Fight Socialism

Yesterday’s drive home was terrible; my “normal” hour drive was doubled by a three car pileup. As I sat on a section of the Eisenhower genius I noticed the couple in the car in front of me was pointing at a very large bright canary yellow truck. On the back window of the truck was written in very large yellow letter 

 “FIGHT SOCIALISM.”  

There was another bumper sticker proclaiming to the world that the person who owned the truck did not vote for Obama and "are we all happy now" or something to that effect.  As my car crept slowly past the truck I could not see into the “Alabama” tagged vehicle through the blackened tinted glass. 

I was hoping to see if the inhabitants were of Social Security age and ask them if they liked their checks every month? Or if they liked the government run medicare system they probable used. But sadly I could not engage the driver in any conversation as he sat in his locked up air conditioned machine. 

I started thinking about a running conversation I have been having with friends about the Ancient Jewish custom of redistributing the wealth of the tribe every 50 years. This topic has led to discussions about what is really going on in America today.

One friend, a deeply committed follower of Jesus Christ shared with me “Jesus for President” by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw 2008. 

Here, the authors explore the exact same concept in what they call “Jubilee.” Quoting the Old Testament, Jesus is said to have laid out the framework for his ministry.

           
          “Just like Isaiah had done many years before, Jesus called upon the great economic tradition of the Torah.”  

In the Sermon on the Mount, the authors’ state, Jesus urged his people to remember the Sabbath laws and their alternative economic system of sharing, debt cancellation, and land redistribution. The vision of “Jubilee” is one of liberation of the entire world’s poor and broken people of the “Empire.”

If you really look close at the teaching of Jesus you see a man committed to the poor, weak and less fortunate of society. Calling on the redistribution of wealth is a very radical idea in any society. It sure sounds like Socialism to me. 

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their collaborations used what they thought of “heaven” as their model for their “new” society.

Why the fear of Socialism? If Jesus called for Socialistic ideas what are people so afraid of? Is it the idea the government is going to come take your things? Or take your wealth?

Churches around the globe preach the teaching of Jesus every Sunday why is it so hard to believe the man they worship probable was closer to a Socialist in his thinking than a Republican?

I don’t know what the answers are to our political and economic situations, but this form of government and economic system is not working. Since the industrial revolution and the globalization of banking and currency our political and economic institutions have let the citizens of the world down. 

 The world’s economies are on a constant roller coaster ride of boom and disaster, feast or famine. Throw in a constant state of war “and look what you get another day older and deeper in debt. Saint Peter don’t you call me cause I can’t go, I owe my soul to the company store.”

The story of “sixteen- tons” is not too far off for most of the working poor and middle class Americans. The latest economic reports did not put a smile on many of those same Americans who have been out of work a long, long time.  

Where do we go from here? Do we strip the power of the Federal Government down to the defense of the country and nothing more as is the suggestion from many far right wing Republicans in Congress and in State Houses? Or do we be bold and step outside the box on a new recovery based on good jobs and decent wages for American workers.

Do we continue to act like many on the right and let greed, power and racism take over the will of the people? Or do we take a moral stand and tell our leaders enough is enough.

This form of Capitalism is Not working. It is obscene that 400 Americans own more wealth than 160 Million Americans. It is obscene that 25% of the top CEO’s bonuses where larger than the taxes paid by the companies they work for. It is obscene that Millionaires pay fewer taxes than the average American teacher. 

This system of greed is not working for the majority of Americans. Like the story of "Jubilee," Jesus was asking to turn to a different almost shadow economy based on values of the past. Maybe we should listen.