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[ Bible ] Capitalism is a Christian Concept

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Fnord
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10 Nov 2013, 8:11 pm

"Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them." -- Matthew 13:12 (NIV)

Now, doesn't that seem like the perfect description of Capitalism?

So, if the Bible supports it, it must be right, right?



wreck1
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10 Nov 2013, 8:35 pm

No.
If you want to use the Quran as source.
Then it says that Allah is rich and we are poor.
And the sin of polytheism AKA companies is the only totally forbidden sin.
Because you get other caregivers than one God monoteism.

I believe it says that in monotheism, you we, then God and the "government" is the only one in control and the only one who gives. And we take. I dont know what this is called.



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10 Nov 2013, 8:38 pm

Capitalism may not be perfect, but it's the only system that's proven to actually work.



ArrantPariah
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10 Nov 2013, 8:40 pm

Well, if you take any stock in

Acts 2 wrote:
All the believers continued together in close fellowship and shared their belongings with one another. They would sell their property and possessions, and distribute the money among all, according to what each one needed. Day after day they met as a group in the Temple, and they had their meals together in their homes, eating with glad and humble hearts, praising God, and enjoying the good will of all the people. And every day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.


then there is some room for a Communist interpretation.



thomas81
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10 Nov 2013, 8:40 pm

"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." - Matthew 19:24

Sounds like a promotion of communism, amirite?


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thomas81
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10 Nov 2013, 8:41 pm

Kurgan wrote:
Capitalism may not be perfect, but it's the only system that's proven to actually work.


The question isn't whether or not capitalism works, the question is who does it work for?

Moreover, capitalism (as we know it at least) is not working on a sustainable basis. Its actually in the throes of its final demise as we speak. The only question is do we replace it with peace and egalitarianism or fascism and barbarism?


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Last edited by thomas81 on 10 Nov 2013, 8:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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10 Nov 2013, 8:43 pm

Kurgan wrote:
Capitalism may not be perfect, but it's the only system that's proven to actually work.


Exodus 20 wrote:
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.


If people stopped coveting crap that they didn't need, then capitalism would cease to function.



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10 Nov 2013, 8:44 pm

thomas81 wrote:
The question isn't whether or not capitalism works, the question is who does it work for?


It works for the people. Regardless of social status, an average person from a capitalist country has more than an average person from a socialist country.

Quote:
Moreover, capitalism is not working on a sustainable basis. Its actually in the throes of its final demise as we speak. The only question is do we replace it with peace and egalitarianism or fascism and barbarism?


The economic situation between 1927 and the end of WWII was far more tense than it is today. It did not bring down capitalism.



thomas81
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10 Nov 2013, 8:50 pm

Kurgan wrote:

The economic situation between 1927 and the end of WWII was far more tense than it is today. It did not bring down capitalism.


The reason capitalism survived the last century is BECAUSE of world war 2.

The relationship between price and abundancy means that when abundancy becomes too great, it undermines the system of pricing. The best way to repeal that (from the capitalist view at least) is to have a massive war to inflict artificial scarcity to destroy food, food producing infrastructure and to kill labourers (soldiers).

The only way that capitalism can survive is to reinvent itself as a capitalism 2.0. What that entails is that you will see far less of the big corporate monoliths. Checks will have to made to ensure that wealth does not go to one extremity so much that all the spending power is among a few individiuals. So business will have to downscale, and previously proudly capitalist countries like the USA will have to introduce socialist tenants into its infrastructure such as nationalised healthcare.


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10 Nov 2013, 8:52 pm

thomas81 wrote:
Kurgan wrote:
Capitalism may not be perfect, but it's the only system that's proven to actually work.


The question isn't whether or not capitalism works, the question is who does it work for?

Moreover, capitalism is not working on a sustainable basis. Its actually in the throes of its final demise as we speak. The only question is do we replace it with peace and egalitarianism or fascism and barbarism?


First off brilliant (in the american usage) comment. Especially that first bit.

The second part I agree with mostly. Obviously one can not expect indefinite growth in a limited resource pool.
My only point of departure is the optimism and the implied stagism. In my opinion our society has been uninterruptedly feudal since the end of the Roman Republic.


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10 Nov 2013, 8:55 pm

The Didache asked early Christians to only let traveling disciples stay with them for three days without another work occupation - that anyone staying longer and only trying to live off of preaching is a scammer.



techstepgenr8tion
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10 Nov 2013, 8:59 pm

Kurgan wrote:
Capitalism may not be perfect, but it's the only system that's proven to actually work.

Well, every good pro-Sharia fundamentalist would tell you that true Sharia has never been done and every good Marxist would tell you that Marxism has never been done. I don't think either will ever have to worry about being proven wrong.



thomas81
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10 Nov 2013, 8:59 pm

Oh, and capitalism 2.0 will have to embrace much of the 'green capitalism' we've seen in terms of adopting renewables, solar, wind, hydro etc and electric cars.

The continued reliance on petrol and the 4 stroke combustion engine is madness.


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10 Nov 2013, 9:01 pm

techstepgenr8tion wrote:
The Didache asked early Christians to only let traveling disciples stay with them for three days without another work occupation - that anyone staying longer and only trying to live off of preaching is a scammer.


love the Didache [Proof]


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Last edited by JakobVirgil on 10 Nov 2013, 9:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

techstepgenr8tion
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10 Nov 2013, 9:03 pm

thomas81 wrote:
Oh, and capitalism 2.0 will have to embrace much of the 'green capitalism' we've seen in terms of adopting renewables, solar, wind, hydro etc and electric cars.

The continued reliance on petrol and the 4 stroke combustion engine is madness.

The bigger challenge for capitalism than anything IMHO is the up and coming nanotech revolution that people like Michio Kaku and Ray Kurzweil believe will so drastically alter the production landscape that the manufacturing sector as well as many of the service jobs may straight away disappear. Capitalism is a welfare system based on everyone being able to find their lifestyle by working, as available jobs start decreasing toward 25% of population and less - mainly as a result of our own success - we'll have to look incredibly hard at how global economics and distribution rights will be redefined.



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10 Nov 2013, 9:05 pm

thomas81 wrote:
Oh, and capitalism 2.0 will have to embrace much of the 'green capitalism' we've seen in terms of adopting renewables, solar, wind, hydro etc and electric cars.

The continued reliance on petrol and the 4 stroke combustion engine is madness.


Capitalism is responsible for electric cars that can actually be used (eg. the Tesla). Petrol does not pollute much, especially today, when 3-way catalytic converters limit the SO2, NOx and VOC emissions. Most of the manmade pollution stems from coal.