Posted on 08/13/2010 4:48:49 AM PDT by mattstat
Most, with good reason, misremember the quotation. In entirety:
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. —1 Timothy 6:10
And since we have that much, it does no harm to recall the words immediately before: “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”
Paul was speaking of the actions of individual men, but he could just have easily meant conglomerations—now corporations, entities which are at once alive, incorporate, and yet not alive. Which, it will be noticed, are the same words we use to describe zombies, the undead. Money itself, and the act of accumulating it, is harmless, neutral; but the love of it, and the concomitant lust for ever greater piles, is the start of pain.
It is here that my sympathies with the Left are strongest. Like them, I dislike the word “capitalism”: a society based on businesses amassing “capital” to create “products” which “consumers” consume. We are content to let these ugly, distasteful words define the foundation of our society?
It’s still worse. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at wmbriggs.com ...
I would have to agree, the love of money is the root of all evil and socialism is evil.
Socialism looks good on paper, but then you add people and it doesn’t work. Why? Jeremiah 17:9.
I agree with most of his article but I don’t see “capitalism”, “product” or “consumer” as ugly words. They describe what is true. How can truth be ugly?
I can't find a source for that, hence the IIRC.
On another point, it is my personal belief the socialism is the product of the basic human fear of life. For example, people who favor socialism/collectivism are like animals who fear the excitement and risk taking of life so much that they would rather live in a zoo.
Socialist leaders are those who would take advantage of that innate fear to become wealthy zoo keepers.
home
I agree with most of his article but I don’t see “capitalism”, “product” or “consumer” as ugly words. They describe what is true. How can truth be ugly?
(Since I can’t edit I’ll have to add it to a new post)
Like it or not liberals, the bible is the foundation of our society. We are Judeo-Christian from the first words spoken at Plymouth rock to the Constitution itself. The bible describes a free capitalistic society. When we lose the biblical basis and guidelines for our behavior then we fall into consumerism (”more more more I want more!!”) and corporatism (”I don’t care what happens to anyone else, I want my stock to go up”).
It's as if the professor was claiming we should do this it was just part of the natural progression. More money means more free help and the cycle repeats till, before you can realize it, we have become a socialist state. Of course, there are many who WANT this to happen but in the end it happens as a matter of course. Just look at the "Great Society".
Even in capitalism there is a dichotomy. We strove to get things to the point where we could have more leisure time and now that people are enjoying the leisure time the same capitalists decry that as sloth.
I always believed that the true coporatists were of the mind that "I want my leisure time but I want YOU to work hard for my leisure time". Now that more people have become wealthy and can have their time off those corporatists are bemoaning the fact that those people are not producing enough.
Capitalism, like socialism, never takes into account human nature. Capitalism can be overcome with greed and avarice while socialism kills the human spirit. A truly capitalist society would kill just as many people as socialism human nature being what it is.
Capitalism mixed with charity (socialism?) is the only way we can have a truly civil society. We cannot have the dog eat dog of true capitalism or the master feeding dog of true socialism - either would kill the human spirit.
You can have charity without mandating it from the government.
Capitalism is an example of an insidious change in word usage. America was founded on the principle of Free Enterprise. Free Enterprise is a system where good people produce and deliver a product or service that other people either need or want in a society that encourages the freedom to create and market without undue restrictions. That type of system rewards the producer both by God and man and generates inovation. Anyone who abuses that type of system is also punished by God and man in that the product or service will be rejected by consumers and will be free to fail. When Government interferes the free enterprise system is corrupted.
socialist zookeepers,
good one!
Replace the word capitalism in your comment with free markets and it no longer makes sense.
Of course your local hardware store or grocery store or dry cleaners is not concerned with societal charity. Customers don't go there for charity. They expect hammers and bread and clean clothes.
Any college professor who tries to compare socialism to capitalism as an ideology is either a socialist or simply misguided.
Socialism is a system of controlling all or most human activity. Economic activity (the exchange of goods and services) is only a part of that system.
Capitalism (or free market economics) IS NOT a system of controlling human activity. It is simply a means by which goods and services change hands.
The appropriate comparison in discussing socialism would be to compare a CONTROLLED HUMAN ENVIRONMENT (socialism) to a FREE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT. Capitalism/free market economics is but a small part of the Free Human Environment.
That is the truth. Parasites vote for and elect politicians who would sell their own mothers for votes. There is no honor among thieves
I would point out that if the government mandates it, then it is simply taxes, as in "rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s," which has nothing to do with charity or the blessings therefrom.
Criminals are the root of all evil. Identify the liar, the anti-individual criminal.
In your two posts to mine you have completely missed the point in your zeal to defend capitalism. The professor did not compare the two and I didn't say he did.
His premise is that a successful capitalist society, combined with the natural human desire to help, will eventually lead to socialism.
When I talked about how either capitalism or socialism both ignore human nature it was NOT a comparison. It's simply a statement of the truth. In a purely capitalistic society greed, avarice and the constant grab for power will ignore humanity just as a purely socialist society will humanity by stifling innovation, artistic expression and the human desire to do better.
BUMP for nailing it!
“CONTROLLED HUMAN ENVIRONMENT (socialism) to a FREE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT. Capitalism/free market economics is but a small part of the Free Human Environment.”
A system which has a free market economy is not necessarily driven by avarice, greed, and the grab for power.
It simply means that people are free to trade their services without undue government regulation.
It isn't a system of commerce that makes people greedy and it isn't government regulation that removes it.
You are somehow suggesting that human greed can eliminated by socialism...and that's just not true.
And what is a capitalistic society anyway? Are you against freedom?
I think you are confused as to what capitalism is.
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