Let’s get this out of the way up front: I am committed to reviving, as much as possible, the government and economics prescribed by the Bible. Not a reassertion of Mosaic Law specifically, but the underlying principles of that Law as an expression of God’s design of the Universe. My criticism of modern life arises from the degree to which modern mankind refuses to follow those principles. I’m doing my best to understand those principles, could well be mistaken on any or all of it, but determined to get there nonetheless.
Western Civilization in particular exists largely in defiance of what God has commanded. For example, we falsely assume democracy (broadly defined) is the best possible form of government. That is, everyone affected should have a say. That assumption goes on to demand a particular set of principles about how that say is had. The Bible assumes man was not meant to live in democratic equality at all, but as members of a family, clan and tribe. Family life is inherently not egalitarian. The Word of God is unapologetic about putting men in charge, but also not at all objectivist about it. There is a dynamic give and take, but in the end, the dude has to stand before God, responsible for how things turned out. How you feel about it, how you analytically reason out some other regime, is your problem. God says thus and any other plan is, by definition, sinful.
So it is Western man has rejected God’s plan for economics, too, as a direct extension of a rejection of God’s plan for governing humanity. We tend to discern all this as a reflection of left and right, so I’ll address it from that framework, even as I deny it’s correct.
Those on the right aren’t really all in the same place, as anyone should know. The handy labels of capitalist, free market, etc., are characterizations with too much baggage to easily make sense of things. Far, far too many folks who claim to be on the right are entirely too willing to let government regulate things in their favor. This despite the ostensible claims in favor of freedom. They make claims about promoting good morals, laud charitable giving to those who are somehow just unfortunate in the game of economics. However, they define morality with precious little depth, as merely a set of objective principles, easily learned by anyone who does not know God at all. That definition happens to exclude anyone who doesn’t adhere to some particular cultural assumptions about this world, which assumptions are about as shallow as any cheap paint job. So it’s not about morality, per se, but a purely materialistic and greedy clinging to the things of this world. That’s the bulk of their “religion” in terms of what their actions say about their real commitments, never mind what their words say about those commitments. If you aren’t “responsible” on their terms about chasing material comforts, you aren’t a “good” person, and don’t deserve any consideration.
On the left, we have just about everybody else. Not that they are any less materialist, but they claim to embrace deeper values. They are committed to the same matrix of pure, analytical reason, standing on principles of caring about what happens to people. For the most part, this is a fair characterization. When the prissy middle-class merchant refuses to let the tattooed, multi-pierced freak work in his shop, the lefty correctly calls this “bad behavior” on the part of the merchant. It’s obvious the behavior arises from a personal prejudice, a prejudice and behavior pattern which is not good in the context. It’s none of the merchant’s business. However, the left then goes on to vilify the very thoughts of the merchant, and proposes goofy rules designed to punish and correct the merchant’s bad thoughts. In their zeal to reshape men after their own brand of prissy middle-class materialism, they blindly stomp on every merchant. However, they generally manage to exempt themselves from similar regulations about not allowing the home-schooled Fundamentalist Baptist to work in their own shop. Anyone who doesn’t love what they love does not deserve consideration.
Because we are artificially divided between these two extremes of the same idiocy, each tends to commit themselves to one partisan position or another, in order to gain some leverage in pressing their private agenda. No one can be truly individual. Those on one side can always point out someone else as being on the other side. The war is never-ending, as both sides wave their banner of holiness and truth. Both are wrong. But as long as they dominate the stage, no one is going to talk much about the real solution.
Aside from the obvious requirement we all should tear down the bogus edifice of republic and democracy, and return to the tribal regime required by the Bible, there are some preliminary steps we can take toward correcting the economics we now pursue in defiance of God’s command. Those steps do require correcting misunderstandings, but it’s not about doctrinal purity. It’s about working from the underlying assumptions open to all souls, redeemed or fallen.
1. Debt is evil. You may need at times to borrow from your neighbor to avoid starving to death, but your neighbor is required by God to consider making it a gift outright, or at least quietly forgetting your debt. Still, debt makes you a slave to the lender. If you choose to borrow, do so knowing this, for it is fundamental to Creation itself.
2. There is no such thing as a corporation. That is, a non-human entity cannot stand before the law as a “person” separate from the persons comprising the corporation. There are masters and servants; owners and employees. If you are directly responsible to any party outside the operation, you are an owner. If you are responsible only to the owners, you are an employee. If you make decisions, you are an owner. You cannot be a CEO and claim to be a servant of the investors, while the investors avoid legal liability because they aren’t really owners. A non-human corporation cannot own itself. Some individual human being takes personal responsibility for things, though you can reasonably compartmentalize multiple liabilities between multiple owners. If your chemical plant spills and kills folks, somebody needs to go to jail at the minimum. More likely, a lot of somebodies need to go to jail, because negligence is still a crime for an individual.
3. Wealth is inherently dangerous. This is something most folks reject. Sorry, but God says it’s so. As surely as night follows day, people who are insulated from common threats of life tend to be careless with others. Not every rich man is dangerous, but being rich itself is dangerous. Mankind is fallen, and sin is built into our nature. If the wealthy do not carry with them a sense of social obligation from God, they are already wrong, regardless of how otherwise harmless their actions may be. Concentration of wealth equals concentration of power, and no human alive on this earth is fully trustworthy. Wisdom disperses wealth and power quickly, voluntarily.
4. Time sensitivity is deception. Back up just a moment to the fundamental principle: Comfort in this world is a direct result of living according to the nature of God’s revealed natural order. Prosperity, health and safety are a general result of obeying what God demands of the world. (Don’t confuse this with personal spiritual redemption.) That’s His promise. Disregard His commands, and those things go away. However, our biggest mistake is failure to grasp the built in time lag. While the consequences of today’s mistake could smack you right away, the general consequences of doing things wrong might not fall on the current generation who is doing wrong. God has warned He would allow you to condemn your grandchildren and great-grandchildren by your actions today as a nation. At the same time, this factor depends in part on the speed of communication between humans, as should be obvious. Frankly, that is a matter of culpability; if you know, you are responsible. Because we all can theoretically know about the system and how it defies God’s law for this earth, and can all know about His law, we should expect to see some visitation of our sins more quickly. The part of God’s wrath which works through human sin itself will propagate more quickly when communication between humans is so easy.
It would be easy to lengthen this list, but I feel certain I’ve plowed up enough fallow ground of false assumptions. There is no need at all to care about Eternity to make sense of, and use of, these principles. If we could just grasp and begin turning toward these things, we might stand a chance of surviving this depression. Personally, I am not optimistic.
