We live in a capitalist society. I don’t think there’s anything particularly righteous about capitalism, in fact, the Bible tells us that the early church had all things common, and distribution was made according to need. That sounds like an ideal system. Unfortunately, human nature is that different people have different levels of need, and some people have a hard time distinguishing between needs and wants.
I will admit it, I have a mild form of hypochondria. It’s not serious, as a matter of fact, most of the time, I feel fine, and sometimes I feel really good. The problem is that sometimes I get sick or injured and, because I know I’m a hypochondriac, I tell myself that it isn’t that serious. I twisted my ankle a few years ago, and went to the doctor a week later because the swelling hadn’t gone down, and I was still limping. He X-rayed my ankle, and then put a cast on it. I imagine that most hypochondriacs would have gone to the emergency room that night. In retrospect, that’s what I should have done; that would have been the right thing to do. I have known other people that run to the emergency room convinced that they had broken something, and the emergency room staff couldn’t even find a bruise. So, how would we establish how much medical care each individual needs?
The same thing applies to other ‘needs’ as well. How much food do I actually need? Probably less than I actually eat. Should each person have a nutritionist to make sure that they get exactly the amount of food that they actually need, no less, and no more?
How much living space does one actually need? Should someone who is claustrophobic get larger living quarters? How do we keep people from faking claustrophobia in order to get more spacious accommodations?
Scripture also teaches us that if one will not work, neither should that one eat. I’m sure that we can all appreciate that there will always be some that can’t work, or at least, can’t work as effectively as others. If someone is disabled, should that person starve? We are also taught to be compassionate. I don’t think that God expects us to let a brother or sister suffer because of conditions beyond their control. On the other hand, though, most of us aren’t really qualified to make a determination as to who is capable of performing a strenuous task and who is not. Am I expected to take from my own family in order to feed a malingerer?
My point is, socialism, for all its detractors, has its points. In all honesty, I think, at its heart, socialism is a more righteous system then capitalism. If you are dealing with a group of people, each of whom is committed to being completely honest with each other and compassionate one towards another, socialism would be a great system. Let’s be honest about, though, the early church might have been able to pull that off, but how many of us actually believe that this would work even in our own church family? Now expand that thought: If it’s shaky in your church family (or even if you feel confident that it would work), how well would socialism work for society in general?
In short, capitalism is not without its drawbacks. There are many reasons why we, as Christians, should be pushing to have a more moral system put in place. Unfortunately, however, if there is a viable alternative to capitalism, I certainly don’t know what it is. I am quite certain that it isn’t socialism, though.
I will admit it, I have a mild form of hypochondria. It’s not serious, as a matter of fact, most of the time, I feel fine, and sometimes I feel really good. The problem is that sometimes I get sick or injured and, because I know I’m a hypochondriac, I tell myself that it isn’t that serious. I twisted my ankle a few years ago, and went to the doctor a week later because the swelling hadn’t gone down, and I was still limping. He X-rayed my ankle, and then put a cast on it. I imagine that most hypochondriacs would have gone to the emergency room that night. In retrospect, that’s what I should have done; that would have been the right thing to do. I have known other people that run to the emergency room convinced that they had broken something, and the emergency room staff couldn’t even find a bruise. So, how would we establish how much medical care each individual needs?
The same thing applies to other ‘needs’ as well. How much food do I actually need? Probably less than I actually eat. Should each person have a nutritionist to make sure that they get exactly the amount of food that they actually need, no less, and no more?
How much living space does one actually need? Should someone who is claustrophobic get larger living quarters? How do we keep people from faking claustrophobia in order to get more spacious accommodations?
Scripture also teaches us that if one will not work, neither should that one eat. I’m sure that we can all appreciate that there will always be some that can’t work, or at least, can’t work as effectively as others. If someone is disabled, should that person starve? We are also taught to be compassionate. I don’t think that God expects us to let a brother or sister suffer because of conditions beyond their control. On the other hand, though, most of us aren’t really qualified to make a determination as to who is capable of performing a strenuous task and who is not. Am I expected to take from my own family in order to feed a malingerer?
My point is, socialism, for all its detractors, has its points. In all honesty, I think, at its heart, socialism is a more righteous system then capitalism. If you are dealing with a group of people, each of whom is committed to being completely honest with each other and compassionate one towards another, socialism would be a great system. Let’s be honest about, though, the early church might have been able to pull that off, but how many of us actually believe that this would work even in our own church family? Now expand that thought: If it’s shaky in your church family (or even if you feel confident that it would work), how well would socialism work for society in general?
In short, capitalism is not without its drawbacks. There are many reasons why we, as Christians, should be pushing to have a more moral system put in place. Unfortunately, however, if there is a viable alternative to capitalism, I certainly don’t know what it is. I am quite certain that it isn’t socialism, though.
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