Private Ownership
Private ownership is a primary and typical
characteristic of capitalism, which is different from government ownership in socialism
and common ownership by workers in communism. In socialism all properties are
owned by the government or the central authority and in communism by all
workers, common ownership.
Private
ownership was granted in the Old Testament, although people’s ownership was
entrusted or delegated, and the original ownership belonged to God, as we
discussed previously. Private ownership continued in the New Testament. In the
early church, Christians lived together in a community and they brought their
possessions to the community as in Acts 2:43-47 and Acts 4:32-35. Although the
early Christians did not claim their private ownership in this commonism, they
did not deny their private ownership. That is, the early Christian community’s
economic system, commonism, is within the boundary of capitalism.
Decentralized Decision Making in Markets
Another important characteristic of
capitalism is decentralized decision making in the markets. It is not the
central authority but the market that determines price and quantity of a good
or service. The Bible does not deny markets and their functions. Sellers sell
their commodities and buyers purchase them in markets.
Business Motives in Capitalism
Producers or sellers want to maximize their
profit whereas buyers want to maximize their utility – satisfaction or
happiness. When a seller is too greedy to consider other people, he/she may do
unethical things – lying, cheating, fraud, etc. – and even illegal activities. Recently
business people have been paying more attention to environmental issues -
global warming, pollution reduction, green energy, etc. - and social
responsibility. Considering not only profit but also people and planet, a
triple-bottom-line outcome may be a good way to do business that is beneficial
not only to themselves - companies and their employees - but also to society
and other members of society and to environments. As global warming is becoming
a serious issue, a firm's goal that includes avoiding damages to environment by
reducing emissions/negative externalities becomes more desirable.
Ethical Issues in Capitalism
The most significant issue in capitalism is
inequality. Wealth is not equally distributed, and income is not equal. Capitalism
encourages people to compete each other. Some people make more money than
others, and it creates income or wealth inequality. To make more money than
others, some people may be tempted to cheat or do some other illegal
activities. Less skilled, talented, and/or educated people have hard time to
catch up more skilled, talented, and/or educated people. They find sooner or
later that their wealth is much less than the others.
Greed is a part of human
natures. Capitalism encourages people’s greed. Moderate greed may be okay for
the economy to grow, however too much greed destroys relationships among
companies, people in the society. Too much greed makes people dishonest and deceive
others or make ill use of others. Capitalism also causes environmental problems
when firms overproduce goods and services without considering environments. Today’s
society experience global warming problems that are caused by chemical
emissions or pollution.
Christian Ethics in Capitalism
God does not reject capitalism although all
things belong to God. However, God wants his people to use their wealth
according to God’s will. The richer people share their wealth with the poorer
people. God’s provision in the Bible is to let people offer tithes. Tithes were
used not only for the Levites who were not given portions but also for the poor
widows, orphans, and strangers. In today’s society, the government can do the
function by collecting more taxes from the rich. The government should make a
whole effort to reduce income or wealth inequality by redistributing income. In
this sense, it may not be pure capitalistic but a little bit socialistic
attempt.
Capitalism
is closely connected with a market economy in which prices and production of
goods and services are determined by the interaction of supply and demand. God
wants merchants or sellers to be honest and fair, not deceiving about their
scales and products. Employers should not exploit their employees, knowing
their needs.
In capitalism, money or wealth is too
much emphasized or too much valued. It becomes an idol to many people,
replacing God. That is why Jesus tells his disciples and us that we cannot
serve both God and Mammon (or Money) (Matthew 6:24). And Paul says that the
love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). However, most
people cannot deny that they love (or like) money. What Jesus and Paul meant is
priority. When you love money more than God, you will be in trouble in a
capitalist society. Because of your too much love of money, you may get
involved in dishonest, unethical, or unlawful events.
As
Edd Noell points out, capitalism is compatible with Christian ethics.[1]
However, for Christian ethics to be valid in capitalism, Christians should have
a right priority. That is, God should be first before anything else. Christians
should be honest, diligent, not too greedy, and love their neighbors. When we
love our neighbors, we will not deceive them and cheat on them.
[1]
Noell, E. (2016). “Capitalism
and Christian Ethics.” Free Market Forum
by Hillsdale College. Retrieved from https://www.hillsdale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/FMF-2013-Capitalism-and-Christian-Ethics.pdf
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