
We enjoy a form of private property today. The land/house we own can be altered/sold with some level of governmental permission. Should we enjoy private property? The Puritans believed so, because the Bible told them so. The eighth commandment states; "Thou shalt not steal" (Ex. 20:15, Matt. 19:18, Ro. 13:9). We are not to steal. Now if I can steal your property, you must first be the owner of that property. It must be entirely yours. What is yours is yours and I am commanded to respect your ownership of it. The Bible presupposes private property. One of the keystones of capitalism is private property. This lines up with the Scriptures. Surely Mr Rudd is not making an attack on private property?
Now many interject...but what about Ananias and Sapphira of Acts 5? Well, what about them? They freely sold their private property and brought the proceeds to the Apostles. They were not struck dead due to anything other than lying about giving the entire proceeds to the Lord's work. This era of church history was the birth of the New Testament and there was much violent persecution,[3] Christians sold their properties to survive the onslaught of the Roman armies. Acts 5is a passage that supports private property and severe penalty for lying to God.
Now the Bible is very specific regarding governmental responsibility. It does not grant sovereign authority to the state. Individuals are to self govern themselves as much as possible. Economically, the government is to purge the land of evil (Ro. 13); ensure equal weights and measures are used ( Lev. 19:36, Deut. 25:12-15, Prov. 11:1, 16:11, 20:23); disallow solid/backed money to be defaced through inflationary means (Is. 1:22) and a few other things. These are all case laws of "thou shalt not steal."
The social-democrat is not a respecter of private property. According to Mr Rudd the "government is the funder or provider of public goods and...offsets the inevitable inequalities of the market with a commitment to fairness for all." In other words the government makes a sovereign decision, influenced by "special" interest groups, to redistribute wealth from some people to others. This is achieved through the graduated tax system. More economically productive people are taxed more to redistribute wealth by coercion. No government produces its own wealth. It raises funds via taxation. The prophet Samuel warned Israel of the dangers of a king in 1 Samuel 8. One danger was a tax as high as the tithe (10%)! Our tax system is graduated, the more you earn the more you are taxed. In other words, the more economically productive you are the more the state penalises you. This is nothing new. It is straight from Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto(see point two of an advanced country, p. 21). A graduated tax system steals from the rich and gives to the poor, it breaks the eighth commandment. This creates a welfare state. People become dependent on the government for their daily bread. We need to repent and change our actions.
Sorry Mr Rudd, the Bible does not speak of fairness to all. It definitely does not speak of a sovereign government stealing from some to give to others. The government is to purge the land of evil. This includes stealing. Our government must repent and kiss the Son (Ps. 2) before we are destroyed in the way. The graduated tax system, increases in money supply and fractional reserve banking are crippling our country. Our economy is bound to crumble. Any system that promotes anti-Biblical theories will collapse. It is simply a matter of when not if. We do not need to call ourselves capitalists. But we know that this system promotes private property and the liberty for the owner to use it (without using it for evil, as described by the Law of God).
We will continue to consider these things further next week.
Don't forget to download your free copy of An Introduction to Christian Economics.
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