Interesting question that is pertinent for Christians...Is capitalism moral?

[Pamela Ann Cameron]

I share this article because it made me think.  I like things that make me think.  I thought both sociology majors and political science majors might want to cogitate on some of the ideas presented here.  Great food for thought!

Ideological opponents argue Capitalism's morality

Debate |  Barbara Curtis

Jim Wallis says it's not; Arthur Brooks says it's not supposed to be

Maybe it was the timing - what with Occupy Everywhere and the ubiquitous "I-am- the- 99%" tales of woe. But Messiah College's Nov. 9 debate "Is Capitalism moral?" drew an unusually large crowd for a weeknight. And the 1,200 in attendance weren't just students - who'd been promised the event would count for chapel - but a heavy contingent of people who'd come from miles around to hear social justice advocate Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, and public policy analyst Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, in what promised to be a lively debate.

Brooks described a free market system as noble because it encourages people to aspire to succeed, while Wallis argued that unfettered capitalism only gave the rich an opportunity to take from the poor.

Brooks introduced himself as a college dropout who'd found success as a concert musician,playing the French horn. When he realized at 29 he was not happy, he returned to school to study economics.

"Is capitalism moral? Of course not. Only people can be moral," he said. "We're not asking the right questions."

Noting that 81 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the way we are being governed - the highest figure since Nixon - Brooks blamed a growing government that doesn't get anything done and crony capitalism, where politicians pick winners and losers with no thought to the common good.

While Brooks said it's easy to get discouraged, he instead sees an opportunity to examine the moral basis of our political system, which is based on the fact that we are created in God's image, and that we all have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Money does not equal happiness, Brooks said, citing research on lottery winners and welfare programs. "If you don't earn it, it won't bring you happiness. True happiness comes from earned success," he said.

The flip side to earned success is learned helplessness, which leads to unhappiness, he said. "We need a free enterprise system that recognizes this. A belief in free enterprise means we also help others find opportunities. When we take the risk out of life, we take the life out of life," Brooks concluded. "Free enterprise is a noble system, built not on envy but aspiration."

Wallis opened by noting that we live in a dysfunctional society where 50 million live below the poverty line.

In answering the question "Is capitalism moral?" Wallis referred to Adam Smith's idea that unless there is a moral framework, the market won't work, because of human greed and corruption.

Wallis said he was "kicked out" of evangelical circles over the issue of race, without providing any further explanation about the circumstances. But since "Marx, Lenin, Guevara didn't do it for me," he said, he returned to the Bible, where he found support for his heart for the poor and disadvantaged - "the least of these" - in Matthew 20:25.

Citing statistics that show wealth has become more concentrated at the top, Wallis labeled the American "economy unfair, unstable and making people unhappy."

"The top 400 have more wealth than the bottom 100,000,000," he said. Wallis wove references to Old Testament prophets scolding rulers for their treatment of the poor through the bleak picture of modern society he painted with current statistics.

"When powerful people have a chance, they take away from the poor," Wallis said.

Wallis referred several times to the visit he paid Occupy Wall Street, a cause he finds righteous and which he supports. He told the occupiers about Matthew 20:25 and other biblical support for their position. He said that when they heard the story of Moses, they made a papier mache Golden Calf and chanted the Beatitudes, something Wallis acknowledged doesn't happen in most churches. Wallis said he admired youthful activists like those involved in Occupy Wall Street because they bring important issues to the national consciousness.

"It is the obligation of the young to articulate what the rest of us are afraid to say,"' he said. "Inequality is in the news where it wasn't before."

During a post-debate question and answer session, Wallis referred to President Eisenhower's warning on the military-industrial complex, saying we spend more on our military than the rest of the world combined. He also mentioned the biblical concept of jubilee as a corrective to the sinfulness of human accumulation.

Brooks said that four things are necessary to lift the poor: immediate relief, reward for work, education, and an improved culture where people can talk honestly about moral issues like children born outside marriage.

Both men agreed that budgets are moral documents and that they are packed with inequities. Wallis pointed out the irony that Congress cuts food stamps while keeping agriculture subsidies - which Brooks also agreed should be dumped. The difference between the subsidies is that the farm industry has lobbyists, while the poor have none, Wallis said.

Brooks argued that America doesn't need less capitalism but better capitalists. The problem with social mobility is not inequality but a need to produce better people. Right now, America is struggling with a lousy system and a damaged culture, he said.

 

http://www.worldoncampus.com/article/hot_on_campus/2011/11/ideologi...

 

I will end this post with a quote form Alexis de Tocqueville:  "America will cease to be great when America ceases to be good."