The Word "Christian" "Christian Economics" is intended to be no different than Radical Centrist Economics. Why, then, call it "Christian" economics ? . There are several reasons : . ( 1 ) This is a kind of economics where morality counts more than the profit motive. The word Christian communicates the concept with as much clarity as any word can do. It isn't a perfect word choice, but it seems obvious that no word can be perfect and "Christian" is about as close as any word can get to the actual intention. . ( 2 ) The word Christian has many associations, and most of these associations are positive, motivational, and moral. Yes, some associations are negative, witness the stupidity of Republican senatorial candidates in Missouri and Indiana, and Republican stupidity in other cases, but this is a reservation, not the crux of the matter. For every Christian who is an idiot there are ten who are smart, conscientious, thoughtful, and even courageous. Besides, pick any other word and you will find some people who also are idiots. There are Capitalist idiots Socialist idiots, Buddhist idiots, Jewish idiots, Democratic idiots, Libertarian idiots, and on and on. In all these cases the smart and conscientious people outnumber the idiots. . ( 3 ) Radical Centrism, as the phrase is used at RC.org and is used by myself, assumes the virtues which are traditional to the United States of America. Again, this is not to say that there aren't flaws, weaknesses, and other shortcomings in American traditions. There are. But hopefully we can identify these defects and strive to correct them. Yet the fact remains that American virtues, speaking of our shared heritage, are overwhelmingly Christian in character. Or to be clinically accurate, they are mostly Christian but with very important Jewish contributions. This should be assumed, but to keep things as simple as possible... The idea, then, is to make this heritage explicit and to take pride in it. For which you don't need to be a Christian yourself. What is important is that this heritage is acknowledged for what it is, and respected. It is part of our history as Americans, and is true whether someone has Japanese background, Jewish background, India background, Ethiopian background, Iranian background, Korean background, Chinese background, secular European background, or anything else. . ( 4 ) The word Christian was deliberately chosen to reflect the fact that financial motivation as the be-all and end-all of an economic system is overtly rejected. "Christian" does not exclude financial motivation, of course. Max Weber, among many others, has noted that Christian --especially Protestant and northern Catholic-- values contributed greatly to the rise of Capitalism in the first place. But Christian values have never given a privileged place to financial motivation, indeed, financial motivation has always been regarded as inferior to moral motivation . Radical Centrist economics, in other words, assumes the inferiority of financial motivation in comparison to moral motivation. . ( 5 ) It should be made unequivocally clear that Radical Centrist Economics, viz, Christian Economics, is antithetical to normative economics of both the Left and Right and of Libertarians. We reject, outright, the premises of supply-side economics, Keynesian economics, Marxist economics, and all other philosophies of economics. Those premises do have a place in this new system, however, as secondary in nature. As long as those premises can be made to serve moral purposes they can be valuable and valid. The problem arises --a problem that is extremely serious-- when morality is regarded as optional, not necessary except maybe incidentally, and dispensable. When that happens, as is the case in modern day America and throughout the global economy, the result, despite all kinds of advancement in technology, communications, and standards of living for multitudes, again and again, is social disruption, breakdown of families, the rise of nihilistic values, increasing criminality, and delusions of many kinds, especially paranoid and dysfunctional conspiracy theories that poison millions of minds. Conventional economic theories disregard all of this as if it didn't matter. We regard such an outlook as grossly irresponsible and as literally insane . The word "Christian" is intended to call people to something better, something that is attainable, and far more desirable than any other type of economic thinking. . ( 6 ) It is essential to break the spell on the minds of millions that other types of economic theory have upon people. Radical Centrist Economics is completely antagonistic to economics as understood by the overwhelming majorities of Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Tea Party enthusiasts, Left-wingers, and so forth. The word Christian, precisely because it is controversial in a contemporary context, has the power to do this, at least it has this potential if it is used critically and with forethought. Radical Centrism is not Libertarianism, it is not any existing orthodoxy, it is not based on materialist premises. Materialist ideas within a Radical Centrist context are strictly secondary. Morality is the primary motivator. Use of the word Christian makes this point, loud and clear. It also sets Radical Centrist Economics strongly against the economic values espoused in laissez faire systems, including those of by far most Libertarians, and against Wall Street finance Capitalists, and against quasi-Marxist Leftists. We manifestly reject the premises of Libertarians, including Ayn Rand Objectivists, and also reject the premises of laissez faire economists, finance Capitalists, Anarchists, and Marxists. . ( 7 ) Because the word "Christian" is not intended to be regarded in an exclusionary sense, which is emphasized repeatedly, other words can be substituted in other cultures. In Japan or Taiwan or Burma, for example, the preference might be for "Buddhist Economics." In India or Fiji or Trinidad the phrase might be Hindu Economics. Among the Chinese or Koreans the phrase might be Confucian Economics. In Israel there could be a Jewish Economics. And so forth. There could also be a Shinto Economics, a Mormon Economics, Baha'i Economics, Sikh Economics, Parsee Economics, and other such systems. In each case the objective is to appeal to the best that is in people, which means their morality and higher aspirations. Hence this does not include Islam since Moslem morality is essentially the opposite of the moralities of the overwhelming majorities of other faiths. In all cases this would be Radical Centrist Economics with its Christian and American heritage understood as foundational. This would also be the case even for Humanist Economics or an economics based on some form of Deism. After all, Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the archetypal Deist / Humanist, was not in the least reluctant to acknowledge his debt to Christian values and heritage. We should be just as honest and forthright. . 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
