Ever since the Progressive Era of the early twentieth century, the United States has stepped away from its traditional free market stance in the direction of centralized government power and increased federal regulation. The result is an out-of-control welfare state, a skyrocketing national debt, and an interventionist system of regulatory absurdities. Even though these problems affect Americans from every walk of life, during this period of growing dependency on the government the Christian Church has remained relatively silent. The free market system offers the most national stability, the most thorough poverty alleviation, and the brightest future for this and the next generation of Americans, and Americans must secure a return to its principles. However, any such return must necessarily include the influence of the Church, providing the proper moral grounds for its perpetuation.
In his book How Capitalism Saved America, Thomas J. DiLorenzo writes that “Capitalism has made America the most prosperous nation on earth.”[1] Lawrence W. Reed, in his contribution to For the Least of These, adds that “in spite of a horrendous civil war, half a dozen economic downturns, and wave after wave of impoverished immigrants,” the liberty of the free market system brought the United States “from near universal poverty [in 1800] to within reach of the world’s highest per-capita income at the end of the century.”[2] In 1835, then-president Andrew Jackson paid off the national debts accrued by and since the War for Independence and the War of 1812.[3]
From Thomas Jefferson to William McKinley, U.S. presidents remained essentially devoted to this comparatively unhindered and unrestricted economy.[4] However, the election of Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency in 1901 signaled the beginning of the Progressive Era. The rise of theological liberalism during the period following the First World War, punctuated by the Scopes Trial of 1925, contributed greatly to the retreat of Christians from the public circle and to their gradual acceptance of the progressive “redistributive tradition.”[5] Government power became increasingly centralized through the New Deal and World War II, abandoning the idea of subsidiarity, a trend that was accelerated by the War on Poverty of the 1960’s.[6] This was followed by the inception of the modern environmentalist movement in the 1970’s, one of the greatest contributors to federal regulation.[7]
The result of these trends, writes Nicholas Eberstadt, is that “the United States government today would be scarcely recognizable to a Franklin D. Roosevelt, much less an Abraham Lincoln or a Thomas Jefferson.”[8] Today almost half of all Americans receive at least one benefit from the federal government, including 45% of those eighteen years old and under.[9] Entitlement spending, combined with other increasingly large budget items, has pushed the national debt past the $21 trillion mark.[10]
Equally as important, Americans’ understanding of equality has shifted from an equality of opportunity to an enforced equality of outcome.[11] Historically, a departure from free market principles has not resulted in greater equality.[12] Milton Friedman writes that “A society that puts equality [of outcome] ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom.”[13] Americans must once again put liberty on the national pedestal over a warped understanding of equality, and facilitate a return to the principles of a free market with proper deregulation and incentives, property rights, and freedom of exchange.
Morality remains “intimately connected and mutually complementary” to the free market system (also known as capitalism).[14] Additionally, our understanding of the nature of man “determines in large measure the institutions we design.”[15] In fact, this understanding forms the very core of how we think government and economics should function. The various manifestations of Marxism rely on the French Enlightenment view of humans as perfectible beings.[16] Christianity is essential to any effort mounted to promote the free market because it not only embraces and understands the true state of human nature, but possesses the only solid basis for the morality upon which the free market and self-government both depend.
Any view of human nature that does not include man as a productive and creative being (such as many environmentalist perspectives) will seek to check and to curb human ingenuity rather than harness it.[17] The Christian worldview acknowledges that man was made in God’s productive and creative image (Genesis chapter one), but that all have sinned and fallen short of His glory (Romans chapter three). Therefore, humans have the capacity to act responsibly, creatively, and altruistically, or to fall into laziness, resort to theft, and act in a selfishly acquisitive manner. A Christian understanding of poverty recognizes that its root cause is sin[18]and that those who oppress the poor do so because of sin, not simply because they are wealthier.[19] While no economic or governmental system is inherently moral, the free market system best furthers biblical truths about wealth and justice and offers superior moral potential.[20]
The Bible is clear that just as sin is ever-present, so is poverty (Mark 14:7), but it also offers hope. The Gospel of Christ is the remedy for sin (Romans 6:23). Since sin is the root cause of poverty, the Gospel also has the power to alleviate poverty. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), but it also “transforms [people] in ways that increase wealth creation and develop generous hearts to share with others in need.”[21] Furthermore, the Bible reinforces the development of robust character, the key element in fostering the morality that held together the liberty of nineteenth-century America.[22] In order to aid in the reinstitution of free market principles, the Church must speak out with the truth against the many myths that pervade our culture, and too often the Church itself.
Among the foremost of these is that the Bible condemns the accumulation of wealth made possible by the free market. A proper view of Scripture recognizes that it only condemns those rich and powerful who use their wealth to take advantage of the poor.[23] The rich man in Luke chapter 16 was condemned because he did not show kindness to the poor man Lazarus, over whom he held influence. However, in the book of Ruth Boaz is described as “a mighty man of wealth” (Ruth 2:1, KJV), and yet his actions prove that he is a righteous man. His observance of existing Israelite gleaning laws (essentially a private, subsidiary social safety net) allowed Ruth, a foreigner, to retain her dignity despite her poverty. While the oppressors of the poor are almost always rich, the rich are never their sole oppressors.[24]
Ludwig von Mises wrote that “It is popular today to blame capitalism for anything that displeases.”[25] Part of this has to do with a supposed relationship between the free market’s potential for substantial profit and an imperialistic attitude of expansion,[26]but the primary reason is the idea that capitalism is now outdated and must make way for the so-called modern and up-to-date system of government intervention.[27] People believe that capitalism allows the rich to trample the poor and they see interventionism as the imminent solution. Government must either entirely avoid partial interference in the market or finally assume ultimate productive and redistributive control.[28]
Another prominent myth is that capitalism is inherently unequal, and that since the greatest social good is equality, it should be abandoned.[29] This assumption rests on the false definition of equality; namely, an equality of outcome, which subverts true equality of opportunity.[30] The free market, when property rights and freedom of exchange are secure, allows every man an equal opportunity to succeed at whatever venture he sets his mind to. If equality is indeed the greatest social good and must be enforced, those who enforce it also have the power to determine what it means.
As the current generation of Christians seeks to combat these myths, it faces the challenge of a hostile culture that seeks to diminish and discredit the Church. But perhaps even more dangerous than external impediments are threats from within the church itself, specifically in the form of what Drs. Hart and Frejd term “the Digital Invasion.” The technology explosion we have witnessed over the past 20 years offers significant benefits but also a number of notable consequences that are taking their toll on the Church. One of these is that technology is negatively affecting our relationships with friends and family. The time we spend communicating digitally hinders our ability to communicate in person, leading to misunderstandings and arguments, as well as subtracting time that should be spent with family.[31]
But the greatest threat to this generation in the Church as it helps to restore free market values is pornography. Pornography is one valid example of the free market being used for evil, and within the context of the Digital Invasion, it becomes more sinister.[32] It wrecks marriages and reduces once responsible and productive individuals to aimless addicts. Since sin is the root cause of poverty, and pornography has proven to be the Church’s most formidable stumbling block, pornography is the greatest challenge this generation faces as it seeks to promote liberty. Only time will tell if Christians will freely trade their remaining liberty for the bondage of sin.
The Church must show that the free market offers the most freedom with the most justice and equality of opportunity; essentially, the most moral potential to do good. Arthur Brooks writes that we must have “nerves of steel, a willingness to weather knee-jerk resistance,” and that we actually know and are able to articulate our philosophy.[33] It is not enough to merely speak with the vote.[34]The Church must demonstrate that the solution is not less capitalism, but better capitalists. Thankfully, at this unique point in history, we are still at liberty to decide whether we shall continue down the broad road to serfdom or return to the straight and narrow way back to freedom.[35]
ENDNOTES
[1] Thomas J. DiLorenzo, How Capitalism Saved America (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004), 8.
[2] Anne Bradley and Arthur Lindsley, For the Least of These, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 196.
[3] Matt Philips, “The Long Story of U.S. Debt, from 1790 to 2011, in 1 Little Chart,” Novemeber 13, 2011.
[4] Bradley, For the Least of These, 195.
[5] Ibid., 110-113.
[6] Ibid., 25.
[7] Milton and Rose Friedman, Free to Choose, (New York: Harcourt, 1980), 213.
[8] Nicholas Eberstadt, A Nation of Takers, (West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Press, 2012), 3.
[9] Eberstadt, A Nation of Takers, 31, 36.
[10] U.S. National Debt Clock: Real Time, http://www.usdebtclock.org/.
[11] Friedman, Free to Choose, 134-35.
[12] Peter Wehner and Arthur C. Brooks,Wealth and Justice, (Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 2011), 41.
[13] Friedman, Free to Choose, 148.
[14] Wehner and Brooks, Wealth and Justice, 10.
[15] Ibid., 8.
[16] Ibid., 2.
[17] Steven F. Hayward, Mere Environmentalism, (Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 2011), 20.
[18] Bradley, For the Least of These, 67.
[19] Ibid., 46.
[20] Wehner and Brooks, Wealth and Justice, 30.
[21] Bradley, For the Least of These, 77.
[22] Ibid., 205-209.
[23] Ibid., 19.
[24] Ibid., 20.
[25] Ludwig von Mises, A Critique of Interventionism, trans. Hans F. Sennholz (New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House Publishers, 1977), 84.
[26] Ibid., 118-19.
[27] Ibid., 58-59.
[28] Ibid., 26.
[29] Wehner and Brooks, Wealth and Justice, 40.
[30] Ibid., 56-57.
[31] Dr. Archibald D. Hart and Dr. Sylvia Hart Frejd, The Digital Invasion, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013), 91-108.
[32] Dr. Hart and Dr. Frejd, The Digital Invasion, 110-120.
[33] Arthur C. Brooks, The Road to Freedom, (New York: Basic Books, 2012), 115.
[34] Friedman, Free to Choose, 299.
[35] Ibid., 310.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bradley, Anne, and Arthur Lindsley. For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014.
Brooks, Arthur C. The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise. New York: Basic Books, 2012.
DiLorenzo, Thomas J. How Capitalism Saved America: The Untold History of Our Country, from the Pilgrims to the Present. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004.
Eberstadt, Nicholas. A Nation of Takers: America's Entitlement Epidemic. West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Press, 2012.
Friedman, Milton, and Rose Friedman. Free to Choose: A Personal Statement. New York: Harcourt, 1980.
Hart, Dr. Archibald D., and Dr. Sylvia Hart Frejd. The Digital Invasion: How Technology Is Shaping You and Your Relationships. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013.
Hayward, Steven F. Mere Environmentalism: A Biblical Perspective on Humans and the Natural World. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 2011.
Mises, Ludwig von. A Critique of Interventionism: Inquiries into the Economic Policy and the Economic Ideology of the Present. Translated by Hans F. Sennholz. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House Publishers, 1977.
Phillips, Matt. “The Long Story of U.S. Debt, from 1790 to 2011, in 1 Little Chart.” The Atlantic. November 13, 2012. Accessed April 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/11/the-long-story-of-us-debt-from-1790-to-2011-in-1-little-chart/265185/.
U.S. National Debt Clock: Real Time. Accessed April 2018. http://www.usdebtclock.org/.
Wehner, Peter, and Arthur C. Brooks. Wealth and Justice: The Morality of Democratic Capitalism. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 2011.
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