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Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.

Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Opus 2019-017: Progressive Barbarians vs Us Common Folk

Modern technology and free enterprise economics have changed the way we look at wealth.  It is no longer a zero sum game although a lot of progressives act like it. 

Before the industrial age wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few.  The masses lived hand to mouth and day to day.  All but a few were farmers and a bad storm could wipe out a years work.  Land belonged to the nobility and the church.  The only way to accumulate wealth was to deprive someone else through coercion, theft, or looting in war.  We get a picture of this in Joshua 22:8
(Jos 22:8 KJV) And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.
This was to soldiers coming back from attacking and looting a city.

Riches was not defined by what they have created but by what they have taken from others.  The only way to get wealth seems to have been looting and pillaging. 

Then came the industrial revolution.  Now, with machines and sources of power, one person could make large numbers of items.  Production soared along with productivity.  Adam Smith in Wealth of Nations gives and example in making pins.  He said that it would be considered a major accomplishment for a lone worker without all the machines to make one pin in a day.  With machines and the division of labor a crew of 10 could make 48,000 in a day.  Imagine how that reduced the cost of such a simple thing as a pin and improved the life of everyone. (page 2)

Wealth today is not just a case of moving gold coins around from bank to bank.  New wealth and value can be generated by reducing the cost of making the same item and because of the reduced cost, selling many more to the public.  Of course this assumes that the public has jobs that pay enough to buy the items.  There is no end to the level of prosperity the world can know.

Another reason that prosperity is more wide spread is the innovation of the entrepreneur.  Automobiles were at one point only for the rich.  Competition drove Henry Ford to come up with the assembly line and the car became available to almost everyone.  We have seen the same thing in computers and telephones.  Wood was replaced by coal.  Coal was replaced by oil products.  Electricity became a common resource.  Nuclear energy is now available.  Perhaps we will see engines run by hydrogen and solar power may become economically feasible.  Every step generates more wealth and the cycle will keep going on.

So don’t get too upset by the economists who are living in the days of barbarian looting.  Most of the well-known ones are socialists at heart and live off the productivity of others.  If they had their way we would be back to feudalism, with them as the nobility, of course.  In reality, there is enough to go around and more coming.  All we need to do is free enterprise and the ability to pursue our dreams.

Smith, Adam.  The Wealth of Nations.  Norwalk, Connecticut:  The Easton Press, nd.

homo unius libri

4 comments:

  1. I began to read "Wealth of Nations" many years ago, but lost my drive to do so about 1/5 of the way through. Maybe it was just me, but I thought he was becoming repetitive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you got far enough to get his major points. There were long sections that were like reading the genealogies in Matthew. Most of what is quoted comes from the beginning.

      Grace and peace

      Delete
  2. The whole being thrust back into feudalism is what I'm concerned about, with the popularity of socialism these days. I'm not interested in being any more of a serf than I already am.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You obviously went to school before the brainwashing was in full gear.

      Grace and peace

      Delete

Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.