Why Do So Many People Have Claimed Capitalism
SUPPLY AND THE DAMNED
Joseph Wallace
RE 311- Christian Ethics
In the current era, we have seen many different economic systems develop, fail and be replaced. The emergence of capitalism changed the entire field; most capable countries have adopted a free market system. This system has been touted as “the world’s greatest economic success story”1 because no other system “has been as effective…in turning scarcity into abundance.”2 Many people have claimed capitalism to be one of the world’s most moral systems because it “has improved the lives of so many people.”3 Economists, generally speaking, have come to agree that capitalism is the best economic system. …show more content…
Abundance creates a power hierarchy in which those skilled and/or corrupt in economically controlling positions influence the social structure more so than any others. And while power in the hands of the wealthy may be a good thing in some instances, in such individuals as Bill Gates who supports charities, by and large it does very little to benefit the greater good. Capitalism is a system that “tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits”39 and anything and everything “is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which [has] become the only rule.”40 The unceasing appetite of “materialism and frivolous consumerism go hand in hand with spiritual poverty.”41 It is this vicious cycle that prevents us from being able to recognize that “human beings are destined for an end that transcends mere earthly existence”42 and that we “are ‘constitutionally oriented toward ‘being more.’’”43 God has through his grace given us many blessings, including the abundance brought about from capitalism, and it is paramount that we recognize that it was God and not the economic
Joseph Wallace
RE 311- Christian Ethics
In the current era, we have seen many different economic systems develop, fail and be replaced. The emergence of capitalism changed the entire field; most capable countries have adopted a free market system. This system has been touted as “the world’s greatest economic success story”1 because no other system “has been as effective…in turning scarcity into abundance.”2 Many people have claimed capitalism to be one of the world’s most moral systems because it “has improved the lives of so many people.”3 Economists, generally speaking, have come to agree that capitalism is the best economic system. …show more content…
Abundance creates a power hierarchy in which those skilled and/or corrupt in economically controlling positions influence the social structure more so than any others. And while power in the hands of the wealthy may be a good thing in some instances, in such individuals as Bill Gates who supports charities, by and large it does very little to benefit the greater good. Capitalism is a system that “tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits”39 and anything and everything “is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which [has] become the only rule.”40 The unceasing appetite of “materialism and frivolous consumerism go hand in hand with spiritual poverty.”41 It is this vicious cycle that prevents us from being able to recognize that “human beings are destined for an end that transcends mere earthly existence”42 and that we “are ‘constitutionally oriented toward ‘being more.’’”43 God has through his grace given us many blessings, including the abundance brought about from capitalism, and it is paramount that we recognize that it was God and not the economic