Читать книгу Christian Economics - Dale Anthony Pivarunas - Страница 6

Christian economics, as any other well-developed system, is an axiomatic system similar to Euclidean geometry in which all theorems or principles are based on first principles (axioms or postulates) and developed from these first principles. These first principles of Christian economics are based on Natural Law and the teachings of Jesus Christ. The principles of Natural Law are self-evident and are universally accepted by virtually all religions and people.

The first principle of Natural Law is that good is to be done and promoted, and evil is to be avoided. This principle applies to Christian economics. The second first principle of Christian economics is ‘treat others in words and actions as you would have them treat you in words and actions’ which is also expressed in Christianity as ‘love your neighbor as yourself’. The third first principle of Christian economics is the absolute dignity and equality of each and every human being. Christianity teaches that human beings, all human beings, are made in the image and likeness of God. Jesus taught this principle through both his words and his actions. The absolute dignity of the human being applies to all human beings not just the rich, the powerful, the educated, men, older people, the healthy, the educated, the members of specific religions, specific nationalities, specific races or the beautiful. The absolute dignity of the human being applies to the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, the educated and the uneducated, women and men, the old and the young, the healthy and the sick, the members of all religions, the members of all nationalities, all races and the beautiful and the ugly. The absolute dignity of each and every human being is the basis for the rights of each and every human being and the Christian imperative that every person is treated with dignity and respect in their social lives, their economic lives, their political lives and their private lives.

However, before continuing with a discussion of Christian economics it is both interesting and enlightening to apply these first principles to the US economy regarding prices, jobs, business practices, the minimum wage, wages in general, the outsourcing of jobs, pensions in private industry, home foreclosures, home repossessions, how employers treat their employees, how managers treat their subordinates, etc. Are prices, jobs, business practices, the minimum wage, wages in general, the outsourcing of jobs, pensions in private industry, home foreclosures, home repossessions, employer-employee relationships, and manager-subordinate relationships based on the principles ‘that good is to be done and promoted, and evil is to be avoided’, ‘love your neighbor as yourself’, the absolute dignity and equality of each and every human being and the imperative of treating every person with dignity and respect? Certainly not! It takes little reflection to realize that there is almost no influence of these basic principles of Christian economics within the US economy. The US economy for all practical purposes is pagan. In fact, the US economy is based, managed and directed by economic theories which disconnect morality and economic behavior and activities. And this is wrong, absolutely wrong. Every human action within business, between businesses, involving a contract, involving a transaction, the relations between employers and employees, the relations between managers and subordinates, the relations between businesses and customers; these are all subject to morality, that is, they are either right or wrong from an ethical point of view as well as from a Christian point of view. Current economic theories actually support the disparity between the rich and the working class and promote the economic dominance of the wealthy class.

How does God want people to act within their economic lives: their jobs, their businesses, their business transactions, how they treat employees, how they pay employees, how they treat business subordinates, how they deal with tenants, how they set prices, how they deal with other businesses, how they market their products and services, how they advertise, the quality of their products and services, etc. It is extremely unfortunate that the vast majority of Christians have totally disconnected their economic lives from their religious lives and their religious beliefs. Most Christians exclaim their belief, loyalty and love of God within church but totally deny Him within their economic lives acting as though God does not exist. Most Christians are pagans in their economic lives and this is totally inconsistent with Christianity.

How is the Christian mandate to love your neighbor as yourself to be applied in business, economics and politics?

And when the Son of man shall come in His majesty, and all the angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the seat of His majesty. And all nations shall be gathered together before Him, and He shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left. Then shall the King say to them that shall be on His right hand: Come, you blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you clothed Me: sick, and you took care of Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the just will ask Him, saying: Lord, when did we see You hungry and fed You; thirsty, and gave You a drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and took You in; or naked and clothed You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and assisted You? And the king will answer them saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me.

Then He shall say to those on His left: Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you did not feed Me; I was thirsty, and you did not give me a drink. I was a stranger and you did not take Me not in; naked and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and you did not care for Me. Then they will ask Him, saying: Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did not do so to one of these least, neither did you do it to Me.

Christians have heard this passage from the bible many times. And yet, so few Christians understand its true meaning and even less apply this passage to their economic, business and political lives. Who are the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the strangers, the sick, and the imprisoned in modern society? Obviously, it is the homeless, the unemployed, those living in poverty, those who are underemployed, those who have had their homes repossessed, those who are physically, mentally and emotionally sick; and all those imprisoned physically, financially, and emotionally. Jesus identifies with these people and Christians are to see Jesus in these people. Do Christians see Jesus in the homeless, the unemployed, those living in poverty, those who are underemployed, those earning minimum wage, those who have had their homes repossessed, those who are physically, mentally and emotionally sick; and all those imprisoned physically, financially, and emotionally? The vast majority do not. What is worse is that many people who call themselves Christian actually deride these people. Christians claim to praise God in Church on Sunday but then they ignore and mistreat Him every day when they ignore and mistreat the homeless, the unemployed, those living in poverty, those who are underemployed, those who have had their homes repossessed, those who are physically, mentally and emotionally sick; and all those imprisoned physically, financially, and emotionally. The following is a more contemporary expression of Matthew chapter 25.

At the end of the world when God judges everyone, He will separate the good from the bad based on the commandment to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’. He will say to the good, ‘Come you blessed and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of time. For I was poor and you helped Me out of poverty. I was unemployed and you helped Me to find a job or you gave Me a job or you created a job for Me. I did not have health insurance and you helped Me to obtain insurance. I was not making a living wage and you worked to have My employer pay a living wage. I was homeless and you helped me find a place to live. My house was in foreclosure and you helped prevent it from being repossessed. I was old and you helped Me with a socially-based income and health insurance. I was uneducated and you helped to educate Me. I was in prison and you helped change the system from retribution based to restorative based. I was discriminated against and you helped stop the discrimination.’ And the righteous will ask Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You in poverty or unemployed or without insurance or making less than a living wage or homeless? When did we see Your home in foreclosure or You uneducated or old and without an income or health insurance? When did we see you in prison or being discriminated against?’ And God will answer, ‘Whatever you did for any of my brothers or sisters, you did for me.’ Then he will say to the others, ‘Depart from me. For I was poor and you ignored Me. I was unemployed and you did nothing but say that is was My fault. I did not have health insurance and you resisted any means to provide Me with public health insurance. I was not making a living wage and you said that My employer should determine how much I was worth and that there should not be a minimum wage let alone a living wage. I was homeless and you crossed the street so that you would not have to walk by Me. My house was in foreclosure and you did nothing. My house was re-possessed and you helped with My eviction. I was old and you worked to take away my government mandated pension and health insurance that I paid for. I was uneducated and you said that only those that can afford an education should be educated. I was in prison and you threw away the key. I was discriminated against and you did nothing to stop the discrimination.’ And the unrighteous will ask Him, ‘Lord, when did we act this way to you?’ And God will answer, ‘What you did or did not do to your fellow human beings, you did to Me.’

Seventy-five percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians, so it would be logical to see a significant influence of Christianity within the US economy and political system. And yet, that is certainly not the case. With such a high percentage of Christians within the United States, there is obviously a very high percentage of so-called Christians within banking, the defense and weapons industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the chemical industry, the diversified manufacturing industry and within government (all levels and all branches). And yet the Christians in these industries and within government make no effort to apply Christian principles within their jobs. How could a Christian working within the banking industry support the foreclosure of over fifteen million homes and the repossession of over five million homes? How could a Christian person working for the banking industry personally apply and enforce policies that took people’s homes away knowing that this affected women, children, and senior citizens? How could a Christian sheriff or police officer forcefully evict a family from their home removing their belongings and placing the family’s belongings on the street while the family watched? How could a Christian help the corporation that they work for to outsource jobs to another country knowing that it results in the loss of employment for hundreds or thousands of employees and their families just to increase profits? How can a Christian work for a company that manufactures military weapons that helps promote military conflicts so that the company can sell its products and services? How can a Christian work for an employer who either directly or indirectly operate factories that employ young girls and even children paying them extremely low wages and making them work excessively long hours? How can a Christian employer pay adults with families at the minimum wage rate or less than the minimum wage? How can a Christian manager force employees to work without a break for ten or twelve hours at a time? How can a Christian manager lay off workers a day before a holiday so that the workers are not paid for the holiday? How can a Christian work for a company that intentionally reduces the hours of its employees so that it does not have to provide health insurance? How can a Christian work for a pay day loan company or a title loan company which has interest rates between 300 and 750 percent or higher? How can a Christian work for a company that pays male workers much higher than it pays female workers for the exact same work? How can a Christian work for a hospital or medical center which charges a person without insurance more than a person who has insurance because the insurance company gets a discount? (The person does not have insurance because they cannot afford insurance). How can a Christian work for a company that discriminates against older applicants? How can a Christian in government ignore the 9 million people who are unemployed, the 30 million people who are under-employed, the millions of people who have to work two jobs, the 90 million people who live from paycheck to paycheck, and the 46 million people living in poverty?

The current economic and political crises within the United States are the direct result of Christians not practicing their faith in their daily lives and this includes their business lives, their economic lives and their political lives. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Christians have closed their minds to the inconsistencies between their faith and the philosophies and practices of the business world which falsely claim that business is outside the realm of faith and morals as expressed in the statement ‘it is neither right nor wrong, it is just business’. Good is to be done and promoted, and evil is to be avoided in all things including business and politics. The commandment to love your neighbor as yourself does not stop when it comes to business and politics; it applies to every facet of a Christian’s life. If the failure of Christians to practice their faith in their economic lives is the cause of the current economic and political crises, then the solution is the application of Christian economics to the US economy and political system by Christians living their faith.

Human rights are based on the first principle of the absolute dignity of the human person. All humans have equal rights and every human being is obligated to respect the rights of others. Human rights are based on nature and because of this cannot be limited or taken away. They apply to all people without exception. Human rights, because they are derived by nature, cannot be applied to corporations or entities artificially created by the government; nor can human rights be applied to the government. A business does not have rights, only people have rights. A corporation does not have rights, only people have rights. A town, a city, a county, a state, or a country does not have rights; only people have rights.

Every human being needs freedom, safety, food, water, shelter, clothing, a livelihood, energy, transportation, communication, healthcare, disability care, old age care, education, privacy and rest/recreation (physical, emotional and psychological). Every human being needs care when they are very young, very old and very sick (physical, emotional or psychological). Corresponding to these human needs are human rights. People, all people have the right to be free; physical, emotional, psychological, financial, speech, thought, religion, movement, and political action. People have the right to safety; physical, emotional and psychological. This right applies to their person and their property. People have a right to food and water. Food and water cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford to buy them. Because the amount and sources of fresh water are limited, large sources of water such as lakes and ground water cannot be privatized since this would deny the basic human right to water. People have a right to clothing and clothing cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford clothing.

People have a right to housing; housing cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford housing nor can a person’s home be taken away. If a person owes money or taxes on his or her home, then other ways must be pursued to obtain that money but the person should not be deprived of their home—it is their human right. People have a right to a livelihood; a person’s livelihood cannot be taken away arbitrarily or because someone else wants to increase their profits. People have a right to education; education cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford education. People have a right to energy; energy cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford energy. People have a right to healthcare; healthcare cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford healthcare. When is food or water or clothing or shelter or energy or furniture or transportation or healthcare or education so expensive that people cannot afford these things? People need all of these things, not just one or a few of them. Obviously, there is an expense or price associated with each of these things. When the price of one of these necessities is so high that the person cannot afford to pay for the others, then that price is too high.

Pricing is best managed by businesses following the just price principle. A price for a service is just when it is fair to both the seller and buyer. It cannot be so high that a family’s budget is impacted, nor so low that the business loses money. Businesses can set prices which are fair. They should not follow the false principle of maximization of prices. Nor does the pseudo principle of supply and demand dictate prices. Prices always need to be just and there is no moral basis for raising the price of a product or service because of scarcity. When businesses cannot manage prices justly, then the government needs to step in and make sure that pricing is fair and not extreme. Prices cannot be so high that the lower working class cannot afford the basic necessities in life: food, water, shelter, clothes, transportation, healthcare and education. Prices cannot be used by businesses to force other businesses to go bankrupt. Unfortunately, many businesses have used the immoral strategy of lowering prices to such an extent that smaller businesses cannot compete. This strategy is used to allow larger businesses to take over smaller businesses which reduces or eliminates competition, reduces service to customers and eliminates the livelihoods of people.

People have a right to rest and recreation: a person cannot be made to work so long in one day without a break for rest, nor for so many days in a week without a day break for rest, nor for so many weeks in a year without a week or weeks off for rest. Every person by nature has the right to movement, the right to communication, the right to work and the right to equal pay for equal work. Unequal pay for equal work is common for women and people of different ages. It often happens that within an organization two or more people do the same work but are paid unequally. Unfortunately, they do not know that they are paid differently. Every person has the right to privacy of their person, their possessions, their communication, their ideas, and their opinions. The government cannot deny this right, nor can employers deny this right.

Every human needs to own property, (clothing, furniture, housing, appliances, etc.) and every human being has the right to own property alone as well as jointly with others (co-own property within a corporation). One person’s right to property is limited by every other person’s right to property. One person or a group of persons cannot own so much property within a town or a county or a state or a country that others would be prevented from owning property, the amount of property required to live a safe and decent life. The right to own property is a human right which is derived by nature and therefore corporations or entities artificially created by the government cannot own property—the humans who constitute the corporation own the property of the corporations.

God created the universe and because of this everything belongs to God: the natural resources of earth (water, land, trees, elements, minerals, chemicals, petroleum, etc.) animals and other non-human living things. God created the universe for people, all people. God wants people, all people, and all people of every generation to share the natural resources of earth (water, land, trees, elements, minerals, chemicals, petroleum, natural gas, animals and other non-human living things. It is obvious that the natural resources of earth are finite. Since God wants people, all people, and all people of every generation to share the natural resources of earth, every generation of human beings must take care of these natural resources so that they may be available for future generations. Since God wants all people to share His goods, no person or groups of persons (corporations) should own or control so much of any natural resource as to prevent others from owning the natural resources that they need and have a right to.

God created the natural resources of the earth in order to satisfy people’s needs for safety, food, water, shelter, clothing, energy, transportation, communication, health and rest/recreation. The use of these natural resources should not be based on first come first serve, a free for all type approach, a dog eat dog approach, the winner take all approach or a king of the hill approach. It should be clear that these things are to be shared by all people not necessarily equally but in a way that allows for everyone to have enough to satisfy their natural needs while differences are to be based on the individual’s productivity. This means that there are both minimums and maximums with respect to the ownership of land and the other natural resources.

Natural resources are transformed by work (physical, design, organizational, managerial, etc.) into things that can be consumed or used for people’s safety, food, shelter, clothing, energy, transportation, communication, and health. The economy is the corporation of people working together jointly to transform the natural resources from God into things that can be consumed or used by people. The purpose and objective of the US economy is to satisfy in the most efficient and effective way the natural needs and desires of all Americans for food, clothing, housing, a livelihood, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, recreation/entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect. This statement which expresses the purpose and objective of the economy is a major tenet of Christian economics. The US economy needs to be organized and managed in order to achieve this objective. It needs to be organized and managed based on the principles of ‘good is to be done and promoted, and evil is to be avoided’, ‘love your neighbor as yourself’, the absolute dignity and equality of every person and the natural human rights of every human being.

The United States of America is a corporation of over 315 million people formally joined together for a common purpose: to satisfy the natural needs and desires of all Americans for safety, food, clothing, housing, a livelihood, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation/entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect. The purpose of the United States can be divided into two areas; safety and economic. Safety involves physical, psychological and emotional security from domestic, foreign, environmental, and climate threat and attack. Safety extends to a person’s body, thoughts and ideas, communication in all forms, property, association and actions. People’s safety can be threatened either individually or collectively as a group or a corporation. The people of the United States are dedicated to maintaining the safety of all. The second and equally important purpose of the United States is economic. The economic purpose of the United States is the mutual satisfaction of the natural needs and desires of all Americans for food, clothing, housing, a livelihood, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, recreation/entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect. Everyone has these needs and everyone has the right to have these needs satisfied. The people of the United States are joined together so that they can work together for the good of all. These two purposes and objectives of the United States are equally important.

The purpose of the government is to direct the corporation of the United States towards the attainment of its objective to satisfy the natural needs and desires of all Americans for safety, food, clothing, housing, a livelihood, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation/entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect. Because the United States corporation is large and complex consisting of over 315 million people grouped into families, communities, social corporations and productive corporations working and interacting constantly and continuously, it is not possible for the United States to achieve its purpose and objectives without direction, management and regulation. Unfortunately, there is a fallacy that has been influenced millions of Americans and which holds that the role of government should be extremely limited. The fallacy sometimes referred to as the libertarian philosophy is very deceiving. Many people have espoused this philosophy because of certain inappropriate and in some cases immoral actions taken by the government. Unfortunately, the government today does not promote and support the true objectives of the United States, but instead promote and support the objectives of the wealthy elite. Because of this, the various branches and levels of government engage in policies and actions which are contrary to the true objectives of the United States which are the safety and economic welfare of all. As a result, people interpret these incorrect actions on the part of the government as the reason why there should be very limited government. So, while those who follow the libertarian political philosophy are correct in their position that many of the actions and policies of the government are wrong and even outrageous; they are incorrect in their conclusion that government needs to be limited in its abilities. A corporation with 315 million people cannot function efficiently and effectively without direction, management and regulation.

One of the main purposes of the government is to manage the economy so that the economy achieves its objective which is to satisfy in the most efficient and effective way the natural needs and desires of all Americans for food, clothing, housing, a livelihood, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation/entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect. The management style of the government in managing the economy should be management by exception, that is, it should only get involved in the management of the economy when it is necessary. One case where the government needs to get involved in managing the economy is when there is unemployment. Central planning by the government should take place where and when private industry planning is lacking in order to promote full employment. It should do so by helping individuals create their own businesses. Maximum economic production for the economy, which is one of the purposes of the economy, can only be achieved through full employment. Another case where the government needs to get involved in managing the economy is when competition is out of control. The government needs to referee businesses to make sure that competition is fair.

The US economy is a social system consisting of millions of people working together, approximately 315 million people of which approximately 160 million people work to produce goods and services. Obviously, the vast majority of these people work together with the intention that all of them will be able to provide themselves and their families with safety, food, water, clothing, housing, education, healthcare, transportation, etc. It is just as obvious that these 160 million people do not work so that a small, select group of individuals can own or control most of the wealth and live lives of luxury while most other people live lives deprived of the basic necessities in life. Yet, in spite of the intentions of the majority of US workers, the US economy is far from realizing its objective. What is the problem? How can the US economy achieve its objective and why is the current US economy so far from achieving its objective?

From the premises that natural resources are limited and to be shared by all and from the purpose of the economy (to satisfy in the most efficient and effective way the natural needs and desires of all Americans for safety, food, clothing, housing, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation, entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect), it follows that natural resources as property must be both privately owned and commonly owned. And this principle applies to all property; some property needs to be held by individuals (all individuals) and some property has to be held in common. There are over 315 million people in the United States. Everyone needs these things, at least a minimum amount of these things. The use and ownership of these things has to be done so that no one is deprived. That does not mean that everyone shares equally. What it means it that there has to be both minimums and maximums to the amount that one person or a group of persons can own or control, and that some things can only be shared in common. Parks, roads, bridges, large lakes and rivers, large underground water tables, scarce elements and minerals which are needed by the majority of people and underground sources of energy (coal, petroleum, and natural gas) have to be held in common. Again, these resources are limited and God gave these resources to all people, so they have to be shared by holding them in common. The kind and amount of natural resources that an individual or group of individuals can own or control as well as the kind and amount of natural resources that need to be held as common property can only be determined, managed and controlled through laws and oversight by the different branches of government and the different levels of government.

Again, the US economy is a social system consisting of millions of people, over 315 million people of which approximately 160 million people work to produce goods and services. Since the purpose of the economy is to satisfy in the most efficient and effective way the natural needs and desires of all 315 million Americans for safety, food, clothing, housing, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation, entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect; it follows that all those people who are capable of working need to be employed and productive in supporting the economy. This concept is called full employment. There are 160 million workers who need to produce the goods and services required by the 315 million people. Obviously, it is best for the economy that all those who want to work are employed. The more people that are working, the more productive and efficient the economy is. Unemployed people do not support their own personal goals or the goals of the economy. How can current economic theories argue that it is good that 9 million people are out of work (the number of workers who are underemployed is over three times that)? How is it good for the economy that 9 million people have no income? How do these people pay their bills? How do these people pay for food? How do these people pay for housing? What do these people do when they get sick? How can these people provide for their children? 9 million unemployed people do not pay income taxes, do not pay Social Security taxes, and do not pay Medicare taxes.

Unemployment is a bad thing; bad for the unemployed and their families and bad for everyone in the economy. And yet, current economic theories actually hold that a certain rate of unemployment is a good thing. They argue that there needs to be a pool of unemployed workers so that businesses can draw from that pool of individuals when they need more workers. According to this theory, if there wasn’t a pool of unemployed workers, then businesses would have to entice employed workers with better compensation to quit their current jobs and come and work for the new employer. When this happens, then employers pay more for labor and they have to raise prices causing inflation. Current non-Christian economic theories hold that an unemployment rate of between four to six percent is best. From a numbers perspective, this means that 6.4 to 9.6 million people should be unemployed. According to these economic theories, it is better to have 150.4 million workers supporting 315 million people rather than 160 million workers supporting 315 million people. Of course, this does not make sense. 315 million people need food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, disability care, old age care, transportation, furniture, education, etc. It obviously makes more sense to have 160 million workers providing these things for the 315 million rather than 150 million workers.

The arguments of current economic theory regarding full employment and unemployment rates are both false and deceiving. These arguments are based on the perspective of what is best for profit-based organizations and not what is best for the economy and not what is best for workers. For-profit organizations (not all organizations are for-profit) have as their primary objective the maximization of profit. Because of this they want to be able to minimize what they pay to workers both for new hires and existing employees. With a large number of people who are unemployed, there is more competition for jobs and people are often willing to accept less money than they feel that they are worth (good for the for-profit organization and bad for the worker and also the economy). Within a full employment economy (zero unemployment), there are always people looking for new jobs. There are young people entering the job market for the first time. There are people who want to relocate. And there are people looking for new opportunities. Christian economics holds that full employment is best for the economy and it is best for all workers. Full employment leads to full production and full consumption. Full employment provides more tax revenue for the various levels of government. It avoids the economic inefficiency of having to support those who are unemployed. And, it allows people to maintain their dignity as contributing to their own support as well as the support of the entire economy.

The very wealthy actually want high unemployment rates and they love the current real unemployment rate of 10 percent because it gives their businesses a cheap labor pool. Businesses can pay new employees considerably less than what they are worth and they can refrain from providing pay increases by telling employees that ‘they are lucky to have a job’. While the very wealthy favor unemployment, they look with contempt on those who are unemployed. They hold that the unemployed are out of work through their own fault when, in fact, the vast majority of people who are unemployed (as well as those who are underemployed), are in their predicament because of policies and economic theories developed and promoted by the very wealthy as radical capitalist economics. People who have dedicated decades of their work lives to one company have been laid off because their jobs have been outsourced outside the United States. Were they bad employees? No! The company wanted to increase profits by using lower-wage workers in other countries where there are virtually no laws concerning labor protection. The company does not care about employees; it only cares about its profits. The company does not care about employee ’s children; it only cares about its profits. The company does not care whether the laid-off worker eventually has to file for bankruptcy or lose his or her home; it only cares about its profits. “It is neither right nor wrong, it is just business” replies the radical capitalist.

People have been laid off for the simple reason that the CEO and the executive team will not make their bonus objectives unless they reduce costs by laying-off workers. If a company is generating a ten percent net profit and the CEO’s bonus is based on generating a net profit of twelve percent, how can the CEO make his or her bonus objective of twelve percent net profit? The solution is simple and is applied very often: lay off enough employees to hit the goal. The CEO and his or her management team do not care about the employees; they only care about their bonuses. The CEO and his or her management team do not care about the employee ’s children; they only care about their bonuses. The CEO and his or her management team do not care whether the laid-off worker has to file for bankruptcy or lose his or her home; they only care about their bonuses. “It is neither right nor wrong, it is just business” replies the radical capitalist.

Unemployment is bad, even terrible for the worker, but it is good for the radical capitalist. Most often unemployed workers take on increased debt by using credit cards or resorting to usurious personal loans. That is good for the radical capitalist. Unemployed workers are often forced to sell their homes or possessions at far less than market value. That is good for the radical capitalist.

Zero unemployment (and zero under-employment) is a wonderful thing for workers. Consider the lifetime career of a worker who never experiences any long period of unemployment or multiple periods of unemployment. Consider the benefits to college graduates who are able to find employment shortly after graduation. With zero unemployment, the net worth of workers over their careers would be higher. The stress, worry and anxiety of being laid off for tens of millions of workers have a heavy price on healthcare costs. With zero unemployment (and zero under-employment), these healthcare costs would be significantly reduced. Businesses actually benefit from a policy of not laying off workers in the long run. Workers who do not fear a lay-off are more dedicated and less likely to look for another job. The workers are happier and happier workers are more productive workers.

Would zero unemployment lead to price increases and inflation? No! Assuming that the radical capitalist theory on zero unemployment is correct with respect to the claim that wages will increase, does that imply that prices will rise? Within the context of maximum profitability, the corporation would want to increase prices. However, within the context of moderate and stable profitability, the corporation does not have to raise prices. And within the context of a democratic government that oversees and manages the economy and oversees and manages price increases, the corporation has no basis for raising prices as long as it is making a reasonable and fair profit. Balance and equity are the bases for a stable economy that benefits virtually everyone. Unfortunately, radical capitalist economics has as one of its main principles the maximization of profits for the capitalist and at the same time it denies the principle of economic balance and equity between capital and labor, between capitalists and workers.

Radical capitalism is a concept promoted by most current economic theories, though these theories do not use the adjective ‘radical’. At the heart of these theories is the position that economics and economic activities are amoral, that is, neither moral nor immoral expressed in the expression ‘it is neither right nor wrong, it is just business’. This principle frees people engaged in business from moral constraints and allows these people to pursue business objectives without any concern regarding basic morality and certainly not Christian moral principles. It is this principle of current capitalistic economic theories which allows businesses to put profits before people without any guilt and which is the main cause of the current economic and political crises within the United States and throughout the world. Is it possible for capitalism to be moral? Yes, it certainly is—but currently it is not. This is where it is the responsibility of Christians to make capitalism compatible with Christianity.

Another pseudo-theory of radical capitalist economics which illustrates the bias in favor of the capitalist and the bias against the worker involves ‘the minimum wage’. Radical capitalist economics hold that there should not be a minimum wage. The government should not regulate wages whatsoever and should allow businesses to determine wages. These theories hold that since the main objective of a corporation is to maximize profits, and profit maximization is accomplished by minimizing costs and maximizing prices; it follows that companies have to minimize wages. The company does not care if the wages it pays its employees are insufficient to live on and to support a family; it only wants to maximize profits. The company does not care that the employee will never be able to afford a home, buy a car, or someday to retire, it only wants to maximize profits. The company does not care that the employee receiving such low wages has to work sixty, seventy, or eighty hours a week preventing him or her from getting an education or training to better themselves, it only wants to maximize profits.

The purpose and objective of the US economy is to satisfy in the most efficient and effective way the natural needs and desires of all US citizens for food, clothing, housing, a livelihood, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation/entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect. Approximately 160 million workers (assuming that all people are working) have to support 315 million people. The goods and services that people need and want are provided through the labor of the workers. It is true that capital is required to help generate these goods and services, but the actual production and delivery of these goods and services is through the labor of the 160 million people. Workers work to provide an income for themselves and their families. It is unjust, contrary to Christian economics and counter to the purpose of the economy to pay an employee less than a living wage, a wage adequate for the worker and his or her family for food, clothing, housing, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, transportation and recreation/entertainment.

Does a minimum wage or even a living wage lead to price increases and inflation? No! Within the context of moderate and stable profitability, the corporation does not have to raise prices if it pays its workers a living wage. Companies were making reasonable profits decades ago before they began outsourcing from Asia where workers are paid sub-human wages. Within the context of a democratic government that oversees and manages the economy and oversees and manages price increases, the corporation has no basis for raising prices as long as it is making a reasonable and fair profit

Raising the minimum wage to a living wage is actually good for the economy. Workers receiving more pay will turn around and spend that money, increasing demand which drives the economy. Balance and equity are the bases for a stable economy that benefits virtually everyone. Balance and equity imply moderation and the lack of extremes. Obviously, the concept and objective of maximization of profits is incompatible with a balanced economy. Christian economics theory supports and promotes the economic good of all, while radical capitalist economic theory supports and promotes the economic dominance of a select minority over the majority.

The US is one large corporation. It is a body of people working together for a common cause; the good of all people within the United States. The US economy is also a corporation. The states are corporations as well as cities and towns. Both public and private schools are corporations. Hospitals are corporations and businesses are corporations. States, cities, towns, schools, hospitals, and businesses are part of the US economic corporation and because of this need to be subordinate to the US economy as a corporation. What that means is that all corporations must support the US economic objective of satisfying in the most efficient and effective way the natural needs and desires of all 315 million Americans for safety, food, clothing, housing, a livelihood, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation, entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect. Each corporation has as its indirect object the same objective of the US economic corporation. Each corporation has as its patriotic duty to support the objectives of the US economy. Since there are millions of corporations within the United States, it is necessary to coordinate these corporations by laws, regulations and government oversight to make sure that the overall objective of the US economic corporation is pursued and achieved.

Who owns the US economy or the US economic corporation? Who owns the United States? Who owns the state of California, the state of New York or the state of Texas? Who owns the city of Chicago? Who owns the Mayo clinic? Who owns the University of Georgia? Who owns Notre Dame University? Who owns Exxon-Mobil? Who owns Wal-Mart? Unfortunately, for hundreds if not thousands of years, there has been a social, political and economic fallacy that social organizations can be and are owned by one individual or a small group of individuals. Kings, emperors, tyrants, dictators, oligarchies, oligopolies, and politburos have denied the human rights of the equality of people and the right of people to govern themselves and have taken and take the position that societies belong to them and that the purpose of societies is to maximize the benefits to them. Kings, emperors, tyrants, dictators, oligarchies, oligopolies, and politburos have and do exploit people for their own selfish purposes. They hold that they are smarter and superior to everyone else and that either they have superior rights or that others have no rights at all. Kingdoms, empires, oligarchies, and plutocracies are morally wrong. They are morally wrong in spite of what history and literature has to say about them.

A common word used today is “exceptionalism’. US politicians refer to the United States as exceptional, implying that the US is better than other countries. This idea is behind the foreign policies that see the US dominating virtually the world, because the US is exceptional and the rest of the world is not. Unfortunately, this is just another example of the wealthy elite, the power elite, acting to exploit others (not just individuals but whole countries) for their own selfish purposes and to maximize their wealth and power.

Up until the last few hundred years, the most prevalent political structures have been kingdoms, empires and oligopolies and there are still such structures today. Within kingdoms, empires and oligopolies; judges, academics and church leaders justified the politics, policies and actions of the ruling elite. They in turn taught everyone that what was done in the name of the king or emperor or ruling class was right and the military and police enforced a blind obedience to the commands, laws and philosophies of the ruling class. The people were not to question only to obey. This lasted for thousands of years and most history books and books of literature glorify the ruling class and the members of the ruling class. The same is true today. The news media glorifies the rich. Also, Christianity starting with the reign of Constantine took a more compromising position with the ruling class in order to avoid persecution. This cozy relationship with the ruling class by Christian leaders (leaders of Christian churches and organizations) generally led to Christian leaders remaining silent regarding the immorality of the ruling class in most cases. While kings and emperors attacked other countries in order to expand their kingdoms or empires and in the process tortured, raped, enslaved and killed even women and children; Christian leaders said nothing. While kings, emperors and oligopolies subjugated the people, ignored their rights, and totally ignored the principles of ‘do good and avoid evil’ and’ love your neighbor as yourself’; Christian leaders said nothing. And the people, academics and historians naively took this silence to mean acceptance and endorsement of the exploits of the ruling class. How sad and how unfortunate! When will people start thinking for themselves and not blindly believing and following those who exploit them and those who support the exploiters?

The US economy, the United States, the state of California, the state of New York, the state of Texas, the city of Chicago, the Mayo clinic, the University of Georgia, Notre Dame University, Exxon-Mobil, and Wal-Mart are social organisms, that is, they are groups of people working and functioning together as a living body. Each person is like a cell within a body that functions both for its own good as well as for the entire body. As living bodies of people, each corporation is owned by the people comprising the corporation. Who owns the US economy? The people of the United States own the US economy. Who owns the United States? The people of the United States own the United States. Who owns the state of California, the state of New York or the state of Texas? The people of California own the state of California, the people of New York own the state of New York, and the people of Texas own the state of Texas. Who owns the city of Chicago? The people of the city of Chicago own the city of Chicago. Who owns the Mayo clinic? All of the people involved in the operation of the Mayo clinic own the Mayo clinic. Who owns the University of Georgia? All of the people involved in the operation of the University of Georgia own the University of Georgia as well as the people of Georgia. Who owns Notre Dame University? All of the people involved in the operation of Notre Dame University own Notre Dame University. Who owns Exxon-Mobil? All of the people involved in the operation of Exxon-Mobil own Exxon-Mobil. Who owns Wal-Mart? All of the people involved in the operation of the Wal-Mart own Wal-Mart.

Ownership involves rights, responsibilities, liabilities and benefits. Every person owns their self; their bodies, their thoughts, their speech, and their actions. Every person has rights, responsibilities, liabilities and benefits with respect to their bodies, their thoughts, their speech, and their actions. No one else and no other group of people can own the body, the thoughts, the speech and the actions of another person. A group of people joined together by a mutually agreed social contract can co-own the group’s common ideas, communication and actions. In such a case, the group as a group has the rights, responsibilities, liabilities and benefits of the commonly owned ideas, communication and actions of the group. No one else and no other group of people can own the common ideas, communication or actions of another group.

This concept of ownership forms the basis of the United States, the US economy, the various states, cities, towns, non-profit organizations and for-profit organizations because they are all social organisms. Unfortunately, this concept of ownership is different from the concept of ownership that has continued from kingdoms, empires and oligopolies. This concept holds that one individual or a group of individuals can own a social organization or a social organism, even though this violates the rights of the individuals comprising or constituting the social organism. Of course this is the same fallacy that has existed for thousands of years and was used by kings, emperors and the ruling class to exploit the majority. And today there are academics, lawyers, judges, and others who support this fallacy despite the absurdity of this principle.

How could a king or emperor own an entire country; its economy, its land, its resources and its people? Certainly, the concept is absurd, yet this has existed for thousands of years. How can a few people own or control an entire country; its economy, its land, its resources and all or most of its people? From the very beginning of the United States, the US economy and government have been dominated and controlled by small group of people. Ignoring the true objective of the economy which is to satisfy in the most efficient and effective way the natural needs and desires of all Americans for safety, food, clothing, housing, a livelihood, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation, entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect; this small group of people have manipulated the government (all branches and all levels), laws, the news media, and academics to enable themselves to amass great fortunes at the expense of the working majority. And yet most Americans are blind to all of this. People work hard thinking that someday they will get ahead financially but the vast majority of people never do. They live their entire lives struggling financially, living from pay check to pay check. And now these super-rich people who dominate and control the government and economy want to take away the few social safety nets that allow the majority of people to avoid abject poverty: social security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance.

One of the greatest fallacies and errors of modern economic and political times is the concept of a corporation. This concept has been developed and promoted by the ruling elite of the United States: those very rich individuals who dominate and control the US economy and government. This concept defines a corporation as an artificial person (an oxymoron) with legal rights and privileges and whose owners are immune from liabilities associated with the corporation. This concept is wrong for many reasons some of which show the concept to actually be absurd. One might challenge the claim that the above notion of a corporation is absurd given that the government, academia, the media, and almost everyone accept this notion as true. A response to such a challenge involves the moral tale by Hans Christian Andersen called the “Emperor’s New Clothing.” In this tale, two tailors run a scam on the emperor where they promise to make the emperor a splendid new set of clothing but instead steal the expensive yarn which they were given to sew the clothing. These tailors did not make any new clothing for the emperor but made the claim that the clothing was invisible to anyone who was stupid or incompetent. The emperor, his royal court, and almost all of the people dared not to claim that he the emperor was walking around in his underwear because none of them wanted to be considered stupid or incompetent based on the marketing of the two scam artist tailors. This tale parallels the development and promotion of the modern concept of a corporation as an artificial person with rights and privileges and whose owners are immune from liabilities associated with the corporation. The people who have developed and promoted this concept are like the tailors in the story. The US economy and the government are like the emperor. And the academics, the media, the judiciary, and the vast majority of Americans are like the royal court and people in the story. While the concept of an artificial person is absurd, no one dares to say so lest they be called stupid, incompetent and uneducated.

Another absurd aspect of this notion of corporation has to do with the corporation owner’s immunity from liabilities associated with the corporation. The so-called owners of the corporation manage and direct the corporation. Because the owners want to maximize the profits of the corporations and because the corporation itself is amoral, the owners can and do often perform actions which impact the health and welfare of workers and consumers knowing that they are immune from the liabilities associated with such actions. Even though it is the deliberate actions of the owners which are the cause of the harm to the people affected, the laws hold them blameless. Unethical business practices, harmful drugs, dangerous or unsafe products and environmental pollution are some of the harmful actions which the owners of the corporation are immune from. Even though it is the action of the owner which causes the harm, the law considers the corporation not the owner as responsible. It is like a person with a glove who strikes another person and claims that it is the glove and not he who is responsible for the blow. The owner of the corporation is like the person wearing the glove and the glove is the corporation. It is truly absurd to consider the corporation defined as an artificial person to be responsible and liable rather than the owner even though the corporation cannot act on its own since it is inanimate and the actions of the corporation are in fact the actions of the owners. This safeguard from liability is the reason why the very rich developed and promoted this false notion of a corporation. These owners want the rights, privileges, and benefits of the corporation without the liabilities and responsibilities of the corporation. That is wrong. To purposely hide one’s actions behind the corporation to prevent liability for the consequences of those actions is wrong.

The definition of a corporation needs to be changed and the laws surrounding corporations need to be changed as well. A corporation needs to be defined as a social organism, an organization of people (real people, living human beings) working together for personal, common and US economic objectives. The owners of the corporation are all those who enliven the organism, that is, those actively involved in managing, directing and operating the corporation. Owners can only be human beings. The owners of the corporation, as owners, must bear the responsibilities and liabilities of the corporation. The corporation needs to be chartered by the government in which it will operate and the charter needs to specify its purpose, its constitution, and how it elects its directors and managers. Changing the definition of a corporation and changing the laws affecting corporations is a critical component of restructuring and rebalancing the US economy and political system.

The Great Depression which started in approximately 1929 lasted twelve years and had devastating effects on the majority of Americans. The working class experienced extremely high levels of unemployment, homelessness, depression, suicide, high school dropout rates, divorce, malnutrition, and illness. The Great Depression—why did it happen? People wanted to consume, businesses wanted to sell, and companies wanted to produce. People wanted and needed to buy goods and services: food, clothing, housing, furniture, appliances, healthcare, transportation, etc. But they did not have the money to buy these things. They did not have the money to buy because they had either no income or a greatly reduced income. Companies wanted to manufacture. People wanted to work. There was no lack of natural resources. So, why did factories close? Why did stores close? Why did banks close? Why were people laid off from work? Why couldn’t people find work? Why did so many people have to suffer, especially children and older people?

The primary cause of the Great Depression which started in 1929 and lasted for twelve years was the imbalanced distribution of wealth and income between the working class and the capitalist class. This imbalance was caused by the low tax rate for the upper income group, big corporations realizing enormous profits because of high prices and not sharing those profits with workers in terms of higher pay, unregulated lending, high interest rates, unregulated speculation in the stock and exchange markets, and the intentional and contrived movement of income and wealth away from the working class to a very select capitalist class. These same factors are the causes underlying the current economic environment?

One of the main principles of any national economy is the correct relationship between labor and capital. Labor and capital are partners in an efficient and effective economy, and their mutual respect and collaboration are critical to the proper functioning of the economy. Because labor and capital are equal and essential elements of an economy, they must share power equally, both economically and politically.

In order not to appear vague, perhaps it would be best to think of capitalists as the individuals comprising the top 1% of the income/asset hierarchy and labor as those individuals comprising the lower 99% of the income/asset hierarchy. Capitalists use capital to generate an income, while workers use their labor (physical, intellectual or both) to generate an income.

The basic dynamic of an economy is the continuous cycle of demand, production, sale, consumption. The economy is driven by consumption and jobs are created because of consumption. When consumption is down, jobs are lost. When consumption is up, jobs are created. Businesses only create jobs in response to demand or consumption, both forecasted and actual.

A production or productive system is any system that produces goods or services. There are obviously a wide range of such systems. Some of the more common productive systems are manufacturing organizations, distribution and sales organizations, banking organizations, construction organizations, entertainment organizations, educational organizations, consulting organizations, software organizations, telecommunication organizations and health care organizations.

There are two basic components to a productive system: capital and labor. Capital can either be land (and the natural resources on the land), buildings, equipment, material, intellectual property, technology or cash/funds which can be used to buy the necessary assets and materials required by the productive system. Labor provides the ideas, designs, philosophy, direction, management, physical work, etc. that is required to generate the goods and services which will be sold by the organization. Labor can be either intellectual or physical. By intellectual labor is meant creative activities such as designing, developing, planning, organizing, managing, writing, etc. Physical work covers a wide range of activities from those involved in manufacturing and construction to playing sports to singing and acting to speaking to teaching to nursing. In the initial or start up stages of the production system, the capital is provided by individuals or capitalists. After the production system is operating in a profitable mode, the capital is no longer provided by capitalists but rather is generated by the system or organization itself. This is a very important point to understand. After an organization is generating a profit on its own, the organization itself generates its own capital. For a corporation that has been in existence for a few years, virtually all of the land, equipment, materials, assets, and cash that it owns has been generated by the organization itself and the workers who were responsible for producing the goods and services which were sold to generate the capital used to either buy or pay off the loans on the property, equipment, materials and other assets. After the corporation has begun to generate capital, the initial capital provided by the capitalists is no longer relevant and the capitalist provides absolutely no contribution to the enterprise. Virtually all of the assets or capital of the vast majority of corporations is capital that was generated by the organization itself through the labor or the workers.

Production provides the goods and services that satisfy the demand of consumers. Production always seeks to match demand. Every planning function within an organization is continuously working to forecast demand and match capacity, production, procurement and inventory to forecasted demand. Increased consumption (which increases forecast) increases production; decreased consumption (which lowers forecast) lowers production. Production of goods and services comes essentially through the labor of the working class (the lower ninety-nine percent of the population) facilitated by capital from the capitalist class (the top one percent of the population) assuming the organization has not reached the point where the capital of the organization belongs to the organization itself. In this case the profits from this joint venture of labor and capital must be equitably shared between labor and capital, that is, between the capitalists and the workers.

The working class constitutes the majority percentage of the consumptive part of an economy. Given that consumption drives the economic cycle and that the working class is the major part of consumption, it follows that the economy is driven by the working class’s consumption. However, the working class can only consume to the extent to which it is capable of buying goods and services. Since the working class is the main factor in both the production and consumption phases of the economic cycle, it must be given its fair share of the profits so that it can purchase and consume.

Unfortunately, what has happened and is happening is that the capitalist class has been taking far more than its fair share within the national production system. And because the total is limited, the more that the capitalist class has taken, the less there is for the working class. This has caused the great imbalance between capitalists and workers; the imbalance that is severely affecting the economy in a negative way as is seen in the high percentage of unemployed, under-employed, those living in poverty, homeless, and those living from paycheck to paycheck.

Over the past forty years, the wealth, financial stability and earning ability of the working class has significantly declined. Most working class families’ assets have shrunk. Twenty-five percent of the US population have zero to negative net worth. Over a hundred million people in the United States live from pay check to pay check. Tens of millions of families have had to resort to excessive debt to operate financially and millions of these will suffer from the burden of their debt which will never allow them to retire. There are over 48 million people living in poverty within the United States.

Because of the great amount of income spent on debt and interest, because of the lag in wages behind real inflation, and because of out-of-control costs, especially energy, food and health care; consumption by the working class has been and continues to be reduced drastically. As consumption by the working class decreases, production which is driven by and is correlated to consumption proportionately decreases. When production is down, businesses react by laying-off workers to reduce operating expenses. Of course, when people are unemployed, they have even less money to spend. This in turn leads to even less spending by the working class which businesses respond to by laying off more workers. This downward trend will continue without end except for the total collapse of the economy unless something is done to stop it. The United States is now is this downward trend with nothing to stop it because those who can stop it are politically powerless to act and those with political power are in fact responsible for the imbalance between capital and labor that has created this broken economy.

The vast majority of elected officials represent primarily the capitalist class. This means that their primary focus with respect to administering, legislating, and adjudicating is to promote the welfare and goals of the capitalist class. It has been and is this biased representation that has led to the gross imbalance between capital and labor which is the cause of this continuing economic crisis. These elected officials ignore the fact that they have been elected by the people and are obligated to promote the welfare of the general public, not a very small, select and elite group within the population.

These elected officials, who represent the capitalist class, have allowed and facilitated a virtual attack by the capitalist class on the working class. While it would be more appropriate to consider this assault on the working class by the capitalist class as a war, it is a one-sided war in that the working class has done nothing to defend itself. And, it is a pre-emptive war.

Within the domestic area, the United States government has eliminated the proper controls which seek to maintain the appropriate balance between capital and labor. Within the foreign area, the United States government has promoted and is promoting a global empire for the capitalists.

At the heart of the capitalist campaign is the fallacy of free market economics. The fallacy hides behind the misleading term ‘free’. Because everyone believes in and desires freedom, people blindly accept almost any concept that uses the word “free.” While people want freedom, they do understand that there is no such thing as absolute freedom; freedom without any limits whatsoever. A person’s freedom is limited by the freedom of every other person. In the United States, a person is free to drive down a highway. In its general sense, everyone will agree with that statement. At the same time, everyone understands and agrees that the freedom to drive down the highway is limited. Only people who have the ability and a license are free to drive down the highway. A person’s freedom to drive down the highway is also limited by the other people using the highway. The government passes laws and enforces those laws in such a way as to maximize the freedom of everyone. Speed limits, stop signs, and traffic signals provide the necessary order to a free society of drivers.

The fallacy of free market economics lies in the assumption that there should be no restrictions, no regulations, and no oversight by government. It is similar to the idea that there should no speed limits, no traffic signals; everyone will naturally respect everyone else. While this would work for most people, it definitely would not work for everyone. There would be a small group of people who would not respect the rights and privileges of the rest of society but instead would take advantage of the lack of appropriate and agreed upon controls in order to capitalize on the situation for their own personal and selfish purposes. A free market with no rules, regulations or management is not a fair market, but a fair market is always a free market. A fair market is based on rules, regulations and management. To achieve a free market, it is first necessary to achieve a fair market.

There has to be government controls and government oversight within the economy in order to maximize the freedom and opportunity of all. There cannot be a free market in the sense promoted by the capitalists; a market without any regulations and controls. It is like a football game without any rules or referees. Rules bring order; without them there is chaos. The natural constraints on the economy come from a free and representative government: a government that represents the people; serves the will of the people and acts to regulate the economy so as to maximize the wealth and prosperity of all of the people. It is the role of the government to maintain the balance between capital and labor through regulations, supervision, and adjudication. If there is some aspect of the economy that is out of balance, the government must do what is necessary to restore balance. There is no other means of achieving and maintaining a balanced, efficient and effective economy than the government; the Federal, state, county and local governments.

The US economy consists of 315 million people, millions of goods and services, and hundreds of thousands of businesses all interacting constantly and continuously. There are billions of transactions and interactions between these economic entities occurring daily. The aggregation of all of these entities, interactions, and transactions constitute the economy of the United States. Can such a gigantic and complex system function efficiently and effectively without oversight, management, and regulation?

Imagine what would happen if one million people were gathered together for one year in a very small area without any direction, without any rules, without any laws, without any kind of supervision and without any management. What would happen? Would there be order or chaos? Would there be harmony or conflict? Would all of the interactions and transactions between the one million people be fair and balanced? Would everyone treat everyone else as equals? Would the vast majority of the one million people be happy? Order, harmony, equity, balance, respect, and happiness cannot come about without rules, laws, and supervision. These rules and laws and this supervision must come from an impartial third-party which the majority agrees to or selects through a fair election process. And this is what is called government.

An economic system cannot function efficiently and effectively without rules, laws, supervision and management. At the same time, there cannot be too many rules and laws or too much supervision and management. Micro-managing people and their activities are almost as bad as no management whatsoever. Rules, laws, supervision and management must be moderate not excessive—but rules, laws, supervision and management have to exist to achieve and maintain order, equity, efficiency and effectiveness. In addition, government should only manage by exception. Management by exception implies that action is only taken by management when there is an imbalance or something is not working. Applied to the government and the economy, the government should only take action when there is an imbalance or problem in the economy, otherwise it should allow the economy to function on its own.

Many of the factors that caused the Great Depression exist today, especially the unbalanced distribution of wealth and the lack of regulation of the financial industry. However, currently there are also many other factors undermining the efficient and effective functioning of the US economy that did not exist at the time of the Great Depression. The US economy is burdened by an enormous trade deficit caused by the imbalance between imports and exports and excessive government spending on foreign policy ; military bases, military engagements, foreign aid, and intelligence operations. There are more and larger multi-national corporations today than at the time of the Great Depression and they exert a far greater influence on the US government than the corporations that existed at the time of the Great Depression. The aggregate effect of all of these factors have the potential to cause a much more severe and lengthy depression that the one that started in 1929 and severely impacted the majority of the population. In fact, these factors have the ability to totally ruin the United States economy.

Consider what would happen if the US economy was totally ruined? Most local and county governments would go bankrupt, and it is probable that the Federal government would also go bankrupt. As these governments go bankrupt, public and social services would be greatly reduced. Social security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance and social services would either cease or be drastically reduced. Many if not most public institutions such as schools, hospitals, libraries, and parks would close. Those employed by the various levels of government would be laid off. Basic services such as police and fire protection, and sanitation services would be severely reduced. Private companies would take over these services and charge whatever prices that they want. The Federal government would have to significantly reduce the military. The thousands of businesses whose major customer is the government would probably close. In a domino fashion, thousands of businesses would close and tens of millions of people would be out of work with no income whatsoever. Imagine unemployment at seventy percent. That would mean over 100 million people out of work. Imagine senior citizens who no longer receive social security payments every month (there are 65 million people on Social Security). Imagine people not having money to buy food, to pay their utilities, or to pay for their housing? Imagine students not being able to attend public schools because they were closed (there are 70 million students attending public schools). Could this happen? These things certainly could happen for the underlying factors that could bring about the collapse of the US economy exist, are operating today, and are increasing in their effect on the economy?

All economic systems involve consumption and production. Production generates goods and services which are consumed and or utilized through consumption. The economic cycle consists of continuous production and continuous consumption. The major economic systems within history have been capitalism, socialism, and communism. At the same time, the type of government that exists and operates along with the economic system (capitalism, socialism or communism) needs to be considered since the government and the economy are intimately related within a nation. The primary difference between capitalism, socialism, and communism as economic systems has to do with the ownership or control of property: land, natural resources, artificial resources (buildings, machinery, equipment, materials, energy, furniture, etc.) and intellectual concepts (theories, models, designs, formulations, recipes, music, artistic expressions, and literary expressions), human labor, human activities, and communication. All of these things are property.

In a purely communistic economy, the government owns and controls all property. The government owns and controls all of the land, all of the natural resources, all buildings, all machinery, all equipment, all materials, all energy, all furniture, all theories, all models, all formulations, all recipes, all music, all art, all literature—the state owns and controls everything even people. Because of the extreme nature of communism, the government that promotes and supports communism must be virtually totalitarian, that is, it must control every facet and activity of society. Communism is wrong because it denies the natural and personal rights of life, liberty and private ownership of property. Communism also denies the principle that the benefits of society received by a person should be proportionate to the contribution made by the person.

Radical capitalism or pure and total capitalism is completely opposite to communism. In a purely and totally capitalistic economy, all property is privately owned or controlled. All land is privately owned or controlled. There are no public forests, public forest preserves or public parks. All roads and streets are privately owned or controlled. There are no public highways whatsoever. All natural resources are privately owned or controlled. All trees, water, coal, ore, natural gas, petroleum, and chemical deposits are privately owned or controlled. There are no public lakes or rivers. Theoretically, even space and the air could be privately owned or controlled. All buildings, all machinery, all equipment, all materials, all energy, and all furniture are privately owned or controlled. There are no public buildings. There are no public schools. There are no public museums. All theories, models, designs, formulations, recipes, music, artistic expressions, literary expressions, manual labor and communication are privately owned or controlled. From a theoretical point of view, even human beings could be privately owned or controlled in a purely capitalistic economy. The government in a purely capitalistic economy provides virtually no public services. The military is privatized, law enforcement is privatized. There is no Social Security, no Medicare, no Medicaid, no unemployment security program.

Radical capitalism minimizes the role of government and makes governments virtually powerless. It is based on the false principle of ‘survival of the fittest’ and allows individuals to accumulate property without any limit or constraint. If further denies the universality of the human right to own private property and it denies the equality of human beings. Radical capitalism holds that private property should only be held by the most elite members of society and not by everyone.

Imagine a society in which everything was privately owned and controlled. There would be no public roads, no public services, no public education, no public fire protection, no public emergency services, and no public law enforcement. The person or persons who owned the water supplies, or the roads, or the schools or the police, or the fire services, etc. could choose to sell or not to sell water or access to roads, or access to schools, or access to police and fire protection services. That is because private property is considered an absolute in a purely capitalistic society. In a purely capitalistic society, private property is superior to all other rights. It should be obvious to everyone that natural resources (land, trees, water, coal, ore, natural gas, petroleum, chemical deposits, etc.) are limited—there is not an infinite supply. If one person or a small group of people own or control all or even the vast majority of natural resources, then the majority of people are subject to and dependent on the plutocratic minority for the necessities of life. The government in a purely and totally capitalistic society is controlled by the minority which owns the majority of property. Democracy and pure capitalism are completely incompatible for pure capitalism is based on inequality. The rights of those who own or control more property are greater than the rights of those who own little or no property. Uncontrolled capitalism as it moves towards absolute capitalism tends towards plutocracy as a government and plutonomy as an economic system with extreme economic disparity, very low social mobility (great difficulty in moving from the working class to the capitalist class), and economic slavery of the working class to the rich class. Like communist governments, plutocratic governments based on radical capitalism are also totalitarian.

The United States is not capitalistic. It is in fact partially socialistic and partly capitalistic. Public roads, public services, public buildings, public schools, libraries, veterans’ services, Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, police protection, fire protection, etc are all examples of socialism within the United States. However, there has been a movement in the United States over the last forty years which is trying to transform the economy from a hybrid socialistic-capitalistic one into a purely and totally capitalistic one. Most people in the United States have been led to believe that capitalism is good and both socialism and communism are bad. The only real way of measuring or evaluating an economic system is to look at the standard of living for the majority of people living within the system. Are public roads, public services, public buildings and public schools bad? The vast majority of Americans enjoy these services. Are public libraries a bad thing? Are healthcare for veterans, education and training benefits for veterans, home loan programs for veterans, and burial benefits for veterans bad things? Is social security which is government mandated old-age and disability insurance and which provides benefits to 63 million Americans a bad thing? Are Medicare, unemployment insurance or workers compensation bad things?

If the essence of a capitalist system is the private ownership and or control of the production system, then kingdoms and empires were capitalist systems since the production systems were owned and controlled by the king and his noblemen. Unfortunately, the economic life of the majority working class within kingdoms and empires was terrible. The king and his noblemen owned virtually everything including the lives of the people. The economy of the United States has always been based on capitalism. Yet, there have many periods in US history that show a complete failure of capitalism as measured by the majority working class; the age of the Robber barons and the Great Depression being the most infamous. The Great Recession of 2008 is another example. There have been 47 recessions since the founding of the United States. Recessions always have a significant impact on the working class. Recessions have been and are bad for the majority of people, but they are very good for a select minority. Many wealthy families owe their wealth to a recession.

Capitalism as an economic system in which the production system is owned and or controlled by private individuals does not necessarily bring about an economy which benefits the majority of the members of the nation. At least this is true when a relative minority of the population (perhaps one or two percent) own or control virtually the entire production system of the economy. It would be different if it was ninety-nine percent or more of the population which owned the production system. Within kingdoms and empires and throughout the history of the United States the production systems were owned and or controlled and are owned or controlled by a small and elite minority. The vast majority of the people have little to no ownership share whatsoever in the US production system and virtually no control over the US production system. While people do in fact comprise the production system and generate as output all of the goods and services that are available for consumption, the capitalists claim ownership of virtually everything. They look down on the working class and do not consider the worker as a partner or equal in the production system. As a result, the capitalists within kingdoms, empires, during the period of the Robber Barons and during the Great Depression took far more than their fair share of the profits of the production system and deprived the working class (which represented the majority of the population) of what was their fair share preventing them from being able to buy the goods and services which they needed and wanted and which was necessary to drive the economy. In order for capitalism to be effective, the private ownership of the production system needs to be as widespread as possible throughout the members of the nation. Capitalism, or private ownership of the production system, needs to be distributed throughout the entire population and not concentrated in the hands of a few.

This means that the ownership and control of the United States production system, the complex network of farms, factories, distribution centers, transportation carriers, stores, banks, hospitals, schools, etc, should not be concentrated in the hands of a small minority of individuals. No, instead the ownership of the United States production system needs to be distributed as much as possible throughout the entire population.

What is better for the economy ; one mega $400 billion corporation, with over 6100 stores or 6100 different corporations with average revenues of $66 million? ($400 billion divided by 6100)? What is better for the economy, one mega $370 billion corporation, Exxon-Mobil, with 22,000 stations or 22,000 corporations with average revenues of $17 million? What is better for the economy, one mega Bank of $140 billion, Citigroup, with over 5000 branches or 5000 independent, separate banks with an average of $28 million in annual revenue?

Giant corporations are financially more powerful than most countries. Virtually all large corporations dominate the marketplace, dominate consumers and dominate suppliers (and they also dominate the government). They have few competitors and through common goals and purpose, they form oligopolies that dictate price to both customers and suppliers and policies and laws to the government.

Things are tending towards the feudal situations of the Middle Ages and the coal mining towns in the 1800’s where the corporation owned the mines and owned and ran the entire town. The company paid the employees in company money, which could only be used in company stores. The only homes that could be bought or rented were company homes. The only bank was the company bank. The police were company police. Employees and their families were vassals to the company. The United States is actually moving in the direction of pure and total capitalism : bridges, roads, schools, and services are being privatized. A significant percentage of the efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan have been privatized. There were more mercenaries in Iraq than US military. This privatization is not only extremely expensive, but it also reduces or eliminates public control and accountability to the people. Privatization of what rightly and naturally belongs to the people results in deprivation and injustice. For certain things must be shared by all of the people and not hoarded by a few. This movement towards total and absolute capitalism is the primary cause of the current economic crisis.

The current US economy is significantly out of balance and there are six main factors which reflect this imbalance that if not rectified soon will cause the current crisis to exceed the Great Depression in length and severity.

1. Unrestrained prices; primarily but not limited to energy, health care, education, and food

2. The ever-widening economic disparity between the top one percent of the population and the lower ninety-nine percent of the population that constitutes the working class

3. The increasing instability of the working class’ ability to work and produce and the increasing rate at which workers are prevented from working at their full potential

4. The financial rape of the working class by an uncontrolled and out-of-control financial industry.

5. The continued failure of the US government to balance its budget and to cease borrowing money.

6. The enormous flow of money out of the US economy caused by the fantastic trade deficit, the excessive expenditures of the US government on foreign aid, military operations (the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the maintenance of over eight hundred military bases/located outside the United States) and the extensive operations of various governmental departments outside the United States. No economy can survive when such a large percentage of its GDP flows out of its system.

What needs to be done to reverse the current economic crisis and restore the proper balance to the United States economy ? What needs to be done to restore the proper subordination within this nation, that is, the subordination of the government to the Will of the People? What follows are more details of the causes of the current economic crisis and the actions required to restore balance to the US economy and subordinate the government to the Will of the People and these actions are based on Christian economics. The application of Christian economics to the US economy is the solution to this current crisis that is affecting over 100 million people in the United States.