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To: Toddsterpatriot
My human face and my desire to help is not socialism.

No -- but it is the driving force behind socialism nevertheless. As I said, socialism perverts the desire to help by making it The Only Thing That Matters.

58 posted on 02/24/2006 9:37:49 AM PST by r9etb
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To: r9etb

Well, I was with you until you said socialism is based on the desire to help. I would say that may be true of a few of the masses who get duped into it. But I would say that by far most of the masses are driven by greed, envy (of those who are richer), and fear (socialism promises security).

I have often thought that capitalism requires that the people in the system have Christian beliefs and character: in the words of our founders, that they are driven by "self-interest rightly understood." I think Ayn Rand makes the mistake of self-interest wrongly understood (it's all about me and my personal self-fulfillment).

I think capitalism with a "Christian" face, so to speak, would mean that one leaves something to be gleaned, referring to the practice prescribed in the Old Testament where the corners of fields were not harvested so that the poor would have access to food--but they had to do the work of harvesting it for themselves, so their characters were not ruined. Capitalism with a "Christian" face means that through our free wills we provide for those who are needy through no fault of their own through our families, churches and communities in ways that build strong character.

Just my 2 cents.


62 posted on 02/24/2006 10:47:15 AM PST by djreece ("... Until He leads justice to victory." Matt. 12:20c)
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