These countries are not getting rid of the corporations, not nationalizing them, not driving them out – because they recognize that they need them – but saying to these corporations, “If you’re going to drill for oil here in Ecuador, or if you’re going to drill for gas here in Bolivia, or grow bananas in El Salvador, that’s okay, but you must share a larger percentage of the profits with our people.  You’ve got to pay higher taxes, and you’ve got to pay higher wage rates.  You must make sure that the people working on these projects are adequately compensated and that they’re not working as slaves to you. And you have to offer the same protections for our environment as those required in Alaska and other states.

2. Mark Hatfield: Christ’s call to service
The Center for Public Justice has reprinted an essay from 1977 by Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-OR), who died this week. I didn’t know much about Hatfield before this, to be honest, but this is a great essay on how Christian faith should shape political responsibility:

We must not suppose that Christ was a-political. On the contrary, His message could not have been addressed more pointedly to the social and political injustices and realities of His time. The Sermon on the Mount, for instance, contains four beatitudes which deal with giving comfort and hope to the oppressed, and four others which give encouragement and blessing to those who help the cause of the oppressed. The truth is that our Lord set forth a hope for social and political renewal, for achieving God’s purposes and standards of justice, which was far more radical in its dimensions than any of the movements of His time. That hope is rooted in a response to the good news of the kingdom of God, and involves, today as then, a total transformation of the way life is defined.

3. Justice and the pivotal moment
Charlie Peacock, longtime Nashville music guru, has a post at the Art House America blog about catching up with Bono when U2 recently came to town, and reflecting back on “the pivotal moment” in 2002 when American evangelicals first really started getting on board with justice issues, and HIV/AIDS in Africa in particular. Though I’d prefer to say my commitment to justice and development wasn’t because of a rock star, 2002-3 was a pivotal moment for me too, and yes, Bono had something to do with it. Here’s how Peacock describes that time:

Because the Spirit of Justice is never just blowing through one person or one town, all sorts of people simultaneously met and heard similar messages bouncing off God’s satellites. Grass roots and grass tops were all up in the mix. It was a strange mixture of people mobilizing across America and the planet to fight the worst of disease, hunger, and extreme poverty. Political enemies put down their blue/red rhetoric and championed help for Africa. Christians who previously groaned that AIDS is nothing but a sex problem became infected with the love that Christ has for the poor and inflicted. They turned and returned to a better way of being human — one that cares for all that God loves. Countries, institutions, and corporations released some of the brain trust and wealth they had stored up for themselves. They offered it for the good of people and planet. In short, for a moment in time, an ad hoc gathering of people sought justice and loved mercy, and those who named it as such woke each day to walk humbly with God.

4. Why evangelicals should stop evangelizing
For those who stay on top of social media discussions about faith, it may be obvious that I’m a bit behind on this one, but this post about evangelism by Carl Medearis, a Christian and “international expert in Arab-American and Muslim-Christian relations” has been widely circulated and discussed over the past few weeks. This obviously has a lot to do with the post’s provocative title, but its 3,600+ comments show that it’s a topic people feel strongly about. One good response I came across is this one from Adam Jeskewith InterVarsity.

5. Help the poor, help the world
Byron Borger from the one-of-a-kind Hearts and Minds Books (not far from Lancaster) reviews two excellent books on Christian responses to poverty over at the Q Blog. I like to think I’m connected to both authors. The first is “The Hole in our Gospel” by Richard Stearns, World Vision’s president. We met once, at a Christmas party at the DC office and along with my fellow interns we sang him a couple of Christmas carols. It was weird. Next is “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger” by Ron Sider, one of my heroes, who heads up Evangelicals for Social Action, for which I’ve done some writing. We met briefly after he spoke at Eastern a couple of years ago. Both books are very worthwhile, and both authors are stand-up guys.

6. Planking
My friend Brandon, who is a youth pastor and much more in touch with pop culture than I am, has been getting into “planking” this summer -- a trend that strikes me as both puzzling and painful. Well, as it happens, he and his planking made the front page of Lancaster’s paper yesterday. Whether this is proof of Brandon being cutting edge, or just a lack of real news in Lancaster, is up for debate, but it’s cool either way. Here’s my favorite quote:

“This will not be a lifelong passion,” he said.

What makes Guatemala different from the rest of Latin America? Guatemala has a long history of Protestant missionaries coming from the United States, one that begins in the late 1800s and early 1900s, said Timothy Steigenga, chairman of social science and humanities at the Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University. He studies Guatemalan religion and politics. The missionaries planted “the seed,” Chattanooga’s García said. “Now the majority of Hispanic pastors here are from Guatemala. What the United States sowed, the harvest is now coming here."

2. Capitalizing with the poor
The Q blog has a post spotlighting three companies/organizations experimenting with multiple bottom lines in order to better serve the poor. Nothing too groundbreaking here for those who have followed the emergence of CSR (corporate social responsibility) and social entrepreneurship, but some encouraging examples anyway. The conclusion:

There certainly are tensions caused by profit seeking enterprises operating in poor areas of the world. Good intentions are not enough. Careful attention must be paid to sound ethics and definitions of “development” that transcend economic gains alone. No single sector can end poverty on its own, including business. Many governments and NGO’s are already playing critical roles. Given the influence of business and the need to reclaim its legitimacy, however, this is an opportune time for business to act as a key player in alleviating poverty. The world needs the wealth creation, knowledge transfer, and ability to scale that businesses excel at.

3. Rules for reviewing books
Alissa Wilkinson at the Cardus blog has some great pointers for those of us who review books. Three of the pointers are tried and true hand-me-downs, three are her own, all six are solid. I especially like the final one:

6. Remember: It’s usually better to start a conversation than close it down.

4. Books on why poor countries remain poor
Christine Jeske, a fellow alumnus of Eastern University who’s now teaching some classes there, has a good recommended list of books on poverty and development on her blog. I made one suggested addition to the list.

5. Stephan Bauman’s blog
World Relief’s new president has started a blog, and I think it’ll be a good one. From his introductory post:

We’re close to a tipping point on poverty. Perhaps we’ve reached it. When more people in the middle think about the 2 or 3 billion people on the edge, it’s a good thing. Still we need to do our best to make sense of it all. What help is good help? What kind of change lasts? How do we best sort through the choices that confront us everyday? If, in fact, we are called to change the world, how do we go about it in the best way possible?

During grad school a couple of years ago for a class focused on microfinance we read The Other Path by Hernando de Soto, the famous Peruvian economist. I really enjoyed the book. But for some inexplicable reason, I didn’t get around to reading his most famous work, The Mystery of Capital until just now.

In The Other Path – written in 1989 as a provocative alternative to Sendero Luminoso (or “The Shining Path”), the Maoist guerrilla movement which claimed to defend the poor while using terrorist tactics – he writes about the huge portion of the population of Peru that is “extralegal,” operating businesses outside the law simply because the law, mired in bureaucracy, has made it so difficult for businesses to operate legally. He contends – rightly, I think – that to understand the plight of the poor in Peru and possible solutions to their poverty, one needs to pay attention to the hidden joys and sorrows of the booming extralegal sector. Only then, he says, will poverty alleviation be possible. And only then will capitalism be its tool.

The Mystery of Capital was written in 2000 and it expands upon his earlier ideas, applying them more generally to developing contexts in general. De Soto is a capitalist, but you might be forgiven for calling him a reluctant one. In an excellent New York Times Magazine feature in 2001, Matthew Miller wrote, "de Soto reached the conclusion that the left was great on social justice but didn't know a thing about economics." While clearly no fan of Communism, de Soto explains the dilemma for capitalists concerned with addressing poverty:

 

“[T]he Marxist tool kit is better geared to explain class conflict than capitalist thinking, which has no comparable analysis or even a serious strategy for reaching the poor in the extralegal sector. Capitalists generally have no systemic explanation of how the people in the underclass got where they are and how the system could be changed to raise them up.”

 

He admits that capitalism has often been used to “exploit and conquer” the vulnerable, but warns:

 

“No amount of ranting and raving against writing, electronic money, cyber symbols, and property paper will make them disappear. Instead we must make representational systems [like capitalism] simpler and more transparent and work hard to help people understand them. Otherwise, legal apartheid will persist, and the tools to create wealth will remain in the hands of those who live inside the bell jar.”

 

In conclusion, de Soto writes with wisdom, pragmatism and hope:

“I am not a die-hard capitalist. I do not view capitalism as a credo. Much more important to me are freedom, compassion for the poor, respect for the social contract, and equal opportunity. But for the moment, to achieve those goals, capitalism is the only game in town. It is the only system we know that provides us with the tools required to create massive surplus value.”

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The fourth section of the study is called Restoring Dignity and Purpose: The Importance of Work, and focuses, as the title suggests, on the importance of employment in any healthy and just society. The focus in the video is on the importance of work specifically for men getting out of prison, but the principles apply broadly.

They rightly point out that according to the Bible, all of us are made in the image of God, the Creator, and that doing something creative and productive with our lives is part of what we were created to do. Work is not a curse or a punishment; it's a good thing. That's a pretty important reminder, and has profound implications if we really believe it. So the question of vocation arises: what has God designed us to do, for his glory and for the common good? This is a good question for all of us to consider from time to time - not just those who are working to get back on their feet after time in prison.

The core message in this section is that whereas welfare programs (and the prison system, for that matter) dehumanize people, strip people of their God-given dignity, and instill an attitude of passivity, work does just the opposite. It gives people meaning, it benefits families and communities, and it allows people to give back to society rather than just taking, taking, taking.

It struck me while working through the study that it's all too easy to go to one extreme or another. This study is clearly written from a certain political perspective, but no one's immune from this tendency, I don't think. It's easy for progressives to judge anti-welfare conservatives as heartless and greedy, or for conservatives to blame progressives for pushing top-down programs that dehumanize, rob dignity, and further cement people in cycles of poverty. It gets pretty ugly, really. The Bible doesn't do that. The Bible upholds the dignity of work, of everyone doing their part, but it doesn't allow for the pursuit of wealth to go unchecked -- even motives are scrutinized.

Consider this perspective from the book of Proverbs: "[G]ive me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." Neither poverty nor riches are held up as the ideal; both can be tremendously dangerous and destructive for individuals, families, and societies. Rather, we ask God for enough: enough to provide for our families, enough to share with our neighbors, enough to care for those in need. I don't sense that many of us live from this perspective of enough, honestly. It doesn't come naturally to me, though I believe it to be biblical. And it's certainly not the principle our economy is built upon.

Okay, deep breath...

I realize I might be stepping on some toes here, but capitalism and free markets as we know them today are not held up in the Bible as examples to follow. They may be the best options we currently have and they may certainly embody important biblical principles, but they are not divinely inspired. Have I lost you yet? As Christians, the responsibility to be good stewards in all areas of life, to love our neighbor, to do justice - these must take precedence over every ideology and philosophy and system, including free markets, whenever they come into conflict. I wish the study would have gone so far as to say so explicitly.

While the authors do concede the importance of political and economic systems guarding against abuses that happen because we are fallen, greedy people (as the roots of our current economic debacle make quite clear, incidentally), it is mentioned almost as an aside and the emphasis is overwhelmingly placed on free markets remaining free. Free markets create jobs, which create wealth, which creates dignity, which allows people to help others. I agree that markets have a lot of potential and in some cases, they do actually produce these desirable results.

Free market capitalism has created wealth with remarkable success and efficiency. No doubt about that. But social justice has by no means been its strong point. It wasn't designed to be.

The maximization of profit, for instance, is one of capitalism's foundational principles. But if you follow the principle to its logical conclusion, it undermines precisely the positive things that this study claims work creates. Do you see what I mean? Would it be too much for someone to challenge the dehumanization that government welfare programs cause AND challenge the dehumanizing and unjust ramifications on large segments of society by the principle of the maximization of profit? It's rare to hear such a consistent argument, though, perhaps because neither side of the dominant political debate finds such consistency convenient. But even better than consistent denouncements, I'd love to see more positive alternatives to current dehumanizing status quos in both business and government. I've touched on that in earlier parts of the series, and I am hopeful that through this curriculum many more 'free-market' Christians will be part of such positive alternatives. If we're truly more concerned with justice than with a certain political or economic ideology, it seems like a no-brainer, though admittedly much easier said than done.

Now, I'm not picking on work or on capitalism. I repeat: I AM NOT PICKING ON WORK OR ON CAPITALISM. Work is good and capitalism has great potential to address poverty. Faithful, discerning followers of Christ and compassionate people from all walks of life are experimenting with market-driven solutions to poverty and injustice. These efforts should be applauded and supported. But these innovative, entrepreneurial ones on the front lines will be the first to tell you, I think, that social justice won't happen with business-as-usual. And while this study rightly emphasizes the need for people to be able to find work that promotes dignity and provides the means for providing for family and sharing with neighbor, I'm not sure the vision presented here goes far enough to tackle the weak spots and potentially quite destructive downfalls of capitalism as we know it.

The American Dream is compelling, but it is not the gospel. Jesus didn't come preaching a slightly modified, baptized version of any economic system, be it capitalism or socialism or anarchism or mercantilism or any others. He came preaching the Kingdom, and no man-made economic system can handle the profound implications of that. May God grant us the grace to be faithful stewards, right where we are, with what we have, with who we are. May God grant us the grace to be gracious.