Somehow we find ourselves in a society which thinks that the most important source of power – the control of money and land – is too difficult for most people to think about. Economics is a special field that you have to be an expert to understand.
Few connections are made between economic issues and matters of faith – except perhaps the obligation to give to charity or to butter the mouth of the downtrodden, the have-nots. Faith is regarded as personal and spiritual only, while economics belong to the realm of politics. So when remarks are made about poverty and wealth, people are chastised and fear to advance debate on those issues. Those who muster the strength, show wisdom and are fearless to inform the public need our praise and sympathy for so doing.
Growing numbers of people in underdeveloped countries don’t have the luxury of thinking that economic theories are boring or neutral. They are becoming experts at the sharp end, where economic policies of governments, World Bank, and IMF are having a daily and devastating impact on their lives. Families all over the world, who used to be able to manage their own lives and feed their children, are finding that now they can’t.
For them, those policies, which are supposed to lead their countries into economic health, translate into urgent questions. Can they afford medicine any more? Or schooling for their children? Does the market price for their crops make it worth the effort of harvesting them at all? Why are a few continuing to amass riches, while the majority is grindingly becoming poorer? Why are the Kalinago People, who discovered this land Dominica, fought the colonialists and shed their blood to ensure today its ‘Nature Isle’ status, are in this 21st. century so indigene (extremely poor)? Why are these things happening?
So economic policies are neither boring nor morally neutral. They have a human impact which is crying out to be addressed. . The bible has always known this. Its teaching about wealth and poverty is extensive – a great many parables, laws, prophetic sermons and dire warnings, both general and specific, are found to deal with economic matters.
Jesus is known to have made several uncomfortable remarks about wrongful acquisition of wealth. In the same vein, many early Christian writers agonized about whether or not the rich people in their communities could be saved at all. The tradition of moral neutrality towards the use of money is actually an odd modern phenomenon.
Morality applies to both institutions and individuals. Old Testament laws always apply to the moral sickness or health of a whole society and calls for a transformed community on earth. If we accept powerful financial systems to further impoverish small island states or those with political and/or economic power to enrich themselves without questions, we may fall in sin.
The bible constantly offers visions, articulated by those who are poor or persecuted by present reality, about how things could be different. So while we are told to sacrifice, be patient, God will take care of our well-being, the meek shall inherit the earth, many are exhibiting impatience and greed and doing anything and everything to become rich overnight. They can’t wait. They have long thrown the biblical saying, ‘By the sweat of thy brow, thou shall eat bread,’ out of the window.
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Desmond your concern for the human condition is mostly altruistic, and that is commendable; however, when you address the behavior of people in society, are you referring to global society or local society? I find human behavior to be the same everywhere except where forced to conform to the dictates of government. In this regard, you might claim that they are not free; yet freedom provides a fertile environment for immorality.This immorality has found its way into everyday economics.
Economics was first taught as moral philosophy: wealth was thought (by Christians) to represent grace from God, whether through labour or birthright. But as Gary points out, wealth carried a moral responsibility in the sense that unjust enrichment was unacceptable to society. Adam Smith, in his “Theory of Moral Sentiments” proposes that the “Invisible hand” intervenes to provide equilibrium for market conditions so that the rich may not impoverish the less fortunate.
Today, the study of economics is reduced to econometrics(statistical measurements) and forecasting marketplace behavior.The fundamental premise of economics has been misinterpreted or conveniently interpreted to mean “what the market will bear”.The prices are pushed up at the whim and fancy of those who have because greed has found justification; so from Wall Street to the landlord the less fortunate are slammed with the “invisible foot”.
So true! Greed Greed Greed everywhere. Everyone looking out for themselves, at the expense of others. My prayer today is that those involved will let the spirit fall upon them to give a change of heart to stop the backstabbing, the unnecessary high prices and profits etc etc. Support fair trade. Too many people think they have one soul for work and another for outside! Well, its only one.
The distribution of wealth in society is something that has always been questioned especially regarding the obligation of the wealthy and their moral responsibility to share their wealth. Some of us use religious teachings to justify why it is a moral responsibility of the wealthy to share their wealth, otters may even bring in politics, believing that the Government should play a role in wealth distribution. These two trends of thought have never been able to solve mans dilemma in regards to wealth and poverty or eliminating poverty, instead we see the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Your view Desmond as to what you think is a moral sickness in society, the cause
for the problems and thinking in terms of religious sayings and beliefs is not going to solve the problem or get us out of this mess, it is more than that, we need great resolve to unthinking all the lies we were sold and even today it is still continuing.
It is time to rethink all what we have been told, taught and accepted as the truth. One of the things
you mentioned is Economics. Yes, this has been a subject thought to be just intellectual and esoteric to comprehend.There has always been a concerned effort to keep us ignorant on matters very important to our well being, telling us we do not need to worry about these things, let us the experts take care of that, just go about your daily lives, the same can be said for money. These so called economist are like surgeons with an excellent scalpel and a rough-edged knife , who operates beautifully on the dead and tortures the living.Think about it, that is what is being done to us on a daily bases. They offer all these institutions World Bank, and IMF, and even bailouts as solutions.
We were not created to live in bondage, bondage is not God ordained, freedom is the birthright of all human being and let us remember morality is not really the doctrine of how to make ourselves happy but of how we are to be worthy of happiness.
Thank you Mr. Dublin for bringing a breath of fresh air to the political conversation in Dominica. Your words remind us that if we want to take on moral righteousness as our national mantle, we must consider ethics and equity as central to these moral claims. “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers…” is part of the Christian doctrine that the average Dominican and those in positions of power espouse in theory, but seem to forget too quickly when it comes to their social responsibilities that require empathy and compassion. I also appreciate your turn to a pragmatic and not dogmatic approach to solving problems in our society. Let’s hope those who have the immediate authority understand and begin this practice also…