Christian Economics
.
.
Centroids :
Finally, the inspiration I have been seeking for at least 2 or 3 years has
materialized.
Here is the core of the idea--
.
Suppose you were CEO / owner of a corporation. It could be any kind of
business,
communications, heavy industry, computers, agriculture, entertainment,
you-name-it.
The question is this : Suppose, also, that your top priority was becoming
an
exemplar of your faith and NOT profit maximization.
.
This has to be explicit. For if profit maximization is your top priority
then your faith,
by definition, means less to you than making money. This should be so
obvious that
no elaboration should be necessary. The point should also be obvious that
if you
put your faith first, then you would necessarily, most of all, want to
promote the things
that are central to your faith before all else.
.
There is another obvious consideration : You would very much want to be
successful
in your business. You would want to make profits ; this is not in dispute.
However,
earnings would be secondary. In other words, you would want to prosper, but
not in any way at the cost of compromise of your faith.
.
What, then, would Christian Economics look like ?
.
A caveat. The system being outlined here might be called Buddhist
Economics,
or Hindu Economics, or Jewish Economics, or Zoroastrian, Confucian, or
Taoist
Economics or similar terminology, including Humanist Economics. But my
primary
inspiration is Christian and let us use this terminology as archetypal for
the system
being proposed. In some details it might actually be more Jewish than
anything else,
or more Confucian, etc,. The word "Christian" is not intended to be
exclusivist
or exclusionary. This needs to be emphasized. But it would be best to
proceed
using a known frame of reference, Christian tradition, especially the free
agent
voluntaristic tradition known in the United States.
.
Another assumption is necessary. Namely, that the products or services your
business are offering on the market are of superior quality. No corners are
being cut, and everyone in the corporation takes pride in the business
itself
and in what it sells. As well, high ethical standards are expected of
everyone.
.
Christian economics means quality, in other words, and personal
responsibility.
Moreover, it stands for promotion of the ideals of the New Testament and
the
Bible more generally. For myself, it should also stand for the best ideals
of other faiths, as well, including ideals from outside of faith as such,
but ideals
that are consistent with those of heartfelt Christian faith.
.
This does not mean that the business should be sectarian. The objective is
not
converting people to a religion, it is facilitating their personal
religions values
and ideals so that they enter the community at large and help change
society
for the better. The business should seek to "Christianize" society in any
good ways
open to it. It may bring out the best in Buddhists, Hindus, or Jews as
equivalent
to bringing out Christian principles per se. But the business is not a
religion,
not at all. It is a strongly ethical corporation that puts human well-being
above profits --while regarding profits as important.
.
One way to conceive of such a business would be something along the lines
of a hybrid, part business, part non-profit organization. But how would
this
be possible in a highly competitive marketplace ? There would still be the
need
to raise capital. And market share cannot be overlooked ; it is essential.
.
But suppose that there was a new form of stock ownership. This might be
thought of as "covenant ownership." How this might work is that investors
would be limited to people who sign a legally binding pledge that they are
in
fundamental agreement with the goals ands values of the corporation. As
part
of the "package," however, the company would pledge itself to maximum
transparency to all shareholders. And perhaps some kind of board of regents
would oversee the workings of the company, specifically concerning how
its operations --of all kinds-- were consistent with its stated ideals.
.
That is, there would be two kinds of "bottom lines."
.
First there would be values and ideals of faith. If this is compromised
the whole purpose of the corporation would be irreparably damaged
and the raison d'etre of the business would be lost.
.
Second, there would be the necessity of making money. There can be
no success unless a business is profitable. The responsibility of a board
of directors would be to ensure that the business makes money. It would be
foolish beyond belief to run a for-profit corporation as if it was a
philanthropy.
The point is NOT charity, that kind of organization is not under discussion
here,
as good and valuable as most charities are. The point is consistency with
Christian ideals and values. Or Jewish ideals, or Buddhist ideals, etc.
.
Stockholders, then, would not expect maximum financial returns on their
investments. They would expect decent returns, enough to prosper,
but if getting rich is someone's goal, while the business might provide
the eventual means for gaining wealth, nonetheless, such an individual
would not be welcomed either as a stock holder or as an employee
at any level. The pledge --or covenant-- is intended to make this
crystal clear.
.
Could non-Christians become employees or share holders ? Of course.
But the pledge would be legally binding and dissatisfaction with profit
levels
could not be grounds for objection to how the company is run --as long
as there is a reasonable level of profitability.
.
In other words, imagine a Christian-inspired corporation. What would be
best
for customers, employees, and shareholders --and the community at large
that is served by the business ? Here are some characteristics that seem
to me to be desirable and necessary :
.
( 1 ) All employees, after a trial period, say, one year on the job,
would become stock holders, a portion of their wages matched
by the business, to enable them to accumulate stock. This would make
employees responsible for the company's success. This idea is
not new, it was first suggested in 1956, then elaborated on in Louis
Kelso's
1958 book, The Capitalist Manifesto. This is known as the Employee
Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP. This idea also works quite well in real life
and has now been tested at a large number of business firms. What would be
different here would be legally binding commitment to ideals and values,
not only desire for money.
.
( 2 ) Such things as community relations, outreach, and public relations
would not be treated as incidentals, extrinsic to the business. The
opposite
would be true : The company would exist as much, and more, to promote
Christian and related ideals as to make money. In other words, it is
not enough that there should be employees who are product specialists.
Just as any smart business needs non-product employees like legal experts
and media professionals, it should also employ "values specialists," people
who are, if anything, even more committed to the company's ideals
than management.
.
( 3 ) The model for community relations and outreach should be the system
in use by the Quivira Coalition. The company should seek to be a "good
citizen" in
every community where it has a presence. It should seek to facilitate,
within reason,
not forgetting for one minute that it is a business, any number of
community needs,
depending on circumstances, everything from environmental stewardship to
mediation among groups that have competing interests. This also means that
there
would be some things the company would never do, on principle, like
destroying the livelihood of thousands of people in a town, gutting a
community's
ability to function. Nor would it ship jobs overseas ; any and all
outsourcing
or off-shoring, while there might be some, would be kept within strictly
observed limits. It should also treat its competitors fairly. But it should
never tolerate unethical financial manipulation by banks or other
institutions or interests, and should publicly oppose any such thing.
.
( 4 ) The company would not be unionized. Its stock ownership program
makes this very problematic to begin with, but more importantly, the pledge
would be two-way. The employer would pledge, legally, to provide decent
and healthy working conditions, fairness in arbitration when that is an
issue,
and various protections to workers. However, concerning all unions that
share the basic values of the business, the objective would be maximum
co-operation, for example, with vendors, shippers, and suppliers.
.
( 5 ) The primary purpose in all this is to set an example for the rest of
the economy to follow. But there is no thought that this would be easy.
It would be expected that there would be competition and sometimes
hostility
from others. The business would expect to need to fight for its values and
ideals
Accordingly, part of its structure should be defensive in nature, always
on the
alert to effects of opposition, including unethical attacks against what it
is doing.
After all, other businesses may still be predicated on greed, on profit
maximization,
and everything else associated with the concept of Cutthroat Capitalism.
But if
this is successful, then a model for a humanizing form of market economy
would
be created. Could it succeed ? Yes, if, along with everything else, the
business
made the right political alliances. This is a system, not just a
business.
Comments, especially including criticisms, welcome.
Billy
--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community
<[email protected]>
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism
Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
