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“You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.” Abraham Lincoln Most of us in America would like to live as well as possible and we work hard to accomplish this. Meanwhile, some politicians bash “the rich” as being the cause of most misery and boast of their plans for retributive taxes. These politicians are just as dangerous as the ones who work to divide America among race or ethnic lines. There’s nothing wrong in being rich, and any productive society needs rich people. After all, how many of us have earned a good living by working for a beggar? The rich do need to pay their share of taxes, but only their share. It may come as a surprise to many but the graduated system of income tax (the richer you are the higher becomes the percentage of your income taken in taxes) was invented by Karl Marx, the founder of communism. This was his way of plotting the destruction of the rich. I would like to reiterate: the rich do need to pay their share of taxes. Unfortunately, some of today’s ultra-rich (usually protected by a corporate front) can hire lawyers to loop-hole their employers’ way into a tax-“exempt” status. This is wrong, but increasing the richs’ share of the tax load only puts an unfair burden on the honest rich taxpayer. Our whole tax system needs to be revamped and I wrote about this in the category Taxes. There’s a quote going around that says, “Money is the root of all evil.” Some folks even attribute it to the Bible. Both are wrong. The correct quote from the Bible is: *The love of money is the root of all evil. (2023) (1 Timothy 6:10) Money is an inanimate object and can be used for good or evil. This verse is just warning us not to love money more than God, nor to use money for ungodly purposes. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ says more about money more than heaven and hell combined. God thinks money is cool and I believe God wants us all to be rich. The Bible gives explicit instructions on how to make money, take care of money, and give money away. The Bible also tells us that being wealthy isn’t necessarily having lots of money and possessions. *The richest man in the world is the one who has the love of his family and friends. (257) *I make myself rich by making my wants few. Thoreau (57) *Fortune favors the prepared mind. *Ad praesnes ova cras pullis sunt meliora. (318) (Latin – Eggs today are better than chickens tomorrow.) *Early to bed and early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy, and wise. (82) (Ben Franklin – revised to be politically correct.) *CAPITALISM (515) Those who are fortunate to live in a capitalist society should remember that there are responsibilities that go along with making money. Deuteronomy 26:13-16 says “In all your transactions you must use accurate scales and honest measurements…. All who cheat with unjust weights and measurements are detestable (KJV: “an abomination”) to the Lord your God.” The Bible gives lots of advice on the proper use of capitalism, the main gist of which is to use honesty, effort, education, personal responsibility, and fairness in your journey toward wealth. Probably the biggest perversion of capitalism is the modern epidemic of faceless, multi-national corporate conglomerates. They are answerable to no one and their goal is the accumulation of massive wealth at the expense of the common mans’ liberties, health, and prosperity. President Thomas Jefferson hated the concept of corporations and the idea that people could hide behind a corporate front to avoid personal responsibility. *I don’t pay good wages because I have a lot of money: I have a lot of money because I pay good wages. (2808) (Robert Bosch) (Deuteronomy 24:14 & 15 says “Never oppress a poor hired man, whether a fellow Israelite or a foreigner living in your town. Pay him his wage each day before sunset, for since he is poor he needs it right away; otherwise he may cry out to the Lord against you and it would be counted as a sin against you.”) *Amicus humani generic. (352) (Latin – a friend of the human race – a philanthropist) On a related note, God, the ultimate philanthropist, gave explicit instructions to the Jews on what is called the “Year of Jubilee.” “[T]he fiftieth year shall be holy, a time to proclaim liberty throughout all the land….” Read about this in Leviticus 25. Every fifty years, on the Day of Atonement (the tenth day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar), all indentured servants were to be liberated, all public and private debts were to be cancelled, and all family estates which were purchased by others will be returned to the original owners or their heirs. (Greed could not get a very firm foothold in a society ruled by this mind-set.) The Jews were also given detailed instructions on the purchasing of houses and land. “In every contract of sale there must be a stipulation that the land can be redeemed at any time by the seller.” If the land is redeemed, “the owner must accept the money and return the land to him.” If a house is sold within a walled city the seller “has up to one year to redeem it.... But if the original owner is not able to redeem it, then it shall belong to the new owner until the Year of Jubilee…” when it is returned to the original owner. Farmhouses “are redeemable at any time.” God also told the Jews, “[R]emember, the land is mine, so you may not sell it permanently. You are merely my tenants and sharecroppers!” Also, because Jubilee is a holy year, no crops are to be sown. “Your food shall be the volunteer crops that grow wild in the fields.” What a concept! Trusting God to “give us this day our daily bread!” If you’re wondering why in the world would anyone buy a piece of property when he knew it will be returned to its original owner in a few years, check this out: “[I]f the land is sold or bought during the preceding forty-nine years, a fair price will be arrived at by counting the number of years until the Jubilee. If the Jubilee is many years away, the price will be high; if few years, the price will be low; for what you are really doing is selling the number of crops the new owner will get from the land before it is returned to you. You must fear your God and not overcharge! For I am Jehovah.” Leviticus 25 also instructs the Jews about charging interest (usury) on their money. “If your brother becomes poor, you are responsible to help him; invite him to live with you as a guest in your home. Fear your God and let your brother live with you; and don’t charge him. Remember—no interest; and give him what he needs, at your cost: don’t try to make a profit!” The Bible mentions usury quite a few times. Exodus 23:25 forbids Jews from charging interest on money loaned to fellow Jews. Deuteronomy 23:19 forbids Jews from charging other Jews interest on any kind of loan “whether it is in the form of money, food, or anything else.” Wouldn’t it be great if Christians would take a page from our Jewish “ancestors” values and treat each other more like family than a gold deposit to be mined? *Give generously for your gifts will return to you later. (2448) (Ecclesiastes 11:1) *Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime. Aristotle (200) *A borrower is a slave to the lender. (2748) *Lo sciocco getta I soldi dalla finestra. (636) (Italian – A fool and his money are soon parted.) *A great fortune is a great slavery. Seneca (2250) (When you multiply your possessions you multiply your worries.) *He who loveth silver will not be satisfied with silver. (2803) (Ecclesiastes 5:10) *The love of possessions is a snare, and the burdens of a complex society a source of needless peril and temptation. (2806) (Ohiyesa) *Money doesn’t change men, it merely unmasks them. Henry Ford (2240) *The addiction of spending money capriciously can be just as damaging to one’s spirituality as any other addiction. (2001) *The covetous man is ever in want. Horace (2251) *We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 1 Tim. 6:7 (1760) *It is disgraceful to die a rich man. Andrew Carnegie (1758) |