[The] percentage of conservatives answering incorrectly was 22.3%, very conservatives 17.6% and libertarians 15.7%. But the percentage of progressive/very liberals answering incorrectly was 67.6% and liberals 60.1%. The pattern was not an anomaly.

Respondents were asked questions which pertained to issues such as rent control, outsourcing, minimum wage laws, and free trade.  Libertarians scored the best, followed by those who identified as very conservative and conservative.  No correlation was found between “economic enlightenment” and having a college degree.  The average score breakdown was:

Very Conservative (1.3 wrong)=84% correct
Libertarian (1.38)= 83%
Conservative (1.67)=79%
Moderate (3.67)= 54%
Liberal (4.69)= 41%
Very Liberal (5.26)=34%

By party affiliation:

Republicans (1.61)= 80%
Democrats (4.59)=43%

Capitalism’s reputation has taken a beating in light of the recent financial crisis.  According to politicians and pundits from both sides of the spectrum, capitalism is to blame.  Not so, say Austin Hill and Scott Rae, who argue in their new book The Virtues of Capitalism that capitalism is our best bet.  In fact, according to Hill and Rae, capitalism “remains the preferred economic system, even the necessary economic system, for any society that upholds a true sense of human rights.”

Hill and Rae approach economics from a distinctly Christian perspective, showing capitalism to be both consistent with and supported by the Bible’s teachings.  Contrary to some, the sharing of goods as described in Acts does not advocate socialism.   The sharing of goods was voluntary, as opposed to forced.  Moreover, the authors show that economics itself is deeply intertwined with moral issues.  Economic conditions can act as a powerful motivator either to encourage or discourage virtuous conduct. “[B]e honest and ask yourself: Is it ever more difficult to be the kind of spouse or parent that one aspires to be, when the economy is slow and personal finances are scarce? … [W]hen finances are plentiful, can the enjoyment of material goods enable a person to avoid or neglect other important areas of their relationships?  And a final question… can economics impact one’s relationship with their God.”

Several misconceptions about capitalism are also dealt with.  These include myths such as “The rich get richer at the expense of the poor,” “Capitalism is based on greed,” and “Capitalism leads to overconsumption and materialism.”  Economics is not a zero-sum game, argue Hill and Rae, and is based on self-interest rather than greed (There’s an important distinction between the two).  They explicitly reject Ayn Rand’s response to the greed objection, which recognizes greed to be good.

Then, in plain and lucid language, Hill and Rae explain why the financial markets failed as they did.   They go all the back to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990′s and trace the events which led up to the housing bubble. The markets failed not because of capitalism, but chiefly because of  excessive government regulations, and the the reckless behavior that results when government intervenes to shield people from accountability.  In another chapter, Hill and Rae make the case that government intervention in free-markets is more of a hindrance than a help.  ”Generally speaking, government does not use resources as efficiently as do individual citizens and private enterprises.”

Still, the authors recognize that capitalism has its limits.  While it not may be the perfect system, it’s the best out of all we have.  ”Capitalism,” said Winston Churchill “is surely the worst economic system, except for all the others that have been tried.”  There are several pre-requisites that a society must fill before capitalism can flourish.  These are what Hill and Rae mean by the virtues of capitalism.  They list five such virtues, these being: creativity, initiative, cooperation, civility, and responsibility. Most important, however, is a stable moral system, which “is the sine qua non of the political system and the economic system. It reinforces the incentives provided by the political system, as it provides a moral foundation for personal habits and behaviors necessary for prosperity.”

Overall, it’s a great and easy to understand book.  One drawback, however, is that it’s a bit shallow.  For a deeper resource, I would recommend Jay W. Richard’s Money, Greed and God: Why Capitalism Is The Solution and Not The Problem.

For those who keep up with the news, the world has been experiencing some turmoil (newsflash!) that has left people worried about what is to come. The Gulf of Mexico recently had a severe oil spill that is said to be the worst environmental disaster in American history. It’s been reported that 210,000 gallons of oil a day is being released and in a leaked report, that amount is said to be increasing to the millions. To imagine how destructive this is, it is argued that “it only takes one quart of motor oil to make 250,000 gallons of ocean water toxic to wildlife”.

But wait, there’s more! California has been experiencing over 2000 earthquakes which could be an indication of a future earthquake that will rule them all. Since I live in this Ring of Fire, that’s not exactly a pleasant thought and if it does happen, you can all donate to the “Save Gil” fund (or attend my funeral). It already happened with Haiti and Chile so this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. With a 6.9 hitting China’s Qinghai province and a 6.2 hitting southern Spain, people are saying that the earth itself is going to shake its booty and that’s not good. I also have to remind you that millions of bees are dying for no discernible reason.

On a more economical note, the Fed is printing out money from thin air while our debt becomes more monstrous and is steadily outpacing our annual income. California is said to be bankrupt and Japan, one of our major trading partners, is also said to be near bankruptcy. Unemployment is rising and a double dip recession is claimed to be underway which is a flowery way of saying a worldwide depression is about to come (release the kraken!). We have spent trillions of dollars and there’s only 2% growth to actually show for it.

Tensions between Israel and other nations have been increasing as Obama attempts to create peace. We got potential wars on just about every continent but that’s nothing new. It’s just that if it gets serious enough, you can expect another World War. There’s also this whole 2012 business that some celebrities are confirming is true because you know, they’re obviously reliable sources. So to sum this all up, we have natural disasters of epic proportions, worldwide economic failure, and the potential for another world war. What more could you ask for?

The only logical conclusion here is that this is the end of the world. Well not really, at best we probably have some difficult times ahead of us. It has happened before and there’s no reason think it will never happen again. Some claim that we’ll see aliens, demons, Jesus or get enlightened about something. How do they know this? They really don’t. Whatever sources they pull is probably not any better than using a magic 8 ball. Regardless of what happens, you can count on me to save the world!

Do you think anything catastrophic will happen anytime soon? What would you do or think if it turns out to be true?

As it turns out, politics is a general term that covers a large number of various sub-disciplines.  These include political theory (The study of the nature of government), comparative politics (The study of other political systems), political economy (The study of how politics and the economy relate to each other), and public law (The study of how different entities relate to each other). Chapter one deals with these various divisions within politics.

In the following chapters, Beckwith covers the relationship between the Christian citizen and liberal democracy.  In Matthew 22, Jesus instructed that because the image of Caesar was present on the coin presented to him, we have a duty to obey earthly governments.  To disobey government, which is an institution established by God, thus equates to disobeying God himself. Implicit in this, however, is the other realization that because the image of God is present on us that we also have a duty to obey God.  Thus, while Christians are subject to government authority, it is permissible in certain circumstances to disobey governments which are at conflict with Biblical values.

Beckwith also correctly notes that in some situations, it is permissible to support non-Christian candidates for political office (Mitt Romney, for example).  Christians “must not ignore their commitment to justice and the common good when assessing such a candidate.”

He notes that Aristotle’s idea that “Statecraft is soulcraft” is crucial to a Christian understanding of politics.  Beckwith defends what he calls a “perfectionist view of liberty and the human person,” which is the idea that “liberty is not merely the right to do good and that the role of government is to advance the common good.  It is called perfectionism since its defenders maintain that human beings share the same nature by which we can know what sort of goods, institutions, habits and actions help the human being fulfill his proper end or perfection.”  In scrutinizing the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and the Danbury Baptists, the popular understanding of the separation of church and state is found lacking.  Because the government’s purpose is to advance the common good, it is permissible for it to endorse religious practices which aid in this task while simultaneously striking down other practices (Such as those of cults) which do not advance the common good.

Several arguments in favor of secular liberalism are also tackled and found inadequate.  I found his treatment of Robert Audi’s secular reason argument to be particularly helpful.   The division of  reasons into the categories of “secular” and “religious,” of which the former is treated as fact and the latter is treated as mere subjective opinion, is illusory.  ”At the end of the day, a reason is weak or strong, true or false.  Thus, ‘religious’ and ‘secular’ are not relevant properties when assessing the quality of reasons people may offer as part of their arguments.”  Highlighting a point made by Thomas Aquinas, Beckwith writes that “The difference between objects of faith and objects of reason… is not in their status as objectives of knowledge, but in how the knowledge is acquired by the human mind.”

Finally, Beckwith ends with a great chapter on the moral argument for the existence of God, which serves as a handy apologetic for the Christian faith.  Though I do wish Beckwith could have covered more content in this relatively short book, this is an unreasonable expectation from an introductory text.  Instead, Beckwith provides a helpful list of recommended books.

I strongly recommend Beckwith’s book for any Christians who are interested in a solid introduction to politics.

Because human beings are diverse in their abilities, talents, and gifts, a free society with a perfectionist understanding would be one in which a full array of rights would be in place so that a wide variety of citizens would be able to lead flourishing lives and thus contribute to the common good.  So, for example, freedom of expression, religious liberty, freedom of association, ownership of private property and personal privacy are liberties that are necessary so that citizens may be able to make informed judgments in light of their own talents, abilities, interests, and beliefs.  However, these liberties are not ends in themselves.  For instance, unless friendship and knowledge are goods, the freedoms of association and expression are pointless.  Moreover, certain types of nonliberal associations — for example, families, churches, civic groups — play an important role in the moral and social formation of the nation’s citizens.  Families, for example, are nondemocratic institutions (i.e., children don’t vote for their dad and mom) that provide a pride-of-place for the protection and moral formation of children, the sanctity of the marital bond, and private community in which we all first learn how to treat and care for others.  Thus, the perfectionist maintains, paradoxically, that liberal democracy functions best when nonliberal institutions are afford certain liberties to flourish so that they may do their part in advancing the common good.  Thus, the community has an interest in ensuring that these good and important culture-shaping institutions are not undermined by other practices.  For this reason… the community may rightly exclude from social legitimacy many apparently private practices, such as polygamy, unregulated distribution and consumption of pornography, wife-swapping, homosexual “marriage,” child-marriage, honor killings, racist policies, or consensual adult incest.

So far, it’s proving to be a great book!  I’ll post a full review once I’m done reading it.