Economic Motivation (4) Surplus

People use their surplus production in different ways.

• If a person fulfilling their calling produces more goods and services than they need for themselves and to support their family, they have three options. They can:
  

  • keep it for themselves (love yourself).
  • give it to their neighbours (love your neighbour)
  • sell it on the market (do to others what you would want them to do to you).
  We make choices between these options, whenever we engage in economic activity. Everything we do must be done for someone. We have the ability and responsibility for deciding whom we will do things for.

• The selfish option of keeping all we produce for ourselves and our family will often be wrong. There will be situations where it makes sense to save our resources, so we can make or buy capital equipment that will make us more fruitful in the future. However, keeping everything for ourselves, so that we take life easy is usually wrong. This is confirmed by the parable of the “barn man”. Jesus said that he was a fool.

• Sometimes we will give some of what we have produced to our neighbours. This is what God requires. We are to love our neighbour as ourselves. We must do this wisely, because none of us will have sufficient to give every neighbour all that they need. If we tried to do this, we would end up with nothing left for ourselves and our families. Loving our neighbour does not take priority over loving ourselves. We are not required to give everything that we have produced to our neighbours. Everyone in the world is not our neighbour. Some will be “others” who need some of the goods and services that we have produced, even though we are not required to love them.

• Most of what we produce beyond the needs of our family will be sold on the market. This is legitimate, because it is doing to others what we would have them do to us. We all need goods and services from other people. We want them to exchange what we need from them for what we have that they need.

• I do not know how to cut my hair, so I need the skill of a hairdresser. There are no hairdressers in my family or among my neighbours, so I am happy to pay someone to cut my hair. I want a person I do not know to cut my hair in exchange for a reasonable payment. That is what I want this person who is an Other to do for me. That means that I must be prepared to do the same for Others, because God says I should do for Others, what I expect them to do for me. I must be prepared to provide my skills to others, in exchange for payment from them. If I am not prepared to do this for Others, I cannot expect others to do things for me.