“Capitalism, Social Justice, and Desire”
By | Oct 4, 2008
I just heard a great presentation on “Capitalism, Social Justice, and Desire” – covering off a Biblical view on these issues. The guy who gives it is called Paul Williams. There are some other useful resources on the page that may also be of interest.
Here’s the link: http://www2.regent-college.edu/marketplace/audio.html
Lots of interesting stuff in there. Part of the discussion I found most interesting was about land ownership and accumulation and jubilee, especially in light of some debates I’ve had with a Christian friend who’s heavily into residential property investment.
Isaiah 5:8 “Woe to you who add house to house, and join field to field till there’s no space left and you live on your own in the land”
Micah 2.2 “Woe on those who covet fields and seize them, houses and take them, they defraud man of his home, a fellow human being of his inheritance”
-Paul Williams states that “These are the kinds of things that are given as reasons why the people of God are going to be exiled from the land and kicked out of it, because they have failed to live in a way that keeps relationships rightly in these respects.”
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Andre
September 26th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Hi there. Here’s a summary of the presentation (which I mocked up after listening to help me synthesise the concepts covered):
BIBLICAL VIEW ON SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ECONOMICS:
- Social justice is defined by right relationships (with ourselves, others, God, and creation)
- God has a vision for society that is aspirational and beyond meeting the rules set out in the law and is only fulfilled through Jesus
- The prophets tended to rebuke Israel/Judah for their idolatry and social injustices. This shows that social justice is important to God
- Possessions should be structured in a way that they serve relationships, rather than the other way around, or in a way that hinders relationships
CRITIQUE OF CURRENT ECONOMIC SYSTEM:
- There is an important distinction between markets, which are fine with appropriate boundaries and where people have the right heart, and capitalism, which is a moral vision for society. An example on boundaries for markets is the law in Israel which restricted the sale of land and had rules to ensure equitable leasing arrangements.
- Definition of capitalism: everyone is better with unrestricted free choice for meeting their needs and wants
- Capitalism has its roots in utilitarianism, which posits that overall happiness is of utmost importance and that the means justify the ends. According to utilitarianism, the reason why or motivation is of no inherent usefulness.
- Problems with capitalism:
o Consumerism: people buying what they don’t need and buying the lie that they need to consume to give themselves worth
o Reduction of relationships into contractual arrangements: Forgetting that those in contractual arrangements are still people and should be viewed as those in the image of God, rather than solely producers of goods and services
- We need to have trust in God so that we don’t have to hoard wealth, or over-consume
WHAT TO DO WITH CAPITALISM?
- Restrict the accumulation of capital, which leads to inequality
- Limit the separation of ownership and management of capital (e.g. having shares in a listed company which is run by managers who don’t own it)