[ Bible ] Capitalism is a Christian Concept

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I saw this picture on facebook today and it made me think of this thread.

I was in Mexico to get my forign language requirement. My wife and I lived with a Mexican family for three months. That was worth 4 semesters and far more educational than even 18 semesters at university.
Anyway, we went to our lady of guadalupe on the path towards, were money changers (dollars for pesos). My wife did not let me overturn their tables!
PS: Viper, forgive my bad grammer and spelling. I am using my tablet. Blame my big fat fingers!

I'd read about this somewhere before. Apparently there was a lot in Hebrew life where Roman coinage was banned and hence usury rates on currency exchange of coins no longer in print was close to 90% of the transaction. They made our inner-city pay day lenders looks like altar boys, closest thing we have to them today are the currency manipulators and derivative-wild speculators who do so much with impunity because most people just get bogged down trying to figure out the basics.
http://www.biblewise.com/archives/2006/ ... /money.htm

Technically though if he was an OWS guy that was a pretty good costume though.

They did. Tenochtitlan was 5 times bigger than London at its time. Sufficient is a little too value laden for me to understand but they had twice a day garbage pickup as well as sewers and it was cleaner that any city in Europe.

Actually now that you have me thinking on the topic most of the capitals of Europe, Asia and north Africa are pre-capitalist as well.

Yes, it was bigger than London at the time, not bigger than London now, meaning that perhaps the ways by which the two cities are governed have to be different. So if they did not have any monetary system, what were the people responsible for cleaning out the sewage systems and so forth paid with or did they do it out of purely altruistic motives?

Plus, what are you saying, that because a non-monetary system occurred then it can occur now?

I'm confused. Are you saying that if an area uses money it is Capitalist? What about Communist countries that used money. Are they Capitalist?

No but I am saying that a monetary incentive is good when it comes to making people do jobs that otherwise they wouldn't wish to do. Also, I do not know if Karl Marx believed that money was an inherent part of communism so for all I know the communist countries that were using money may not have been communist. They would have been socialist. Money as a means of making profit has also I believe been a very good way of creating competition between businesses and therefore has facilitated technological innovation. Even Marx himself believed that capitalism had been a very key driving force in technological progression. He wasn't all 'anti-capitalist'. I just do not believe that people would be willing to do jobs if there were no financial incentive. If we scrapped money altogether, I am not utopian enough to believe that people would have a natural inclination to perform those jobs and even if people's incomes were entirely equal to one another, there would be protests as to why one person should get more pay than another person when they put far more effort into their job and it requires far more skill and knowledge. My original post was to someone who said that the capitalist system would not exist if people did not need meaningless tripe but I would dispute that. Sorry, I am confused myself. I probably sound like an idiot. i do not know what I really believe.

I agree! If people are not rewarded for creating value they will not be motivated. * Creating value (work intellectual, manual and creative) compared to betting ( Wall Street etc) on those that create value is hardly rewarded at all.
* Modern workers work to survive.

in Slavery: people work without financial reward.
Hunter-gatherers work without financial reward.
Religious Specialists (Monks etc.) often work without financial reward.
Folks raise children without financial reward.
Most musicians/artists/writers work with financial reward.
Hobbyists spend money to work on their interests.
I don't sell my pickles I just eat them.

Prior to the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, capitalists saw Marx as something of a hero, as capitalists liked how he promoted their system as the natural evolution of the economy, all the while ignoring his prediction of the rise of socialism and the dictatorship of the proletariat. In the same way, the left used to embrace Nietzsche prior to the rise of Nazism.

Sorry, I do not understand your point. A small minority of people do some altruistic work does not mean that as a collective whole we are inclined to do the same.

Have you got some evidence to support the fact that they saw him as a hero? Also, they would have been justified slightly since Marx believed that capitalism was essential to creating technological innovation before it would reach its ugly demise. True, although Nietzsche's writings were distorted by his sister who used them to justify the third reich when Nietzsche himself expressed no nazi sentiments.

"Sorry, I do not understand your point. A small minority of people do some altruistic work does not mean that as a collective whole we are inclined to do the same."
fibonaccispiral777
Then are you against corporations?

I'm understanding that passage as simply "If it's not Christ, it's crap." I think it's leaning more towards communism, believe in the state, the state has all the answer, don't accept the state and you have nothing.

As I said in my previous post, I think we are inspired to be altruistic however when it comes to complete survival there has to be some give and take and a financial reward or some other reward based on physical material goods is a good incentive to get people to do jobs they do not necessarily wish to do. This is NOT to say that it cannot be done. Many people do things out of sheer goodness such as people who work in charity shops and so forth but nevertheless I still think it is a convenient means by which to get people to do things they do not wish to do.

As for corporations, I am neither for them or against them. As I said in my last post, I think capitalism has inspired much technological innovation and the capitalist ideology is so engrained in the public consciousness, that I believe it is here to stay. Saying that however, that does not mean that i am against the atrocities committed by corporations. I am against Nestle creating a financial conglomerate over water. I am against bankers making huge bonuses when that money could be going towards funding the public sector. I am against massive multinational corporations dodging tax and funding the political elite. I am against all of that. So, I think capitalism has led to innovation, progression and a good incentive to work but it needs far more regulations. I do not think such actions can ever be justified in the name of darwinian free-trade. I do think we need a revolution, I think we need a more revolutionary form of capitalism. I hope that makes sense. Sorry, I probably sound like an idiot.