While reading Montesquieu’s The Spirit of Laws, I came across the following quote, which describes contemporary American culture and politics perfectly:

“When virtue is banished, ambition invades the minds of those who are disposed to receive it, and avarice possesses the whole community.
 
“The objects of their desire are changed; what they were fond of before has become indifferent; they were free while under the restraint of laws, but they would fain now be free to act against law; and as each citizen is like a slave who has run away from his master, that which was the maxim of equity he calls rigor; that which was a rule of action he styles constraint; and to precaution he gives the name of fear.
 
“Frugality, and not the thirst of gain, now passes for avarice. Formerly the wealth of individuals constituted the public treasure; but now this as become the patrimony of private persons.
 
“The members of the commonwealth riot on the public spoils, and its strength is only the power of a few, and the license of many.”

I’m not a capitalist for two reasons:

1. It results in those with capital leveraging the law to favor themselves to the detriment of other businesses and institutions.
2. It does not adequately care for the weakest and poorest in society, and therefore falls far short of the ideal.

Regarding the first statement, we must differentiate between free enterprise and capitalism (I’m a proponent of free enterprise, not capitalism). Read this and this by Oliver DeMille for further explanation; I want to focus on the second statement.

As a purely economic system, capitalism has no stated, imperative, and consistent mechanisms for caring for and uplifting the weakest in society.

It may create more jobs for them than other economic systems, yet over time it concentrates wealth, power, and opportunity, thereby making it increasingly difficult for the poor, weak, and disadvantaged to climb the ladder of opportunity.

Achieving an ideal, just, compassionate, and sustainable society requires more than an economic system — it requires a moral ethic as an underpinning and animator of all economic activity. This is based on the assumption that this moral ethic be voluntary.

While I believe in freedom of choice and equality before the law, ultimately I believe in Christianity, not capitalism or even free enterprise as the path to ideal society.

This is not to say that Christianity and free enterprise are incompatible or mutually exclusive. It is simply to say that a purely economic system isn’t holistic and patently moral enough to truly take care of all needs in society.

The freedom to choose, create, produce and benefit from the fruits of our labors is vital. But it is just one piece of the ideal puzzle.

My word for this combination of a Christian moral ethic and free enterprise is “Stewardship” — the understanding that everything we have is a gift from God to be used in His service and to benefit ourselves and our fellow man.

Stewardship reconciles liberalism and conservativism.

Conservatives want economic freedom, liberals want to take care of the weak and poor. In the absence of an animating, underlying moral ethic of service, economic freedom alone leads to inequities, pride, and ultimately the downfall of society.

In the absence of freedom, charity is rendered obsolete, bureaucratic, and ineffective; it’s not true charity at all when it’s forced.

So let us build a society where voluntary charity is stressed above the economic freedom to choose, yet freedom is protected. In fact, this is precisely how to protect our freedoms; by taking care of the weak and poor among us through voluntary service, forced government redistribution is a moot point.

“If you score 100 points on these guys, I’ll take you out for pizza.”

November 1992. I’m a freshman in a small-town high school in Washington state, a starter on the Junior Varsity basketball team.

We travel to a nearby Indian reservation to play against their high school team.

The gym is old, dark, cramped, dilapidated.

The Indian boys won’t look us in the eye.

A few minutes into the game, the scoreboard displays our double digits compared to their zero.

The first quarter buzzer sounds, we retire to the bench. My teammates are in high spirits, giggling and clowning around.

I am dumb.

Our mustached coach, thrilled, says, “If you score 100 points on these guys, I’ll take you out for pizza.”

Everyone cheers. Almost everyone.

The game continues. Swish after swish on one side of the court, steal after steal on the other.

We pass the 100-point mark minutes before the closing buzzer. More cheers.

I can’t take my eyes off the floor.

I don’t look up — even though I do not score a single point throughout the entire game.

I’m still haunted by the shame seventeen years later.

I continue pondering: Can just society be attained by animals?