by Jay W. Richards is a phenomenal book that every Christian should read.
It is becoming increasingly popular for people to see capitalism as evil and communism (or at least its close cousin, socialism) as good or ideal -even among Christians. Huh? If that doesn't phase you then hopefully this quote from the book will:
"The Black Book of Communism estimates that between 85 million and 100 million human beings lost their lives to communist experiments in the twentieth century." Despite the horrors and the abject failure of communism and socialism 100% of the time, people haven't given up on their Utopian dream; they've just regrouped and repackaged the same old garbage for a new generation of young idealists ready to embrace the hammer and sickle.
One of the reasons a lot of people get roped in is because of the myths they believe about capitalism that they learn from normal college professors and fringe whackos like Michael Moore. The author works through 8 common capitalism myths in 8 chapters and shreds them:
- Can't we build a just society? (The Nirvana Myth)
- What would Jesus do? (The Piety Myth)
- Doesn't capitalism foster unfair competition? (The Zero-Sum Game Myth)
- If I become rich, won't someone else become poor (The Materialist Myth)
- Isn't capitalism based on greed? (The Greed Myth)
- Hasn't Christianity Always Opposed Capitalism (The Usury Myth)
- Doesn't capitalism lead to an ugly consumerist culture? (The Artsy Myth)
- Are we going to use up all the resources? (The Freeze-Frame Myth)
Jay Richards does a phenomenal job working through each myth with the use of reason, scripture and stubborn facts to dismantle it. When the Kingdom of God is fully realized, I doubt we will need capitalism anymore. In the meantime, it is the best thing going and is not worth trading in for some destructive Utopian fantasy based on myths and hopes that can never be realized -anyone remember the tower of Babel?
Did I mention that you should read this book?
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