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Bernie says, "Socialism ends in dependence and lower standards of living for those under its thumb..."
No, not that Bernie. Bernie Marcus, the co-founder of Home Depot.
Does the Bible advocate socialism? Or capitalism?
Be informed.
Bernie Marcus, the co-founder of Home Depot and a champion of the free market says,
"I love America. I do. I love America because its the greatest country in the world. I think there are two reasons why this country is so great. The first is our Constitution, which guarantees a freedom of speech and expression. The second is our free market system."
He says,
"The free market system has been the biggest creator of wealth and prosperity the world has ever known, lifting billions of people out of poverty and far more superior than any government program could ever be."
Bernie's personal story.
He says,
"When I co-founded Home Depot in 1979, I had just been fired and was broke. There's no other country in the world that has a system where someone in these circumstances could turn a simple idea and hard work into a company that employs more than 400,000 people and has created thousands of successful millionaires."
Bernie also says,
"Free market doesn't just create an environment where individuals have the opportunity to prosper but makes charitable giving possible in the first place. It's not a random occurrence that Americans are the most charitable in the world."
And he says,
"That's why it pains me to see people in this country glorifying socialism; young people especially have been indoctrinated into believing that free market is immoral because it enriches the greedy and depresses the poor."
He's right, the acceptance of socialism is a growing phenomenon among Americans--particularly the youth.
Democrat presidential candidates advocate socialism. The youth believe them.
Fox News says, "Politicians calling themselves 'Democratic socialists' have made very visible gains in the past year, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez...and Bernie Sanders becoming a party icon with the status to bring medicare -for-all into the mainstream."
Bernie Sanders, who owns three homes and is a millionaire, apparently believes socialism is good for thee, but not for me.
But it's not about him---it's about indoctrinating the kids. "Remaking America."
Gallup has found that 18 to 29-year-olds now prefer socialism over capitalism, 51-45%. They also found that while Democrats were split 50-50 on the issue back in 2010, now 57% of Democrats say they hold a positive view of socialism, compared to 47% who say the same of capitalism.
As a whole, Americans still favor capitalism over socialism 56% to 37%.
The youth are buying it because they have no memory of the "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" (USSR) and their history of imprisoning dissident voices in gulags, food shortages and economic decline in the USSR. Nor do they know much about Venezuela's collapse, because public education has refused to educate this generation in favor of indoctrinating them socially.
A part of the soft sell to the young is that socialism is moral and capitalism is not. And you get a lot of free stuff.
Which is moral? What does the Bible say about it?
The dictionary defines capitalism as, "An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market."
While the Bible does not mention capitalism by name, it does speak a great deal about economic issues.
For example, whole sections of Proverbs and many of the parables of Jesus deal with economic matters.
The Bible teaches us what our attitude should look like to money and gives us a description of our fallen nature which helps to evaluate the possible failure or success of any economic system.
Historically, capitalism has a number of advantages. It has liberated economic potential, as Bernie Marcus noted in his remarks. It has also provided the foundation for a great deal of economic and political freedom. When government is not controlling markets, there is economic freedom to be involved in any number of entrepreneurial opportunities.
Capitalism leads to political freedom, because it limits the government's involvement in other areas as well. It is no accident that most of the countries with the greatest political freedom usually have a great deal of economic freedom.
One of the major moral arguments made against capitalism---one that Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders and others on the Left are making--is that capitalism is "greed." Socialism, they say, is not.
They say capitalism creates greed.
It doesn't.
Jeremiah 17:9 gives a very clear of human nature.
"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked, who can know it?"
The next verse answers who can know it. It says,
"I, the Lord, search the heart."
The whole notion that capitalism creates greed is to deny that man is inherently sinful.
Though greed is sometimes evident in the capitalist system, we have to understand it's not because of the system---it's because greed is a part of man's sinful nature. The solution lies not in changing the economic system but in changing the heart of man through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Summit Ministries, in Colorado Springs, wrote a paper for Hillsdale College and their Imprimis publication regarding this issue of capitalism vs socialism.
Pay particular attention to the section on "The new religion of the Left," which identifies how the religious Left twist Scriptures to affirm the beliefs on the economy and other issues.
I strongly recommend you read it and share it with your children or grandchildren.
The choice of economic systems comes down to this:
This presidential election is in effect forcing voters to make a number of decisions about what they actually believe. This is one of those decisions. We not only need to know what we believe, but why we believe it.
Summit Ministries concludes with this:
"Which choice then should I , as a Christian, make in the selection between capitalism and socialism? Capitalism is quite simply the most moral system, the most effective system, and the most equitable system of economic exchange. When capitalism, the system of free economic exchange, is described fairly, there can be no question that it, rather than socialism or interventionism, comes closer to matching the demands of the biblical ethic."
Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Free.