Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Rich People

Many Christians are concerned about inequality and worry about rich people becoming richer. There are six ways that a person can become rich.

  1. Discover a new technique or product that everyone wants.
  2. Work hard and saving everything for a lifetime.
  3. Be born into a rich family.
  4. Win a lottery.
  5. Steal money from someone.
  6. Get the government to take actions that creates a monopoly or favourable situation for a business.

The first three ways seem to be legitimate. Henry Ford became rich because he made cars available to ordinary people. He did not force anyone to work for him or buy his cars.

No 2 might be stupid. Most Christians would say four is wrong. 5 and 6 are definitely wrong.

When criticising the rich we need to be careful that we do not drop into thinking like the Pharisees. I find it ironic that when people rail against the rich getting richer, they are ususally referring to people that are a little richer than they are. The hard truth is that anyone reading this is among the richest group of people who have ever lived on earth. There is nothing to stop us from selling everything and giving it to the poor. Certainly the economic system does not stop us from doing this.

The problem is that being generous is never enough for Pharisees. They always want to make other people generous too. This is where progressive taxation comes in. The implicit argument goes like this. If I were rich, I would be generous. The rich people are not as good as me, so they cannot be trusted to be generous of their own accord. They should be forced to be generous. We should tax the rich more, so the money can be used for the poor.

My problem is that I cannot see Jesus forcing other people to be generous.

5 comments:

Ted M. Gossard said...

Ron, Interesting post.

I would agree that Jesus would not force anyone to be generous. But nations are not followers of Jesus.

And I would ask this question. When someone like Bill Gates profits as he has, from a society, isn't it good for him to give back a higher proportion to it than those of us who are not much more than making ends meet? He thinks so. Just a thought. And thanks.

Ron McK said...

Thanks Ted
Nations do not have money to give. They only have money taken from other people.

I am accountable to God for how I spend my money. I do not have the right or authority to tell Bill Gates how he should spend his money. I might if he had stolen his money. But he did not force me to buy windows. I purchased freely, knowing what I was getting. So I do not see that I can demand that he should give some money away.

The expression "profits from society" is interesting. It implies he has done something slightly dodgy. All he has done is sell goods and services on a free market. That is what I do every day, when I go to work and get paid for my services. I feel that I have earned what I get paid, not that I am profiting from society.
Blessings
Ron

Ted M. Gossard said...

Ron, Good thoughts. I would counter that, in my mind "profits from society" is not a bad thing, necessarily at all, certainly not in and of itself.

Bill Gates said it. He felt that he wanted to give back something to those, who through purchasing his products had given him so much wealth. And of course, he and his wife Melinda are reaching far beyond that. To help the poor and afflicted in Africa.

So I think it is good for the wealthy in a society, like Job, to do what they can and give generously to help the poor. I'm sure you'd agree with that. Thanks.

Ron McK said...

Ted,
I am not sure if the scriptures do require rich people who are not Christians to be generous; but good on them if they are, provided they are not trying to do a deal with God. What I quibble with is the common view that rich people owe a debt to society. If they have they sold their product freely and have not stolen, then there is no debt.

Christians do have a responsibility to give to the poor. If we got serious about 1 John 3:17, we could do far more to get rid of poverty than Bill Gates ever will. Responsibility for poverty rests with God's people and not with the rich.

We must not pass the buck,
Ron

Steve Scott said...

What I think most Christians fail to realize is that even though God required His people to tithe, and it was one of the most important things to do, the failure to tithe carried with it no civil punishment. It was beyond the responsibility of human civil government. It was God's alone to punish for this sin.

So when we today advocate taxing anybody, and especially the rich, we are essentially saying, "We have the right to punish for something that only God can punish. Therefore, we are God." And of course, God won't honor this mentality.