I typically try to stay away from commenting too much on political issues. I’m not against talking about politics, and I have been described as somewhat opinionated :), but I also sometimes wonder how profitable those conversations really are. However, I am going to make an exception for this blog, because I like to talk about what I have been thinking about and politics seem to be in the news. Even here in the Dominican, most Dominicans who spend time with us eventually ask us about what we think about politics/political figures in the U.S.I am for the free market system. The less government control the better in my opinion. I think that there are good reasons to believe that the free market system works better and that government involvement costs more and we get less on the whole.
Here’s the question though, assuming you agree… “why?” Why does this system work better? I used to always think that the reason was because man is fallen. A fallen person is motivated well by greed, I thought, and so this leads to benefits in a system where there is competition. For example, my dad likes a local tire shop. He likes that shop because he likes the owner – the owner is nice to him, jokes with him, etc. If that guy was rude and treated my dad unfairly, dad would vote with his feet and move on to a different shop. The competition has a way of making people behave differently. On the other hand, while it is usually not terrible, there is a reputation that goes with government agencies. Would you rather call your doctor or the IRS? Stand in line at Wendy's or the BMV?
So my thinking was that greed drove people to be creative and inventive and in some cases decent when they deal with customers. It was a fruit of fallen human nature. And…in the philosophy class I used to teach, I taught this view…sorry former students.
But, the more I have thought about this question, “why,” over the last couple of years, the more I have come to a different conclusion. Here’s the next question…if the free market system really does work better now, would it have also worked better pre-fall? I believe the answer to that question is “yes!” but it could not have been answered that way according to my former way of thinking.
Consider:
Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
From the beginning, man was designed to have authority. In fact, it looks like authority is connected to the idea of being made in the image of God. Authority is the key here…and it is the answer to our question. Who has more authority in a free market system? Who has more authority in a big government system?
What if man really has this woven into his being? What if part of being an individual image-bearer of God is exercising authority? If so, then when individual authority is taken away, what would we expect from the behavior of individuals who have been created to exercise authority? Said another way, if you are made to be a hammer and you are in a system that does not allow you to pound nails, you would begin to experience a lack of fulfillment. This lack of fulfillment would come from within, because it is the natural expression of a person made to be one thing, but operating as something else. We are meant to take personal authority – this is not just a preference, it is part of the fabric of who we are as people. Take personal authority! Further...find life in Christ and complete the picture of becoming how you were created to be.
As much as people talk in favor of bigger government, I do not believe that is what they really want. Don’t believe me? Spend some time with someone who finds themselves dependent on others for a long period of time. Do they like it? Would you? Why?
