Read on Twitter
"What is the Christian responsibility for the proper functioning of [capitalism], and to what extent can we steer the whole of capitalist production to serve genuinely human ends as they& #39;re articulated by the Christian faith?" -Miroslav Volf
Let& #39;s also consider the interesting fact that there& #39;s a long history of a form of spiritual (Christian) socialism operating within a larger capitalistic system. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/november-web-only/spiritual-socialists-vaneesa-cook.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/n...
When motivated by the ethics of God& #39;s kingdom, or the rule of God, spiritual socialism is a form of resistance to the fact that capitalism (and its sister phenomenon, industrialization) forces us to adapt to society-wide *centering* of efficiency, productivity, & methodology.
See Jacques Ellul& #39;s essay, "The Technological Order":
https://www.jesusradicals.com/uploads/2/6/3/8/26388433/technological-order.pdf">https://www.jesusradicals.com/uploads/2...
https://www.jesusradicals.com/uploads/2/6/3/8/26388433/technological-order.pdf">https://www.jesusradicals.com/uploads/2...
How & whether we can answer Volf& #39;s question has implications not just for the economy in terms of equity but for every dimension of human flourishing. I hate the fact that even the way we attempt to create community is so influenced by capitalist ways of thinking, being, & doing.
Then there& #39;s the sad reality that it requires so much energy for us to overcome the pernicious effects of capitalism, individualism, & self-determination on the structures we& #39;ve built. We& #39;ve built a world that has more anti-communal forces than communal forces.
In the suburbs, we live in neighborhoods designed to create privacy and that only work for people with cars. We& #39;ve purposefully created distance, so we have to overcome distance (and traffic).
We& #39;ve also fought for choices & more choices. So, kids on the same street all go to different schools, families go to different churches, etc. Now, there are a multitude of communities organized not around place but around choice, & we& #39;re spread thinner and thinner.
As I& #39;ve gotten older, I& #39;ve found this particular American way of life increasingly exhausting, unsustainable, and lonely. I spend so much time wondering, "Why do we live like this? What drives this decidedly anti-human way of life?"
I& #39;ve decided I would do better in a community shaped by the values inherent in spiritual socialism than by one shaped by the shadow-side values of capitalism (hyper-individualism, consumerism, methodology), which is probably *most* church communities right now.
I felt this the most when I was trying to find communal support while taking care of a mentally ill family member. I undertook an exhaustive search, and I came to the despairing conclusion that we as a family were fundamentally ON OUR OWN.
During my search, I found out about the town of Geel, Belgium, which fosters mentally ill boarders. I was so moved and, for a minute, hopeful. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/07/01/484083305/for-centuries-a-small-town-has-embraced-strangers-with-mental-illness">https://www.npr.org/sections/...
But then I found out that multiple researchers and practitioners who had tried to start a similar program in the U.S. had failed, concluding that it would never work here. https://www.npr.org/2016/07/01/483856025/read-the-transcript">https://www.npr.org/2016/07/0...
I wanted to share that because when I talk about capitalism and socialism, I& #39;m not primarily interested in economic theory or analyzing how wealth is created; I& #39;m speaking as a human who& #39;s wrestling with what it means to be human.
& I nod my head a lot when I read Ellul& #39;s words re:the ambiguity of technical progress:
-All technical progress exacts a price
-Technique raises more problems than it solves
-Pernicious effects are inseparable from favorable ones
-Every technique implies unforeseeable effects
-All technical progress exacts a price
-Technique raises more problems than it solves
-Pernicious effects are inseparable from favorable ones
-Every technique implies unforeseeable effects
