__ISMs

Socialism
conservatism
Liberalism
Populism
Libertarianism
Capitalism
Evangelism

All interesting subjects to talk about. All seem to have meaning in one part of our lives or another.

All, except evangelism, don’t mean much in the long eternity of things. But these interesting subjects have immediate bearing on how we do Evangelism, so I thought I would talk about a few of them and how I feel like they relate in my eyes.

Socialism

We’re American right, we cant’ enjoy this concept…it would be immoral or something. But in reality it is this concept that has brought many of our fathers jobs that actually put food on the table…even though Dad may have only had a high school degree. Labor unions, are pretty good sometimes, other times not so much. But lately I’ve been thinking engineers should unionize…but that is an entirely different subject. Equal work, equal pay, and everyone gets enough to feed his family. Not a bad idea.

Socialist concepts give us the concept that need-based aid isn’t a terrible idea. People in need should get things because brininess them up, brings everyone up. Not an awful idea in itself, mainly it is bad when it gets abused. This thought / idea is what drives democratic economic values / theories.

Socialized things are sometimes good, but it has to be balanced.

Capitalism

Ahh…America, where the strong didn’t die on the boat. And subsequently the kinds of people who want to take things, for whatever reasons, are the ones who have things. That is how America got here, that is some of the idea behind Capitalism.

Capitalism says that the strongest products, services, etc. are the things that get bought. Or in other words, Competition drives the market, which drives demand, which creates opportunities for jobs to supply the demand, and everyone gets brought up from there.

I probably don’t need to talk about this, just look around….hell, that is what my job is…creating a demand (I hate sales). The fault of Capitalism is when the types who “take” want to take things they shouldn’t. It is a hard line to draw sometimes, what is fair to be taken and what is not, but a little balance with some socialist idealism usually helps. Right now I think a lot of countries do an OK job striking a balance between these two economic systems. I’m not sure if the US is one of them, but it is pretty close to doing a good job.

Well, that is great to talk about money, but what about morals and government…doesn’t that help us decide things too

Populism

Take socialist ideals about how to distribute wealth, add in the government controlling what is moral and what is not. That is populism. That is what I think is sometimes when we argue. Now, that isn’t a knock at him, populism is a valid ideal for government. Plus, I don’t really think he is a populist…he is more of an idealistic socialist 🙂


Libertarianism

This is me. Get the government out of my house, bank, and life. Smaller government. That is what libertarians believe. Competition is good, government interference is bad. Capitalism of money and morals, only the strongest or most popular survive.

I mostly think this is good because I have this hope that people will someday take care of eachother, that the church will take care of the slack that the rest of the world misses, and that the government won’t need all of our money to run programs. Mostly they will just need our money to defend against an attack, and to propel science forward where capitalism is ignoring it.

Very wishful thinking…but hell, A boy can dream.

Well, this may all seem placating (sp?) if you already know about it, but I like to think about each extreme and how it plays into our lives. Like it or not we all think a little bit of each philosophy is good. And a little bit is good, because it keeps us from getting crazy about one idea or another.

But my big concern is what about the things that fall through the cracks…and what about seemingly hypocritical factions in our government?

Well, in my life I have changed my mind on a few things to become more liberal, or socialist, thinking.
1. Death penalty. I used to think it is OK…now I pretty much think pro-life should be synonymous with anti-death penalty. If we have faith that Christ can transform, we should treat convicted criminals as an opportunity for NEW life, just like we complain about opportunities for life being missed by abortion.
2. Gun laws….yes I’m still pro-guns. But more these days pro-shotguns, and rifles. Handguns are a lot of fun to shoot, but kids are more likely to accidentally kill themselves w/ a handgun. Plus the swiss-cheese effect that a home defense shotgun has on criminals is a lot more amusing than a single hole from a handgun.
3. Socialized health care. Here is a line that is hard to draw. What do people deserve because they are human. Well, if I’m about opportunities and not hand-outs from a government perspective, the best opportunity we can give someone is the good chance that they will get healthy when they are sick, and return to the workforce. Sick people and dead people don’t work. And we all get sick at some point, and dead at others.

Thinking about these extreme ideals for government is part of what reminds me of hypocrisies in my values. And then I change them. If you don’t take time once in a while to think about how your ideas may or may not add up when compared to the positive attributes of your opposites you are short-changing yourself.

Everyone makes a good point sometimes. Those points are worth thinking about….keeping an ideology for the sake of ideology, never got me anywhere….and I hear there is a good sermon about this from our favorite east-coast pastor. 🙂

Not looking for a debate today, just thought I would share some ideas I have about my values. But if you really want to start one, go ahead. I just may not participate. 🙂