Anyway, something struck me about this exchange and made me think about CAPITALISM again. Audra kept bringing up "capitalism" during the discussion, but I wasn't talking about capitalism. I was talking about being neighborly, about respect, about honesty. About being a slime-ball. And Audra kept mentioning capitalism. As I thought about this, I realized that I think of capitalism in a different light than she does.
I operate in a capitalistic society (for now). That's the way our economy works. And it influences our lives in many ways. BUT my morals, ethics, values, and decisions aren't based on the economy. This is a totally separate system for me. I operate my business in a capitalistic way, but the greater, dominant code that tells me how to make decisions is an ethical, societal, quality-driven system. I can't make decisions in my business that will allow me to make more money without consulting the more important code that tells me whether it is legal, ethical, moral, will improve our quality, and is good for my employees, customers, suppliers, and of course my family and friends.
I guess some people reverse these things. Or segment them. Maybe when they're attending church functions, they abide by the rules set by the church. When they're operating their business, they abide by the rule of the almighty dollar. When they are with family, maybe they have "family values." I don't know. My question would be, what code dominates their life? I think there must be a set of rules that each of us decides is most important. So when the rubber hits the road, those are the rules we stick to. The dollar rules the prostitute and (al)most (all) politicians.
I think this is where capitalism gets a bum rap. When people operate within an orderly society and then use that order to dictate their lives, I think malevolence can come of it. Capitalism (in my opinion) wasn't meant to rule our decisions. And maybe this is what Paul meant when he wrote "the love of money is the root of all evil." (1 Timothy 6:10)
This might be a bad analogy, but it reminds me of a car. Cars can be good. They can take us where we want to go, rather quickly and efficiently, and we can carry many things without work. But you can also use it as a getaway car after a bank robbery. Or you can run someone down in cold blood. Or maybe you could use it irresponsibly by getting shit-faced and driving and then running over two cyclists. It's not the car's fault.
Neither is it capitalism's.
At least that's my opinion.
