WHY CHRISTIANS ARE RELEVANT
Yesterday was my first full day of classes at Fels. It has been fascinating so far to see the economic principles I learned at Wharton and have practiced at my non-profit organization now applied to a government setting. For example, in business, the free markets govern the interplay between producers and consumers in such a way that there is an efficient use of resources in producing goods and an efficient price at which producers and consumers agree upon transacting those goods. A producer of salad dressing, for instance, could not decide to multiply the price of his bottles by a factor of a hundred, just because he isn’t making enough money and wants to make more; for in the market, there are other producers of salad dressing that consumers can do business with.
And so it is with cities. The “good” that cities offer is the quality of life and of city services, and the “price” is taxes. And if cities can’t deliver a good value proposition for its customers, local residents, those customers will do business somewhere else. They will move to the suburbs, or Manhattan, or Phoenix.
Since the days of Adam Smith, capitalists have said that the system works so long as everyone’s out for the most for themselves. Economists call it “utility,” Whartonites call it “profit maximization,” and my public financial management professor calls it “happy-osity,” but whatever you call it, we are all out for as much of it as possible. And while that might seem horribly selfish, remember that “happy-osity” means different things to different people. To some it means making as much money as possible, to others it is quality time with the family, and to others still it is the opportunity to rescue orphans in Calcutta. Adam Smith and other capitalists say, whatever floats your boat, go for as much of it as possible.
While I’m a hard-core free markets kind of guy, I want to temper my capitalism with three mindsets that aren’t often taken fully into consideration: a long-term perspective, a communal perspective, and a moral perspective. That is to say, when seeking the most, 1) have the long run in mind rather than just the immediate, 2) have the group in mind rather than just the individual, 3) have morality in mind rather than just whatever feels good. It is my belief that when capitalism fails people, it is not because the capitalist system is evil but rather because we have undervalued one or more of these three perspectives.
The thing about these three perspectives is that they are hard to quantify and legislate. And yet they are three of the most fundamental aspects of what differentiates Christians from those who do not fear God. More so than others who do not confess Jesus as Lord, we believe that we are eternal beings, that we are interconnected to one another, and that we are accountable in our morality to an Absolute Judge. Should we Christians, then, not be more relevant, more vocal, and more influential in ensuring that the capitalist system that governs our economy, our politics, and the whole of our society, properly values eternity, community, and morality?
Yesterday was my first full day of classes at Fels. It has been fascinating so far to see the economic principles I learned at Wharton and have practiced at my non-profit organization now applied to a government setting. For example, in business, the free markets govern the interplay between producers and consumers in such a way that there is an efficient use of resources in producing goods and an efficient price at which producers and consumers agree upon transacting those goods. A producer of salad dressing, for instance, could not decide to multiply the price of his bottles by a factor of a hundred, just because he isn’t making enough money and wants to make more; for in the market, there are other producers of salad dressing that consumers can do business with.
And so it is with cities. The “good” that cities offer is the quality of life and of city services, and the “price” is taxes. And if cities can’t deliver a good value proposition for its customers, local residents, those customers will do business somewhere else. They will move to the suburbs, or Manhattan, or Phoenix.
Since the days of Adam Smith, capitalists have said that the system works so long as everyone’s out for the most for themselves. Economists call it “utility,” Whartonites call it “profit maximization,” and my public financial management professor calls it “happy-osity,” but whatever you call it, we are all out for as much of it as possible. And while that might seem horribly selfish, remember that “happy-osity” means different things to different people. To some it means making as much money as possible, to others it is quality time with the family, and to others still it is the opportunity to rescue orphans in Calcutta. Adam Smith and other capitalists say, whatever floats your boat, go for as much of it as possible.
While I’m a hard-core free markets kind of guy, I want to temper my capitalism with three mindsets that aren’t often taken fully into consideration: a long-term perspective, a communal perspective, and a moral perspective. That is to say, when seeking the most, 1) have the long run in mind rather than just the immediate, 2) have the group in mind rather than just the individual, 3) have morality in mind rather than just whatever feels good. It is my belief that when capitalism fails people, it is not because the capitalist system is evil but rather because we have undervalued one or more of these three perspectives.
The thing about these three perspectives is that they are hard to quantify and legislate. And yet they are three of the most fundamental aspects of what differentiates Christians from those who do not fear God. More so than others who do not confess Jesus as Lord, we believe that we are eternal beings, that we are interconnected to one another, and that we are accountable in our morality to an Absolute Judge. Should we Christians, then, not be more relevant, more vocal, and more influential in ensuring that the capitalist system that governs our economy, our politics, and the whole of our society, properly values eternity, community, and morality?
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