Righteous Capitalism Page 5
Righteous Capitalism and Pricing
Today’s common practice is pricing according to “what the market will bear.” It goes along with pricing according to demand. The ancient church father Thomas Aquinas taught that “raising prices in response to high demand was a type of theft.”[111] In other words an unjust price is a type of fraud. Any unfair earnings made in trade are immoral gain made by not actually creating something. Such dealings break the Golden Rule.
The righteous capitalist does not raise prices of building materials after a natural disaster. Righteous capitalists charge prices based on the cost of materials and labor and do not capitalize on the desperation of the buyer. In this way the righteous capitalist contributes to a moral economy, where pricing is just and fair and good. This honest approach to business and government leads to a proper balance between social needs and economic freedom.
Righteous Capitalism no Love of Money
The righteous capitalist recognizes that the love of money is a sucker trap and avoids it. He knows that it is an addiction that can never be satisfied with enough. The righteous capitalist is not hypnotized by useless expensive items that add no value to life.[112]
The good entrepreneur has seen how the love of money has caused all kinds of evil and even ruined lives. There are plenty of examples of it in the market place. The good business person is wise and sees the danger and avoids the love of money.[113]
The righteous capitalist knows that when people are lovers of money times will be more difficult. In fact the love of money makes a society dangerous, terrible, because of the atrocities that people will commit. A society that loves money is one filled with murder, theft and destruction of people’s lives, much like the modern world. The righteous capitalist sees this peril and avoids the love of money.[114]
Advertising is often designed to make us dissatisfied, to entice a lust for more, to create covetous desires. Contentment is a trait of the righteous capitalist. They are not obsessed with getting more material things. They are satisfied with what they have.[115]
Righteous Capitalism and Tithing
Tithing is a principle of proportional giving from the Hebrew Scriptures. God has given us everything that we have. Every breath we take and every beat of our hearts come from him. He expects our generosity in return or if you care. God expects that we be generous because he is. In ancient Israel, three tenths of a person’s income was budgeted at different times and for different reasons.
One tenth was given to God’s work and in turn God promised to pour out blessings upon the giver.[116] Those who did not give were described as thieves and those who did give were promised material abundance. Another tenth was given to the poor in the third and sixth year of a seven year cycle.[117] Another tenth was to be saved and consumed at the annual worship festivals,[118] in some ways similar to a vacation savings plan.
Though under the New Covenant Christians no longer see themselves as being under the letter of the law, nevertheless the principles of that law remain as guides to righteous capitalism. Giving may not always be an exact tenth but will be proportional and based upon what is in a person’s heart.
Whereas a miserly or cash-strapped giver may give either a tenth or find reasons for giving less, a generous heart might find ways to give even more than the bare minimum.
Examples of capitalists tithing that are well-known are William Colgate of Colgate-Palmolive, James Kraft of Kraft Foods and Henry Heinz of Heinz Ketchup. Such successful capitalists made God a partner in their businesses and began giving God a tenth and were materially blessed for it.[119]
The tithe given to God had a higher priority than the tithe given to the poor. We might think that is wrong, but perhaps we need to see it from heaven’s perspective. The tithe given to the church is primarily for the Gospel, the announcement of permanent good news.
The poor are a high priority to the righteous capitalist, but their eternal salvation is more important than their temporary salvation from the suffering of this world. Jesus’ own words regarding being anointed with expensive oil which could have been sold and the money given to the poor, show that he thought the work of God has a higher priority over even the needs of the poor.[120]
The case of the widow’s mite is extraordinary. There was a widow who was among a group of people being mistreated by political and religious leaders. These evil capitalists were known for stealing widow’s homes for personal profit. Yet, the widow saw God behind the scenes.
While unrighteous capitalists were engaged in shady practices, God’s work still had to be done. She gave more generously than most.[121] The same could be said of the business world. While it is often inhabited by evil capitalists, the righteous capitalist will not get discouraged but continue to be generous.
Righteous Capitalism Money Can’t Buy
Bribery is common form of corruption in our world. It starts small as a mere tip for service and grows large to perks, sweetheart deals, kickbacks, secret commissions, stock options, campaign contributions, gifts and political corruption. Some countries are better known as kleptocracies because they are ruled by thieves who engage in government embezzlement.
Commercial drug sales people who buy lunch for a local doctor’s staff and give kickbacks for heavy prescription of certain drugs are not much different. They have bought doctors. Commercial bribery is widespread in both legal and illegal forms. Sports corruption is also well-known.
Not so well-known is religious corruption. Simon, a sorcerer thought that he could buy the gift of God with money.[122] A major cause of the Protestant Reformation was the financial scandal associated with selling of indulgences to raise money to build Saint Peter’s in Rome and other such corruption in the western church.[123] [124]
The ethical businessperson owes loyalty to one person only, God. The virtuous executive does not do shady deals. The righteous capitalist does not take bribes. The righteous capitalist is not going to compromise doing the right thing for 30 pieces of silver.
Righteous Capitalism not Hoarding
How does someone become a billionaire without hoarding? Is it even possible? Obviously some inherit, but those who accumulate, why have they not shared their fortunes with the needy? If they had, there would be no billions accumulated. Hoarding is not something that a righteous capitalist engages in. It hurts the hoarder and ruins their heirs. Take the example of a large retailer who was loved by his employees. After his death, his children had no compassion on the poor, lived in sickening opulence, better than royalty, while they deprived their employees of previously held benefits and lowered pay rates to working-poor levels. Righteous capitalists do not hoard, are self-sacrificing and provide a righteous inheritance for their children.[125]
The charitable capitalist does not lay up treasure for selfish reasons on earth where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break in and steal. The righteous capitalist lays up treasures in heaven, by giving to Christ in the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and imprisoned.[126] Moths and rust cannot destroy such treasures. Thieves cannot rob us of what we have freely given away.[127]
Righteous Capitalism no False Gods
Righteous capitalists use gold for righteous purposes. They do not use it to build useless idols.[128] We have our modern idols, but why did ancient people build literal idols? They saw them as saving them from crop failure or other material problems.
Our modern idols are no different. We see them as providing salvation. Politically we look to the left or the right. God warns us to obey him and not turn to the left or right.[129] Look straight ahead and do not swerve to the left or right.[130]Rather than waste money on a political party, put it to godly use.
Money becomes and idol. Yet the righteous capitalist knows that we cannot serve God and money.[131]
In the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man,[132] it was the poor beggar who had a name. Even though later writers gave him the name Dives, it is made up. The original story gave the rich man no name. This is the exact oppo
site of popular thinking. The unrighteous capitalist wants a name for self and the poor beggar remains nameless.
This also contradicts the popular bigotry that the poor just need to get a job. Some cannot. Lazarus was dumped at the gate of the rich man. The original wording shows that he was incapable of moving himself there and his only option was to beg. The rich man’s hard heart landed him in hell, but God took care of Lazarus and he was received into heaven.
Another modern idol is the god of pride.[133] Paul the Apostle instructed Timothy to preach against pride among the wealthy and to warn them against trusting in their riches. Wealth is deceptive. Look at the faces of pride among some well-known wealthy people. See their example and thinking that they are so much better than others. It is a drug that is hard to withdraw from. It is also living a lie.
Humility is not faked. It is just a reality check. Those who have pride have not come to reality. They do not see how weak they really are. Righteous capitalists see the reality of human frailty. They are not fooled by money, but put their trust in God.
Righteous Capitalism is Generous
The things of God are free. The righteous capitalist knows that the best things in life cannot be bought with money, and that generous giving is a wonderful blessing. God sets the pace by offering his bounties without price.[134]
Jesus gave the example of hiring day laborers for a job and giving generously.[135] How many employees today follow this example?
Righteous Capitalism Invests
Jesus invested in his students. He could have preached and not invested in the future of his work after his death, but instead he took along an expensive and extensive entourage of men and woman so as to teach them, so that they could carry on his work afterwards.[136] The most important investment of all is people.
In many small businesses it is a son or daughter who carries on after their parents die. While family relationships are important, the child is not always the best to carry on a business. Sometimes it is an “adopted” child, an apprentice or a loyal assistant. However successors are chosen, they are invested in over years and that investment is expensive and extensive.
Righteous Capitalism Rewards
In the Parable of the Pounds is also a lesson in investment and reward for the righteous capitalist.[137] Financial responsibility was distributed equally to employees, but not everyone produced. Those who produced more were given a greater reward and those who did not produce at all were punished. This is a law of equal opportunity, not a law of equal pay for the diligent as well as the lazy. It was a meritocracy, reward for diligence. It was not an excuse for greed.
In the similar Parable of the Talents,[138] different amounts were given out. In this case, financial responsibility was not distributed equally but according to each man’s different abilities. This is a law of opportunity according to aptitude. Again we notice that this was not a law of equal pay for the diligent as well as the lazy. It was a meritocracy, reward for production. It was not an excuse for greed.
Righteous Capitalism releases Debts
In the Parable of the Two Debtors[139] Jesus explained that sin is a debt and forgiveness of sin is forgiveness of a debt. However, there is also a valuable financial lesson here for righteous capitalists. Forgiveness of debt is good for business. It engenders good relations.
In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant[140] Jesus taught of the failure to forgive debt. Righteous capitalists have compassion on their fellow human beings. When we fail to forgive debt, we fail to see the greater debt that we owe. God has given us everything that we own. He can reclaim it at any moment that he desires. He graciously continues to allow us to enjoy what he has given, but if he detects injustice and greed, there is nothing stopping him from taking it all away from us again. More importantly, we must forgive each other and show mercy from our hearts.
Goals of Righteous Capitalism
Love
A righteous capitalist has the main goals of loving God and loving neighbor. Loving God comes first, but is impossible unless we also love our neighbors.
Relieve and Restore
The good capitalist also engages in relief and restoration. Such an honest business broker realizes that it is “important to attend to the market’s harmful consequences since it is the poor who often have to endure them.”[141]
The righteous capitalist will operate his or her business within the community in such a manner as to lift up those who are downtrodden relieve their suffering and seek ways to restore them to their proper place as contributing members of society.
Imperfect Capitalism
Let’s go back for a minute to the discussion of clothing which we had at the very beginning. An item of clothing may have been produced by slave labor, environmental contamination or other unrighteous working conditions. What if the company selling the clothing engages in some unethical business practices? Are we then responsible to investigate the source of every item of clothing that we buy? That would be impractical. We simply cannot become world police officers investigating the morality of everyone that we do business with.
What about wages? Righteous capitalists who are also “conscientious employers may want to pay their workers a living wage. However, they are constrained by the workings of the market. Should they pay such wages, their cost of production would increase substantially, and they would have to face the predicament of either raising their prices (and driving themselves out of the market) or sustaining large financial losses. Either choice is unappealing; both in fact would lead to the closure of their businesses, to the detriment of the employees themselves who would suddenly find themselves unemployed.”[142]
The descriptions in this book of righteous capitalism may seem overwhelming. It may seem like an impossibly tall order, unattainable by mere mortals. None of us will be perfectly faultless capitalists. That’s impossible. What are we imperfect capitalists supposed to do when we fail to live up to such high ideals? How are we supposed to look at ourselves in the mirror in the morning knowing that important business decisions may ruin lives? How can we capitalists who seek to be righteous face those unrighteous parts of our lives?
There is a misunderstanding among some religious people that human beings can become faultless. It is wrong. The passage that says to “be perfect”[143] actually means to be spiritually mature. A spiritually mature person knows that sinless perfection in humanity is impossible, and we need to become mature enough to understand that. Perfectionists live with unrealistic expectations.
Grace and Forgiveness
The twin traits of grace and forgiveness are necessary for righteous capitalism. The righteous capitalist knows that absolute moral perfection is impossible among mere mortals. Righteous capitalists operate in a dirty field filled with corruption and shady deals. He or she learns to forgive others around for their imperfect decisions, and even the wrongs done by fellow business operators to them. Just as importantly, virtuous business people know their own foibles and learn to ask forgiveness and move on.
How can we capitalists forgive ourselves and our fellows? There is a simple answer, if we ask for God’s forgiveness then we must also forgive ourselves because God has. If we, the ones attempting to be honorable entrepreneurs have sinned, we just need to get over it. We have all done wrong things. If our fellow capitalists have transgressed against us then we must forgive them as God has forgiven us.
In one of history’s remarkable quotes, Jesus forgave on the cross before people were even sorry their sins.[144] Like him, we must pray, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” Learn to forgive those who have wronged us before they even come to their senses. Most of the time, none of us really knows the harm (or the good) that our actions may have caused. We don’t know what we are doing.
We human beings cannot handle matters with faultless perfection. It is impossible to do business in perfect blamelessness. We just do the best we can and thank God for his forgiveness. Ignore those co-workers who do not forgive u
s and get on with the job.
Better a faulty capitalist who is at least trying to be righteous than an unrighteous capitalist who doesn’t even care.
Righteous Capitalism with Humility
Righteous capitalists know that we humans make mistakes, sometimes big ones. We must be willing to enter a world where we know that we will make mistakes and sometimes hurt others. But we do so in humility, not placing ourselves above our fellow human beings and thankful when others forgive us for our many faults.[145]
Righteous capitalists know that we are not saviors of the world, yet we try to follow the one who is and bring a measure of material salvation to others as we have opportunity.
Capital Ideas
Application is always a process of debate and varying opinions. Let’s explore some possibilities by asking some important questions. What is righteous compensation for a CEO? What is righteous compensation for an ordinary worker? What is a just price for goods and services? What is a righteous inheritance? Can business be too big to be righteous?
The Main Benchmark
There is one benchmark for every capital decision. It is a measure that sets the standard that every venture ought to be measured against: Does this show love to God and neighbor? How does that kind of thinking work on the ground?