Free Market Capitalism and Christianity are different things. Though many of us cling to both with a tenacity of conviction that, if justified, certainly should reflect a united base of values, they are not, in themselves, actually united.
As a Christian and a Free Market Capitalist I have long believed that the revelation of the one and the philosophy of the other do in fact have a united base of values, like different poems recited from the same inhalation. There is no question that freedom from the bondage of sin and law and freedom from the yoke of violence and coercion are liberties of disparate magnitude. Yet are justice and grace merely spiritual necessities? Can we as Christians treat them as personal solvents only? Do they not, when applied naturally, sum to a social order of some kind? Are the Fruits of the Spirit actually, as it were, seedless?
Even as many would agree with me that Christian doctrine does prescribe a set of related virtues that, when applied, do in fact produce a social order of a kind, many of that many also hold diverse, exclusive visions of what a social order thus produced would look like.Diversity aside, those visions are being challenged by the current economic climate and the events leading up to the recession. As political parties polarize the issue, reducing it to talking points and bulletin points, and public apathy turns to populist rage, many Christian Free Market proponents find themselves strangely conflicted and frustrated.
And then all this fuss about exorbitant bonuses in large corporations has suddenly got people talking about the ethics of executive pay.Are Executive Bonuses A Moral Issue?
Among them is Hunter Baker, the author of the forthcoming “the End of Secularism” and faculty member at Houston Baptist University. He shares his internal debate in an article for First Things.
Reading about his journey I cannot help but sympathize very strongly with his objections. They come from a very appropriate concern for the well being of our neighbors. At the same time, I detect an assumption underlying much of the article. An assumption quite common and quite dangerous.
He begins by telling of his parallel journeys toward Christianity and Free Market Capitalism as a young college student:
The virtues of the invisible hand excited me as much as my growing Christian commitment.
Laissez faire was nearly a second conversion.
He was quick to evangelize on behalf of his newfound libertarian faith; when his father complained about management decisions that benefited executives in the short term but risked his company’s viability in the long term,
I defensively lectured him about the spectacular built-in intelligence of markets. The right thing would be done, I argued, because doing the right thing is ultimately profitable and efficient.
Dr. Baker admits to questioning his long held economic beliefs as a result of recent events impacting the airline industry, namely executive bonuses taking priority over worker pay.
The story jarred me. Somehow, I had never applied my Christian conception of a sinful world to corporate behavior. In hindsight I realize my faith should have cautioned me against too easily deferring to the idea of the sufficiency of the invisible hand to produce justice.
And here I part ways with Dr. Baker. If a free market produces anything it is justice. This is precisely the conclusion our faith should draw us toward, as it is a truth about which Christianity and economics are in firm agreement. It is true that our Christian conception of a sinful world should be applied to all behavior, even that of corporations, but we cannot then ignore Christ’s conception of justice in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Parable of the Laborers
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?
Christ is not here lecturing on fair labor or hiring practices. Instead, he is revealing a truth about how the Kingdom of Heaven operates based on what he explains as simple principles of earthly justice. Yes, Christ taught property rights. Notice also that as a reflection of God’s gracious nature the landowner chooses to pay his employees charitably. That is the point most relevant to our topic, the fact that mutually agreed to contracts are by definition just and that any further benefit a party receives of another is charity.
As long as employment is a voluntary affair for all concerned, there can be no such thing as “unfair labor practices,” only “uncharitable” ones. Because free markets allow for individual choices and not all choices produce the same outcome, all manner of social inequality result. Yet equality and justice remain separate principles. Justice means that all men are measured by their behavior, equally, regardless of station, not that all men are stationed equally, regardless of behavior!
That being said how do we as Christians promote charity in a free market wherein profit is a result of comparative advantage, not virtue? Well in the case of the airlines, a Christian employee could have pointed out the faulty business logic and poor stewardship of investor profits to management, board members, stock-holders and the media, if indeed such accusations were true. A Christian journalist can draw attention to the decision. A Christian consumer can boycott the airline until the practice changes. A Christian board member’s input can turn things around, as can Christian stock holders.
As Hunter Baker points out in his article, Roman Catholic social teaching has an admirable and extensive history of promoting charity within the context of a free market. Also compelling is his indictment of Protestants for their unwillingness to engage in criticism of businesses who behave uncharitably.
The free market is not a good thing in a moral sense, but it is the only alternative to a social order wherein violence is the primary motive power of organization and production. Dr. Baker has certainly maintained his appreciation of this fact regardless of other uncertainties.
Is the answer more government? No. The answer is to consistently call for righteousness.
Amen.
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Tuesday, 07 April 2009
Tuesday, 07 April 2009
Too many people aren't christian.
Really serious money makers manipulate the system.
Ordinary joes don't care enough about the market.
Little businesses get steam rolled.
Left wing ideals flourish when capitalism faulters.
There will never be a free market as long as man continues down his road of supreme greed.
Wednesday, 08 April 2009
The only things that are considered "out of line" in a free market system are violence, theft and fraud. It is the role of government to address these threats as they are threats not to an economic system but to individuals who reside under the protection of its laws.
I also doubt there are such things as pure efficiency, pure knowledge, pure intentions etc. Should we stop pursuing these things?
Are Christians the only ones who know how to pursue their own interests without violence, theft or fraud? That is all the market requires to operate.
The fact that "Ordinary Joes" don't care about the market is a sign that they have benefited so greatly from capitalism that they don't feel they need to. As the negative consequences of turning to a command economy accumulate, more people will educate themselves on the source of their former prosperity.
In a free market, many businesses (regardless of size) fail because they did not competitively produce a product or service that matched the demand of consumers. Often, little business become large businesses because they did. Are you saying it is better that the government decides who should be allowed to stay in business and who must close down? I wonder what your definition of 'steamrolled' is.
Left wing ideals can only be realized after prosperity and wealth have already been produced. Watch as our president tries to implement social programs without the funding that a healthy economy could have produced.
A free market, by definition, is one where a man pursuing his own interest must voluntarily cooperate with others in order to achieve his goals. As long as theft, fraud, and violence are met with justice, the free market produces precisely what the free participants require of it. If you are looking for more than that, I suggest you look somewhere outside of economic theory.
Thursday, 21 May 2009