Posted on 12/22/2011 7:34:40 PM PST by billflax
At Christmas families celebrate a Savior descending to redeem fallen man. Gifts get no bigger, but for holiday fun, let’s right some nagging worldly wrongs. Without claiming to have been good, here’s my Christmas wish list: the world’s first trillionaire.
I’d eliminate poverty too, but capitalism in many ways already has. Modern Shepherds and stable boys fare better today materially than anyone except perhaps tax collectors when Christ came.
Caesar continues taxing us onerously and decreeing silly burdens, yet despite these barriers to prosperity the luxuries of not long ago continue to become necessities for rich and poor alike. The Wisemen’s gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh are essentially jewelry, perfume and medicinal spices; all widely available. The lure of profit heralded this magnificent splendor even while embracing unequal riches.
Suppose someone cures cancer without surgery or chemotherapy’s nasty side-effects. Pop a pill and arise, health restored. We’d endure a decade of needless death before the FDA deigned clearance and the Justice Department would eviscerate them for monopolizing treatment, but such an advance might just furnish the first trillionaire.
Is this troubling?
Our monetary masters feverishly conspire to make trillions meaningless, but wealth stems from serving your fellow man. What if this fortune satisfied some lesser need? Only Malthusians argue against curing cancer, so assume this wildly successful entrepreneur invents some nifty widget instead.
Customers must still willingly vote him rich at the cash register perceiving his wares worth more than the money spent. Most must be pleased. Nobody so prospers without prodigious repeat business. Walter Williams calls profits “certificates of performance.” Those most responsible for the overall plenty soar highest, but everyone rises when markets are free to flourish.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
The situation gets more nebulous with respect to modern patentable and copyrightable things. If software patents weren’t so big, for example, would the world still be cramful of Microsoft mediocrity with its un-updated botnets, or would a robust mix of interoperable operating systems rule and virus writers be wringing their hands in despair while cyber crime fighters rejoiced? The patent and copyright systems serve a legitimate use, but anything made by man can be pushed to the point of harm.
In Matthew 25:14-30, particularly 25:28, does the good master promote equality by making the servant who has ten talents give some to the servant who only has one? Or does the good master in fact promote inequality by allocating resources to the more productive servants?
Thanks supercat. I’m working on a piece about Matthew 25 right now. Think it gets misappropriated for both sides. The parable of the Sheep and Goats gets misused for socialism and the parable of the talents for capitalism.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m obviously a capitalist if you read my work. But both of those were End Times parables dealing with spiritual matters.
Anyway, thanks for reading and responding.
The Parable of the Talents shouldn't be taken alone as an invitation to engage in an unbridled pursuit of wealth at the expense of other aspects of one's spirituality, but it does suggest that those who are wealthy may very well deserve their wealth, and that those who have little but fail to make use of it don't deserve more. A more substantial point throughout a number of parables is reflected in my tagline. Unlike some of the other "deadly sins", covetousness/envy has no redeeming virtue even in moderation. I wish there were some way to make people realize that while Obama et al. manage to convince people they're supposed to be miserable because "the rich" are oppressing them, the real reason the people are miserable is that Obama et al. have them convinced that they should be.
Read these articles:
http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2011/12/13/dont_like_handouts_neither_does_the_bible.html
http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2011/11/23/religious_left_paves_poors_way_to_hell.html
You’ll like them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.