Odd Treasury Quote

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The US Treasury's website has this quote from Thomas Jefferson on its own website:

To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his father has acquired too much, in order to spare to others who (or whose fathers) have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, "to guarantee to everyone a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."

Some will argue the point on 'greed'. Do you really think that any society runs without greed? Capitalism, like every other fiscal philosophy, is only as good as the people who practice it. If you want to keep people from greed, you must teach them virtue. Stealing their money and giving it ot the lazy will not help the lazy. It only hurts the industrious. That kind of solution will not teach anyone virtue, but will rather illustrate that virtue has no rewards.

Some people criticize capitalism. Remember that people lump all meanings for any derivation of a theme under one word. Most of the people who clamour for free markets believe Capitalism to be the right way. Most of the people who clamour for more government intervention believe socialism to be the right way. What most of them actually want is to have enough for their needs without fear of financial bereftment. However, if I stand up and talk about 'entrepreneurship', most people's eyes glaze over. Yet, that's actually what they mean.

I discussed in a post earlier this week that Republicans really ought to endorse entrepreneurship. It is the frontier ideal, to go and make a life, to carve it out. Most of those people weren't 'rich', but they were happy. They had enough most of the time. When they had extra, they shared or sold it. They did not love money. Money was a means.

When money moves from a means to an end, that is the problem. Both ends of the political spectrum paint as the end whoever has the money. Liberals focus on money for the poor and say conservatives want the rich to have the money. We acquire it as a means to the things about which we actually care. That's when it becomes impossible to be a Christian and capitalist or Christian and communist.

Christianity, and God, are not concerned with money. Christ himself said, "Render to Ceasar the things that are Ceasar's..." while he encouraged his disciples to store up treasures in heaven. Why you seek and how you use the money makes the difference. The treasury, and those who generally control it regardless of power, steal it from some in order to give it to others. It is also however a tenant of Christianity to reap what we sow and enjoy the fruits of our labors. Sometimes, that is money.

The problem here is language. We argue on semantics, diction, and vocabulary when we actually mean the same things with different words. Argh. Language is a poor instrument, and the English Language compounds the problem.