Caring for the Poor (2) - Tax

The common preference is to help the poor by taxing the rich. The scriptures do not give responsibility for caring for the poor to rich people of society. Rich people are urged not to trust in their wealth. They are warned that their wealth may quickly disappear. They are warned that they may die before they have a chance to enjoy their wealth. However, the Bible is realistic and does not expect the rich to do good to the poor (if they are not Christians).

Furthermore, Jesus is not in the business of forcing rich people to be generous. The modern approach to poverty is to tax the rich and give their money to the poor. The implicit argument goes like this. Rich people are not as good as the rest of us, 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.

The problem with this approach is that Jesus never forced people be good. He would never force the rich to be generous. The Bible gives responsibility for the poor to Christians, not the rich. Christians who want to tax the rich to bless the poor are passing the buck.

Generosity to the Poor

Do the scriptures require rich people to be generous, if the are not Christians? This is an interesting question. The scriptures warn rich people not to trust in their wealth. They are warned that their wealth may quickly disappear. Or they may die before they have a chance to enjoy their wealth. But, the Bible is realistic and does not expect the rich to do good to the poor.

Christians do have a responsibility to care for the poor. If we got serious about 1 John 3:17, we could do far more to get rid of poverty before lunch time.

Responsibility for poverty rests with God's people. Passing the buck to the rich is a cop out.

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.

Taxes on the Rich?

Taxes on the rich harm society. Wilhelm Roepke explains why in The Humane Society.

Very many people imagine that taxation of the higher
income brackets merely implies restriction of luxury spending and that the purchasing power skimmed off from above is channeled into "social" purposes down below. This is an elementary error. It is quite obvious that larger incomes (and larger wealth) have so far mainly been spent for purposes which are in the interests of all. They serve functions which society cannot do without in any circumstances. Capital formation, investment, cultural expenditure, charity, and patronage of the arts may be mentioned among many others.

If, then, the higher income groups are crushed by progressive taxation, it is obvious that some of their functions will have to be dropped....

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