Freedom is all I want

[rp60]

I have an aim in life. I want to fight communism and socialism in every way I can, because these two economic systems are based on control and lead to oppression and destruction. Capitalism is a freedom-based economic system which allows everybody to reach his dream. I am a Christian. And I like capitalism, because it is based on Biblical

Comments

[rp60]

As for the last 100 years, I don't think the US has shifted towards capitalism - it has gone here and there, back and forth.

I think I said socialism...

I thought the bible forbid 'money lending' which is a central concept of modern economics (and a key component of capitalism)?

The Bible teaches that borrowing is a curse but being a lender is a good thing; it is a blessing:

"A good man deals graciously and lends; he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance. He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD." (Psalms 112:5-7 NKJV)

"The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them." (Deuteronomy 28:12-13 NKJV)

"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." (Proverbs 22:7 NKJV)

Jesus said, "Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away." (Matthew 5:42 NKJV)

Finally, you talk about economic growth but nothing about spiritual growth.

Spiritual development is part of the plan. I want people to learn from the book of Proverbs. But this is not the main objective.

Bible

[synx]

Ok, very interesting, but this doesn't seem to offer guidance to those who would seek to manage risk and avoid bad loans.

As for myself, I seek to learn from the great eastern mysticisms, because they seem to fit well with modern physics and offer good advice and guidance with a limited amount of oppressive dogma.

Besides, as a pop star, I give my vote to the Dali Lama over any other spiritual leader.

-ryan

[rp60]

The Bible is not a financial planner book primarily, but it still contains a lot of advice for many. If somebody lives by the rules of the Bible and does not borrow at all, then he does not have to worry about getting bad loans. :)

[musikinov]

At first I assumed the quotes were not speaking of 'lending' as in money.
But there's something really glaring in here.

A man who lends but does not borrow is a man whom the Lord opens his treasure. This is a man who does not spread what he preaches, for if a man is to lend to a borrower, but have a distaste for borrowing, the man has an implicit adversarial dialectic. The borrower is a lesser than the lender (a typical position for finance-industry folk).

This is the sort of philosophy that breeds corruption, loan-sharking, and group grifting. Maybe I'm going too far here.

[rp60]

Yes, you go too far...

We know that God blesses some and does not bless others. Jesus said, there will be poor ALWAYS. So, we cannot do anything about that. The most we can do is to make sure that the poor are not us.

Somebody is going to be poor, but I don't want to be that person. And I don't want you to be that person either. I want all Americans to be rich and be able to enjoy life and freedom.

Right now America is the borrower and other nations are the lenders. America has a very large trade deficit. And that's not good. It wasn't this way back in the 1800s.

[musikinov]

America is actually both. We lend and we borrow, both to/from other countries and ourselves. It is and will be a never-ending cycle.

[rp60]

Yes, we lend and we borrow. But we borrow way more than what we lend. When you go overseas and spend money, that's also considered "borrowing" in this sense.





It is ever-growing...