They blame the economic crisis on “irresponsible greed,” “poor political management,” and the “lack of regulatory policies.” They sound eerily like our presidential and vice-presidential candidates. But, they’re actually members of Socialist International – a group that says the world is not merely experiencing an era of change, but the change of an entire era.
Truly, the world seems to be moving toward socialism and away from capitalism. And, the United States – for decades the global model of capitalism – is following right along. This week, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson coerced nine major banks to sell some of their shares to the federal government. Add to this the billion-dollar bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear Stearns, and AIG, and the United States is beginning to resemble a socialist republic. Meanwhile, the U.S. presidential frontrunner this week told an already over-taxed plumber in Ohio, he’ll raise his taxes to (quote) “distribute the wealth.”
For those of us who have studied history, these developments are chilling. Every time socialism has advanced, personal liberty has declined. But, it’s hard to defend capitalism when it’s allegedly caused so much grief to so many people. And as Christians, how can we support a system that’s spawned so much greed?
But is capitalism really to blame for the current economic crisis? French President Nicolas Sarkozy doesn’t think so. He said, “The financial crisis is not the crisis of capitalism. It is a crisis of a system that has distanced itself from the most fundamental values of capitalism.”
Capitalism results when private persons own the means of production and the government has very limited power. But, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – the two companies that caused the sub-prime mortgage crisis – are government-sponsored enterprises. They are by their very nature socialistic, not capitalistic. Fannie and Freddie made irresponsible loans largely because the government was backing those loans, eliminating all risk.
But even if capitalism is not the culprit for the financial meltdown, that doesn’t make it ethical. After all, capitalism relies on greed and self-interest. Socialism, on the other hand, relies on people acting according to the common good. Socialism sounds Christian. And in fact, it was the politic of the early church, which “had everything in common and gave to anyone as he had need.”
But in secular society, socialism simply doesn’t work. Unregenerate man is a slave to sin. He will not work unless he has incentive. And collectively, he will not govern benevolently because he is not benevolent. Trusting government to take and redistribute everyone’s money equitably betrays a woeful misunderstanding of man’s basic nature.
People in a capitalistic system are free to pursue their own interests, but they’re also free to give and to care for the needy. Certainly, this license can and has been abused, and the government needs to provide some checks and balances. But our founding fathers believed God endowed each person with three basic rights that our growing government now threatens – the right to life, liberty, and property. Roe v. Wade removed the right to life. Now, this administration and the next may threaten our right to property. Is it any stretch to think that our liberty may be targeted next? For Moody Radio, I’m Julie Roys.
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