Though socialism’s idea of people sharing everything equally and the state just owning it all sounds very nice and easy, it would never work. It gives way too much power to one group and how are they to be held accountable? If the state owns everything they can easily decide to take it all away as well. A single group with that much power is a dangerous game; it will inevitably lead to corruption.
Another problem with this socialist idea is the concept of motivation and desire. If everything is equal then what will motivate a student to become a surgeon and save hundreds of lives if he knows he can have the same benefits and earnings as a garbage man? There is a reason why people want to work hard and study for a specific career. They know that if they work hard and get a high job they will be able to provide for their future family and have certain luxuries. They also earn a sense of satisfaction and self worth. If you were to take that away then there would never be anything to inspire a person to work for something. We would all become slobs and never do anything with our lives. Why do you personally need to do anything spectacular if you can let someone else do it all for you? The fact of the matter is we are sinful creatures. We love money and want to work for it. There is nothing wrong with wanting possessions for our enjoyment (though there is an extent). 1 Timothy 6:17 says that God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. He gave us these luxuries. He was the one who created the earth and blessed us and said we were to rule over the earth and all its creatures (Genesis 1:28).
In an ideal, perfect society, socialism would be great. However, because we are fallen human beings there can never be a way for socialism to really be beneficial. Do you really think that if the government handed everything out equally it would stop people from wanting more? We are so selfish that we want everything for ourselves, always looking at our neighbor and trying to be better so we can feel superior. To Mark and Sarah I say, it’s a nice dream.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Economics: All religions the Same?
Mr. Moore: “Socialism is Christianity, and Judaism, and Islam, and Buddhism, because all the great religions say essentially the same thing”
The problem with this statement is that though religions may share certain characteristics in the topic of socialism they DO NOT say the same thing. For instance look at Christianity and Islam. “The Bible as a whole supports an economic system that respects private property and the work ethic” (Noebel 354). There is no right or wrong answer in whether you side with socialism or communism. “Christians who believe socialism is a more desirable system than capitalism do so trusting that centralized control or command economy will create a more just means of sharing scarce resources. Those who call for a socialist economic system do so on the basis of Acts 2:44-45 that describes Christians in the early church sharing all things in common” (Noebel 354).
When it comes to Islam, they have the same characteristic in socialism as Christians, in that people need to show stewardship and hospitality. However, quite contradictory to Christianity, Islam REJECTS BOTH socialism and capitalism. “Islamic economics rejects socialism’s negation of private property, but also rejects capitalism’s alleged absolute view of private property” (Noebel 364). How then can Christianity and Islam essentially be the same? How can two religions, one rejecting and one accepting both ideas be both the same?
If you were to take it one step further and look at a third religion- Secular Humanism you would see a different view from both Islam and Christianity. Although Secular Humanist’s favor some degree of government in the distribution of wealth, they ultimately favor socialism over capitalism. “Humanists believe socialism is more ethical than other economic systems because it allows greater freedom and it is more concerned with the common good” (Noebel, 371). Furthermore, “Secular Humanists choose socialism because of the evils they see inherent in capitalism” (Noebel371). Therefore if we look at Christianity, Islam and Secular Humanism we see that they all favor a different form of government though they may all agree that kindness and justice should play a major role among the people. Ultimately, Christianity favors both socialism and capitalism as long as there is a biblical means to back it up; Islam rejects both socialism and capitalism because of negation and alleged private property and Secular Humanist’s favor socialism over capitalism because it allows for greater freedom. Thus we see with just three different religions, three different outputs which proves that all “great” religions are not essentially the same.
The problem with this statement is that though religions may share certain characteristics in the topic of socialism they DO NOT say the same thing. For instance look at Christianity and Islam. “The Bible as a whole supports an economic system that respects private property and the work ethic” (Noebel 354). There is no right or wrong answer in whether you side with socialism or communism. “Christians who believe socialism is a more desirable system than capitalism do so trusting that centralized control or command economy will create a more just means of sharing scarce resources. Those who call for a socialist economic system do so on the basis of Acts 2:44-45 that describes Christians in the early church sharing all things in common” (Noebel 354).
When it comes to Islam, they have the same characteristic in socialism as Christians, in that people need to show stewardship and hospitality. However, quite contradictory to Christianity, Islam REJECTS BOTH socialism and capitalism. “Islamic economics rejects socialism’s negation of private property, but also rejects capitalism’s alleged absolute view of private property” (Noebel 364). How then can Christianity and Islam essentially be the same? How can two religions, one rejecting and one accepting both ideas be both the same?
If you were to take it one step further and look at a third religion- Secular Humanism you would see a different view from both Islam and Christianity. Although Secular Humanist’s favor some degree of government in the distribution of wealth, they ultimately favor socialism over capitalism. “Humanists believe socialism is more ethical than other economic systems because it allows greater freedom and it is more concerned with the common good” (Noebel, 371). Furthermore, “Secular Humanists choose socialism because of the evils they see inherent in capitalism” (Noebel371). Therefore if we look at Christianity, Islam and Secular Humanism we see that they all favor a different form of government though they may all agree that kindness and justice should play a major role among the people. Ultimately, Christianity favors both socialism and capitalism as long as there is a biblical means to back it up; Islam rejects both socialism and capitalism because of negation and alleged private property and Secular Humanist’s favor socialism over capitalism because it allows for greater freedom. Thus we see with just three different religions, three different outputs which proves that all “great” religions are not essentially the same.
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