Why I Love Capitalism (Part 3)

Here lies the ultimate reason I believe capitalism is so vital to our society:

3. Capitalism means freedom

O'Sullivan sums up this point excellently once again:
“In a capitalist society, individuals are not condemned to their lot in life. Capitalism not only encourages individuals to better themselves, but provides market incentives for them to do so… If conservatives are passionate about capitalism, it is not because they are passionate about money; rather, it is because they are passionate about freedom.”

When it's people are free to pursue what they will, to follow their ambitions and are not restricted by overbearing, detrimental government restriction, the economy and society will thrive to their fullest potential.

This is why I love capitalism and believe it is something worth contending for.

Why I Love Capitalism (Part 2)

2. Capitalism brings wealth by the service of mankind

“People who earn large incomes do so because they provide others with lots of things that they value. If these individuals did not provide valuable goods or services, consumers would not pay them so generously. There is a moral here: if you want to earn a large income, you had better figure out how to help others a great deal.

Economist Walter Williams offers similar insight into the definition of capitalism: "Capitalism is relatively new in human history. Prior to capitalism, the way people amassed great wealth was by looting, plundering and enslaving their fellow man. Capitalism made it possible to become wealthy by serving your fellow man." –O’Sullivan

I teach piano lessons. I love teaching for many reasons, but also because I’m able to offer a service to students that benefits them (hopefully), and benefits me not only economically but also mentally and musically. What is there not to love about a system that profits consumer and producer alike?

(Continued in part 3)
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Patrick Sean O'Sullivan
http://www.conservative-resources.com/definition-of-capitalism.html

Why I Love Capitalism (Part 1)

Conservatives seem to have a reputation of being obsessed with the idea of a free market. The Adam Smith laissez faire (lit. “leave alone”) economy is the only way, they claim, and then get angry when it is interfered with. And with good reason. You see, I have a confession to make: I love capitalism. Here’s why:

1. Capitalism takes into account human nature and bridles it for our advantage

In the first colonization attempts at Jamestown back in 1607, the settlers were commanded to pool all of the profits from their labors. Each worked according to his ability and took according to his need. What happened? It was a complete disaster. Two thirds of the first group died of starvation in a land abounding resources! Reinforcements were sent in 1609, and the results were the no better; 440 men died out of 500 because of lack food. Things changed in 1611, however, when Sir Thomas Dale arrived from England. He did away with this early communist pooling system and gave each settler 3 acres of land and provisions to get each started in beginning their own settlements. What happened? The colony finally began to prosper and thrive. The moral is, if people will not benefit from their own efforts, the natural human response is a halt in those efforts. Enter, capitalism.

“Incentive is the key word. Incentives matter so much that economists James Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, and Dwight R. Lee begin a marvelous little book with the declaration, "All of economics rests on one simple principle: that incentives matter. Altering incentives, the costs and benefits of making specific decisions, alters people's behavior." Where profits are denied, entrepreneurship and innovation are stifled and all our lives are the worse for it. Beneath the definition of capitalism is the realization that we are never so efficient and effective as when we pursue our own reward.” – Patrick Sean O’Sullivan

Maybe it seems to you that basing a system on the idea of pursing your own rewards is a little… carnal. But think about it, is this idea that you reap what you sow really all that foreign?

Ayn Rand sums it up excellently:
“Capitalism demands the best of every man – his rationality – and rewards him accordingly. It leaves every man free to choose the work he likes, to specialize in it, to trade his product for the products of others, and to go as far on the road of achievement as his ability and ambition will carry him.”

Although Rand may have supported some interesting beliefs religiously, her ideas on capitalism are very insightful and have greatly benefited American society.
Any system that does not reward hard work any more than laziness will ultimately fail.

(Continued in Part 2)

Steps for Life, Portland

Last Saturday, my family and I had the privilege of participating in Steps for Life, the Pregnancy Resource Center's annual fundraiser and walk for the unborn in the center of downtown Portland. What an awesome experience to join with hundreds of other like-minded individuals and show the public that people care! Here are just a couple of shots from the morning, (and as you can tell from the sunglasses, we had sunshine in Portland!).
Three cheers for my youngest brother Brandon, who raised $2,005 dollars for the PRC and took first in his age category. Go Bran!My sister Brooke and her friend Leeann.My sister Christa, and our friends Sarah and Ashley Rogers.My awesome little (but big) brothers Sam and Dan. My sweet walking buddies and I.

Regrettably, I don't have any shots of the actual walk. But it happened, I promise, and it was cool. :)

Dilemmas of Amaturity :)

Two things I wanted to say as a brief follow up to my last few posts:

First off, after discussing with some friends and thinking further on this issue, I must make a clarification that may have caused concern in my original post, that being: certainly not all the Founding Fathers were genuine Christians. Of the more famous fathers, it is widely acknowledged that Jefferson, Paine, and Franklin were known deists. Also, without thoroughly inspecting the lives of many of these men, it is hard to accurately evaluate where they stand judging by their words alone. Christian language was much more prevalent back then, even when the speakers themselves weren't born-again Christians. The large majority of contributors at the Constitutional Convention, however, were confessed Christian, (as discussed in the article I wanted to show you below).

Here is an excellent article I found while researching this issue that can take you a little deeper and perhaps answer some questions that are slightly out of my league. :) I hope you can take the time to read it.

Were They Christian? (Part 2)

(Continued from Monday)

Undoubtedly, the European Enlightenment thinkers also inspired the Founding Fathers, particularly John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Baron Charles de Montesquieu. Nonetheless, there is also an unmistakable Christian influence that infiltrated the lives and writings produced by these amazing men.

"It goes without saying, of course, that most of these men were steeped in the traditions and teachings of Christianity—almost half the signers of the Declaration of Independence had some form of seminary training or degree. John Adams … claimed that the Revolution “connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.” John’s cousin Sam sited passage of the Declaration as the day that the colonists “restored the Sovereign to Whom alone men ought to be obedient.” …Other well-known patriots such as John Hancock did not hesitate to echo the reliance on God. In short, a reading of the American Revolution from a purely secular viewpoint ignores a fundamentally Christian component of the Revolutionary ideology.” (Schweikart and Allen, A Patriot’s History of the United States, p. 71)

“Another phrase also stood there: "In God we trust." With this there is no confusion of what they were talking about. They publicly recognized that law could be king because there was a Law Giver, a Person to give the inalienable rights." (Schaeffer, p. 32)

You cannot tell me the founding fathers had no religious reasons for the founding of our country.
You cannot tell me that my country did not have any Christian heritage.

Perhaps the words of Karl Marx offer an explanation for why my classmates had no problem accepting what my professor claimed:

"Take away the heritage of a people and they are easily persuaded."

If people don’t know what is true in the first place, how are they expected to react then that truth is challenged?

Were They Christian?

My history professor told his students that the patriots were a rowdy gang who were obsessed with alcohol more than anything else.
My history professor informed me the Declaration of Independence and Constitution had nothing to do with Christianity.
My history professor thought it was ridiculous to believe that the founding fathers established our country for any reasons other than political ones.

I am compelled to say with all due respect that I believe my professor to be mistaken.

My professor is a very intelligent man and I like him very much, but on this point I do not agree. Our nations founders were not a bunch of raging alcoholics who had nothing better to do with their time than overthrow tyrannical governments.

"[Our founding fathers] really knew what they were doing. We are not reading back into history what was not there. … Think of this great flaming phrase: "certain inalienable rights." Who gives the rights? The state? Then they are not inalienable because the state can change them and take them away. Where do the rights come from? They understood that they were founding the country upon the concept that goes back into the Judeo-Christian thinking that there is Someone there who gave the inalienable rights.” (Francis Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto, p. 32)

Religion in general and Christianity specifically are not foreign concepts in the documents that announced our nation's autonomy and established our government. If fact, they are widely promoted by the proponents of these vital papers.

Consider the words of John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of Independence and President of what is now Princeton University: "He is the best friend of American Liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting pure and undefiled religion." (Schaeffer, p. 33)

Benjamin Franklin himself strikes a similar chord in his address during the Constitutional Convention of 1787: “God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.”

(Continued on Wednesday)

Thank God, He Didn't.

When Jesus went to his hometown, Nazareth, and spoke in the synagogue, his words inspired such fury that an enraged audience drove him to the edge of a cliff. Their obvious intent was to kill him. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for us, it wasn't yet his time. He simply slipped right through the midst of them. How then can we help but realize that no man could have prevented him from slipping through the middle of his captors in the Garden, just as he did in Nazareth. He could've saved himself those brutal hours of agony and loosed himself from the cross. But he didn't.

Doesn't that make us thankful that our trust is in no one less that the Son of God? Will not this God who endured the horror of the cross for us also have wise and sovereign plans for our lives? Need we worry for anything when it is clear that our greatest need is already taken care of?
There can be no doubt.

I Need to Study

"I do not feel inclined to believe that the same God that endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect, has intended us to forgo their use.” - Galileo

Think about this:
Are you an intellectually satisfied Christian?

Do you believe what you believe because you know it's right, or simply because it's what your friends and family believe?

When you're put in an environment where your faith is treated as something a kindergartner would buy into, do you have the facts and confidence to prove why it's right and worth believing?