'What's wrong with a little friendly capitalism?
Doesn't everybody have the right to capitalize on their labor? 'Well sure', would be the right response; if we couldn't capitalize off our labors, what would be the use in laboring, right? Is it right, though, to capitalize on someone else's labor? Here is where the proverbial 'rubber meets the road' ( and sometimes, 'the shit hits the fan' ); it depends on whether you have justly and rightly hired that person in order to profit from his labor! If you have hired any certain person with the understanding that his ( or her ) labor is going to profit you, the employer, then that person has knowingly and willingly agreed to work for you and bring you a profit.
When you hire such a person, it is up to you how you reward that person for his ( or her ) labor. Depending on how you reward their labor, you may have a loyal employee for a good while, maybe even for life! On the other hand, though, the work or labor rendered by the employee may determine how long you wish to 'capitalize' on their labors. The employer & employee must work together, each giving as received in order for the relationship to work!
In this nation, we are supposed to be operating on what has been termed a 'free market' economy. This economy still operates on the basis of the principles of capitalism. In order for this principle to be implemented to its maximum potential, all parties concerned employer, employee, and buyer must work together with the agreement that the buyer will purchase, with the fruits of their labors, what the employee has agreed to make for the one who has employed him ( or her ).
As the case may be, we still operate, in this country, on this same basic principle. The employer hires people to make him ( or her ) a profit, and these strive mutually, to maintain this relationship, both hoping to capitalize from it! If one or the other cannot capitalize on this relationship, the relationship will normally be brought to a close, however abrupt.
There is nothing wrong, inherently, with capitalism! It is, however, an 'ism', and having to do with man ( and woman ) is subject to the emotional nature of the individual! Human beings, being made in the image of God, as is supposed, are thereby capable of great good, but they are also capable of great evil! As much as some strive to maintain a good relationship with others, some are not so careful, and as they refuse to maintain, or even acknowledge this most basic of needs, the relationship, both individually & corporately, suffers as a result!
Human beings are, by nature, selfish individuals! If something, whatever 'it' may be, does not profit the individual, that individual, by nature, will not work very hard to pursue that avenue! However, some people are able, to whatever degree, to work past that selfish, individualistic nature and work, not just for the common good, but for what is right, individuality be damned!
With a multitude of small businesses run on this free market principle, capitalism seems to thrive, but the bigger a business grows, with the greater diversity of its employed, the more this capitalist idea seems to fall apart! With the lack of personal responsibility we are increasingly seeing in this nation, more and more supervisors are needed, and so the potential for capitalizing on the labor output is decreased, and the need for labor that can best profit must be increased!
As we go around on this merry-go-round, we must take into account that, not only are the business owners human, but their employees are human as well, and thus the whole situation can quickly become a powder keg, ready to explode! The employer wants to make a profit on the labor of their employee, and the employee wants to make enough of a profit to take care of their family, plus live fairly comfortably, while the buyer just wants to be able to purchase what they need to take care of their family at a reasonable price!
Again, because all these individuals have their own concerns & worries, and usually not the same ones, there is usually trouble brewing in the workplace, and it just tends to get worse the larger the company grows!
The War Machine
Most, if not all wars in at least the past hundred years or so, which have been entered into or perpetrated by this sovereign nation, have been driven by business concerns! If our leaders determined that the cause was worthwhile ( made good business sense ), then this nation was dragged, sometimes against the will of the people, into another needless war, simply because 'they' deemed it necessary for the good of this nation ( and again, we can't forget their selfish individual concerns )!
'War is Hell', but it is also good business! Politics aside, if war was not such a profitable business venture, do you really think that our fearless leaders would be so quick to jump into it, or rather, thrust US into it?!
As with any business, big or small, selfish individual concerns play a big part!The fearless leader who thrusts 'the little people' into battle with who-knows-what unseen enemy must think first of how this effects him and his immediate family, then how it will affect those who take their orders from him, and finally, how it will affect the poor 'grunt' on the battle-field. The whole 'order' of things is then reversed, and makes its way back to the top!
I'll be the first one to admit it; there are those overseas, and here at home, who actually are serving their nation to the best of their ability; they look at what they're doing as more than just a job, and have purposed in their hearts to lay down their lives for 'The Cause', however misguided that may be, if necessary! How many of those individuals though, who actually feel a duty toward their country ( again, however misguided that may be ), would continue to lay their lives on the line, often on a daily basis, if they were not getting paid what they are?
War is just good business! It creates jobs and bolsters the economy! So it has its casualties, but you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette right? We must fight for the greater good! Better for a few to die than a few thousand! It's those damned Muslims; they just won't leave us be! Wait a minute...........
Well,, whatever the case may be, we're not going to get out of this mess by using the same strategy that got us here in the first place! More of the same will only get us to where we shouldn't be going all the quicker! We may try to reform this system from the inside, and maybe there seems to be some wisdom in that, but there is some doubt if that will even help at this point. The strategy that seems to have the most is to try to reform the system from the outside or just eliminate it entirely and start all over! This may actually be our best option!
This nation, and the capitalism that it runs on, needs to be reformed from the inside, but there is only One who can accomplish that, and it looks like He has left this nation to its own devices and given it up to its idolatry! All that we can do, it would seem, and the best we can do as well, is to reform our 'world' from the inside, and arm ourselves with the knowledge of who we truly are and what we're really about, 'Our Father's Business'!
Charles Haddon Shank
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