LITMIR.BIZ

      Christian Economics

      The Integration of Capitalism, Socialism, and Laborism

      Copyright © 2018 Dale Anthony Pivarunas. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

      Resource Publications

      An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

      199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

      Eugene, OR 97401

      www.wipfandstock.com

      paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-5895-2

      hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-5896-9

      ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-5897-6

      Manufactured in the U.S.A. 10/23/18

      Dedication

      I have written this book for common, ordinary people—actually the majority of people, not the rich and powerful people who constitute a very small minority of the people. The natural rights of the common people as partners in the economies to which they belong and co-own have been ignored and denied. Because of this, they have been exploited and cheated out of their fair share of the benefits of these economies. The production and the consumption by the common people are the driving forces of the economy, yet their share of the benefits from the economy is disproportionate to their contribution. That is unjust and needs to change.

      This book is for the unemployed, the underemployed, those making minimum wage, those living in poverty, those who are having or have had their homes repossessed, those who are slaves to payday loans or title loans, students who have invested in a college education and have not found work that corresponds to their skills, women who do the same work as men but get paid less, those living from paycheck to paycheck, those who cannot afford to get needed medical care, and the tens of millions of people who have lost hope of ever achieving the American dream.

      While the majority of people in the United States are Christian, there is virtually a total absence of Christian moral principles within the economic system. In fact, the US economy is currently driven by economic theories which hold that economic actions are and should be amoral as expressed in the statement ‘it is neither right nor wrong, it is just business’. All Christian morality is based on the commandment ‘love your neighbor as yourself’. This is certainly not applied to the unemployed, the underemployed, those making minimum wage, those living in poverty, those who are having or have had their homes repossessed, those who are slaves to payday loans or title loans, those who have been cheated through rent-to-own, lease-option or lease-purchase contracts and countless others suffering financially.

      It is my sincere hope and prayer that someday Christians will act like Christians in their business, economic and political lives and that through their actions help to eliminate the economic and political injustices prevalent in the United States and throughout the world. May Christians be inspired by this book to truly be that light to the world and help society to put people before profits!

      Introduction

      The United States is in the midst of a continuing serious economic crisis affecting a very large percentage of the population. 9 million people are unemployed (U6 rate), over 30 million people are under-employed, approximately 9 million people have two jobs, 75% of those employed live from paycheck to paycheck, and 71% of US workers are in debt (of this 71%, over 55% say they are over their heads in debt). Millions of people have had their homes repossessed. Millions of homes are in foreclosure and the trend continues. Over 46 million Americans are living in poverty. Fifty percent of recent graduates cannot find full time employment. There are over 1 million homeless students in the United States living in gas stations, airports, cheap hotels, empty homes, church basements or sleeping at times at the houses of different friends. Food, healthcare, education, housing (especially rents), and transportation (car prices and insurance) continue to rise year after year and at higher rates than wages. The number of pay day loan stores, title loan stores, ‘buy your gold and jewelry’ stores have increased significantly in the last fifteen years indicating the desperate financial state of the millions of people who are forced to do business with these predatory organizations. Student loan debt has increased from $240 billion in 2003 to $1.3 trillion in 2017 with over 40 million individuals burdened with this debt. Students and their parents take out these loans with the expectation that sometime in the future their student will obtain a good paying job with which to pay off the student loans. But, unfortunately, for the majority of these students there are and will be no good paying jobs. A significant percentage of Americans are in a desperate and hopeless financial situation. This is a severe crisis and yet the above issues receive little to no attention by the news media. It is almost like the major news media is trying to hide these issues, but why?

      The US national debt is over $21 trillion, continues to increase and virtually nothing is being done to stop and reverse this. The national debt has now exceeded the annual US GDP. It has increased over $17 trillion since 2000 and the interest on the national debt is over $475 billion every year and this figure continues to grow as the national debt grows. US national defense spending is now approximately $1 trillion dollars annually and depending on what new military action that the US engages in can be significantly higher. The United States Federal government spends over $1 trillion more than it receives in revenues every year and the President, his administration and Congress don’t seem to be overly concerned. While they make some claims about the budget deficit and the national debt, they are really not concerned because they do almost nothing about this other than make statements. Government spending is out of control and this out of control spending by the Federal, state, county and local governments have a very serious negative impact on the US economy. And almost nothing is being done to control government spending.

      In the last 17 years, the US government has spent $17 trillion more than its revenues. And what was this money spent on? Did the government spend that money on education, healthcare, or infrastructure? Was that $17 trillion dollars spent on the people of the United States, the 99% majority? The people of the United States were handed $17 trillion in additional debt and they have received nothing in return. Had that $17 trillion been used to pay off student debt, improve education, build schools, build hospitals, build roads, fix bridges, build a high-speed rail system, invest in renewable energy, reduce poverty, reduce homelessness, improve mental health, and reduce substance addiction, then the people of the US would at least know how the money was spent and recognize that there were benefits. But what or who did the US government spend $17 trillion on?

      While the last fifteen years have been financially crippling for very many people, they have not been for all people. In fact, the last fifteen years have been the worst of times for tens of millions of people and the best of times for a few people. And this applies to corporations. While some corporations have gone bankrupt, some have seen significantly higher profits and some record setting profits. Wealthy individuals and corporations have been able to take advantage of these financial and economic crises to buy properties and businesses and encumber individuals, businesses and state, county and local governments with overwhelming debt. While the net worth of 250 million people and companies have decreased significantly over the last fifteen years, the net worth of a few million people and corporations have increased significantly. The losses of so many have been the gains of so few.

      The United States is in a financial crisis with the majority of Americans suffering the effects. And yet, the government does not seem to care. The President, his administration and Congress do not seem to care. The President, his administration and Congress only seem to care about Big Banks, Big Corporations and Big Money. These politicians deceptively

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