Norwich:
Why is capitalism the best way of achieving freedom? Jesus wasn’t a capitalist, he owned nothing. Peter was; as a fisherman, but, he left it all behind to follow Jesus. Mathew was, but a reluctant one who sent the results of his efforts to Rome. The only one of the Apostles who was a real capitalist and made money from Jesus was Judas.
Ahhhh there you are I was wondering when you’d pop up. Judas was a thief not a Capitalist, nice attempt at insinuation, you should really try to be more subtle. Capitalism is the best system as it allows us to exercise the gift given to us by God, free will. If a man has his wealth taken from him against his will and it is used to feed the poor, and he condemns the act, does this lead to his salvation? what about a man who uses his wealth on his own to take care of the poor? He truly is following Christ by following God’s will of his own choosing.
Jesus was a capitalist! Do you think he and Joseph had a carpentry business for fun? Was he a philanthropic Bob Vila? Did Joseph and Jesus have to work or did they go out every morning and gather up manna that had fallen over night like the Hebrews of old? he also had to own some things, like his clothes. I doubt they were rented like a tux. What of his carpentry tools? In his parables he uses capitalists as postive examples; the vineyard owner who pays a good wage to all the workers, the father of the prodigal son, the master who distributes talents, the list goes on. He also condemns those who take the earnings of others such as the dishonest servant in Matthew. (24:45) What about those Capitalists who took care of him? Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were comfortable as was Joseph of Arimathea, did he condemn for their wealth? You leftists are constantly trying to make Christ out to be this socialist revolutionary that he wasn’t. Get over it.
From what I can see of capitalism it simply removes money from the poor and gives it to the rich. So called “Trickle Down” is a falacy. If it worked, the USA as the richest nation on earth should have no poor. Yet the differentials between your rich and poor is probably (with one or two minor exceptions) the greatest in the world.
From what you can see? look harder. No nation should have poor but this world is not perfect nor will it be until the second coming. There will always be inequality, we must use our free will (there it is again) to do the best we can to alleviate it. Trickle down theory works far better than the socialist inspired economic systems that dominate Europe. Compare our unemployment rate, our per capita income, etc. We continue to grow because capitalism rewards exceeding the standard while socialism creates a stagnant swamp of enforced mediocrity. Our poor also have a belief that they can move beyond where they are (and they can, I am proof of this) to achieve. this is because of capitalism! Many techno-billionaires started with an idea and a willingness to work. Our list of self made people is astounding, the most recent of yours with which I am familiar is J.K. Rowling.
The argument that the rich create employment for the poor is also a nonsense. Without the rich the poor would still produce food, they would still have places to live, they would probably make their own motor cars or washing machines, they just wouldn’t have to pay so much for them.
You actually believe that tripe? Who provides the capital to mine the ore, build the factories, to melt the steel to build the car? Who provides the capital to build the facility, to buy the equipment, to pay for the research, to find the medicine, that is the cure? it’s not the local collective where everything would be held up by committee. Who provides the money to build the schools that produce our future leaders, entrepeneurs, doctors, ministers, etc? How would someone build their own car or washing machine? Of course they wouldn’t have to pay so much for them, they wouldn’t exist! It is capitalism that drives the creative spirit to do more.
Part of my industry is sewage farming. We often comapare sewage to capitalists, the largest ones always float to the surface.
Part of my industry (military) is sewage removal. We find that the largest chunks of sewage are those who sought to take the wealth from others who had earned it and distribute it as they wished.
