Horrid Socialism

I constantly hear folks talking about how horrible socialism is. In the USA, we have fashioned a definition of socialism that has little to do with socialism and much to do with the vague ideological enemy of the cold war era red scare.

First of all, socialism is an economic system, not a political one. It is on the continuum with capitalism. Communism lies on a different axis with democracy, theocracy, autocracy, and such. While capitalism elevates capital as the most important element in an economic system, socialism elevates the public welfare as the most important and valued element. This is often looked at as labor versus capital, but my understanding is that it is more than labor. It is the social sphere that includes labor as well as those who are unable to provide labor in the economic system.

As to theology, doctrine, and Biblical witness, however, we find those attitudes cast against the nebulous enemies of the nation from our Red Scare days greatly impacting our attitudes on economics, as well as ignoring the Biblical witness in regard to our responsibilities toward others.

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is a concept tied much more closely to socialism than capitalism. It requires that we regard the welfare of all participants in our economic system as having equal worth. Instead of granting special dispensation and value to those who hold wealth or political power, we are required to treat one another as equals. Interestingly, it was one of the ideals celebrated in the Declaration of Independence, though it never made it into law, nor was it allowed to impact the economic system established in the colonies that were to become the United States of America.

The “Year of Jubilee” was a concept determined to be foundational to the establishment of Israel in the land of Yahweh. The land was to be equally divided among the families of the tribes according to their population. Every fifty years, the land was to be redistributed according to the new population realities of the nation. In these subsequent redistributions of land, the children of immigrants were to be included as recipients of their respective slices of land, the basis for wealth production in an agricultural and pastoral economy. There is no evidence that Israel every lived up to the demands of the Year of Jubilee, but this was the standard established for the economic life of the community. All were to have the same access to wealth production, and this was to be reinforced every fifty years to avoid generational wealth and generational poverty.

Israel’s sin in requesting a king had as much to do with refusing Yahweh’s classless society as anything. They were supposed to assume responsibility for their neighbor’s needs in such a manner that when enemies arose, they would march to the defense of their neighbors. No one was deemed too important or too unimportant. Rather than lean upon a professional military structure, they were to live as a society that cared for each other. This society was also not supposed to develop a hierarchy of people who were deemed more important than others. They were to be essentially classless. Their desire for a king was a desire for a class structure which would not only allow some to rise to the top, but also push others to the bottom. The Mosaic laws ran contrary to such a concept, making sure that all were cared for in such a way that poverty was not supposed to exist.

If I am to love my neighbor as Deuteronomy tells us and Jesus repeats as the second greatest of all God’s commandments, I must be as interested in my neighbor’s access to things like healthcare, housing, security, income producing opportunities, and wealth accumulation as my own. That means there must be a limit to the exercise of my desire to increase my personal wealth as others around me are unable to do the same. If I am to love my neighbor, I can become and remain wealthy, but I cannot do so while hindering others in doing the same, nor in overlooking the needs of others in meeting their own needs. My access to healthcare must not interfere with their access. My income opportunities must not trample theirs. My strategies for wealth production must not run roughshod over the lives of others.

Ezekiel tells us that Sodom’s sin had nothing to do with homosexuality. Indeed, rape is not sexuality, but the wielding of power and force against another. For Ezekiel, the issue in Sodom was how they treated foreigners, strangers, and the otherwise outsiders or marginalized. It was the sin of the Haves looking down on the Have-Nots and abusing them. In too many instances, this is precisely how capitalism works. It can do better. It can be restrained, but this is precisely the way it operates naturally. It seeks people with needs to exploit for profit. This was the sin of Sodom.

Isaiah, Micah, and the other main prophets establish economic oppression as the basic rationale for God’s judgment upon Israel, Judah, and the surrounding nations. Repeatedly, we hear of how they abused widows, orphans, or foreigners. Repeatedly, we hear that their sins of idolatry revolve around this penchant for the oppression of others. Micah specifically decries the form of Temple worship that ignore the needs of the society in which it lived. The nation went through the motions of worshiping Yahweh, all the while ignoring those in its society who were denied justice and the means to care for their economic needs.

This Yahwist faith was tied much more closely to the ideals of classic socialism than with any known version of capitalism. It placed people, all people, as the focal point for engaging in economic activity. Fields were to be left open to be gleaned by those who had lost access to their own land. Tithes and offerings were to be made available for those who had fallen into poverty due to widowhood or disability. Widows were to be cared for by the family of their deceased husband. There were all sorts of laws established to ensure the welfare of immigrants, widows, orphans, poor, outsiders, and all the other forgotten members of society. Each segment was to find provision in the land of Yahweh, which would flow with milk and honey to meet the needs of all.

Remember that parable Jesus offered about the rich man and Lazarus? It presents us with the caricature of how the wealthy despise and overlook the needs of the poor and desperate. It falls in line with Jesus’ words about how the wealthy should invite the poor and haggard to their feasts, letting the wealthy care for themselves. It was not the wealthy and powerful who finds himself carried into the bosom of Abraham, but the poor man, Lazarus, lying sick and dying of hunger at the rich man’s gate.

In Acts 4, we find the disciples selling lands and houses to care for the needs of their newly established gospel community. It is a picture of what Israel with its laws of Jubilee was supposed to have looked like. It is a portrait of what “Love your neighbor as yourself” looks like in practical reality. There were people in the community with needs, so the community cared for them at personal expense. That is the gospel. That is what economic activity in accord with Jesus and even Mosaic law looks like.

It looks little like capitalism. It looks a lot more like the ideals of economic socialist policies and structures. Such is the gospel. Taking care of the people around me is much more important than giving the greatest value to wealth and wealth production. After all, Jesus also tells us repeatedly that we are to be laying up treasures in heaven, not on earth.

—©Copyright 2018, Christopher B. Harbin

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