Those Filthy Rich!

A couple of weeks ago I sent a letter to the editors of my local daily paper criticizing the argument and conclusion of a liberal cartoonist who portrayed “The Rich” as a large, predatory fish chasing after those poor, little “working class” fish. A few days later, to my surprise, I received a letter in the “snail mail” from an old friend whose views are decidedly liberal. I had clearly upset him with my brief remarks in the newspaper.

What follows is my reply to his note:

Brad,

It was great to hear from you! Hope you are doing well. It’s actually a pleasant change to receive a letter in the “snail mail” rather than the ubiquitous email.

About your note – I was disappointed you felt you needed to resort to sarcasm. I think you could have made your point without it.

Speaking of your point, let me see if I can summarize it: You seem to suggest that I think the rich are getting a raw deal, when in fact no one should really be concerned about the “wealthy” (of course, we have not actually defined this term) because they already have way more than they need, certainly far more than the “poor”. The Bible underscores this point because there are passages in both the Old and New Testaments that put riches and the wealthy in a bad light.

You missed my point entirely, Brad. My primary concern is for the Truth, and for just and Constitutional government. It is true that a relatively small percentage of the population holds most of the wealth. It’s also true that this small percentage of the population also has the highest income levels. But it is also true that this same group of people pay most of the federal income taxes in this country. That is as it should be. The cartoonist I wrote about suggested that this group of people was trying to take the remaining wealth from the rest of the population. This statement suggests that economics is a “zero sum” game; that the wealthy get that way because someone else is getting poorer. This violates basic principles of economics. All it does is pit one class of people against another. Is that right?

It’s been said that the gap between the “rich” and the “poor” in this country is widening. Does that mean that the rich are getting their wealth from the poor? Not at all! It just means that the wealthier percentage of the population is getting wealthier at a faster rate than the least wealthy percentage. History has shown that living standards for all Americans have continued to increase.

So who are “the rich”? In many cases, it will be people who have built small businesses, which provide jobs and fill important needs in local economies. In other cases it will be professionals such as medical doctors or lawyers, from whose services society benefits. Executives of major corporations are in this “rich” category, but their salaries are driven far more by competition within the free market for executive talent than by some arbitrary standard that says $200,000 per year is more than enough for anybody. For that matter, why are college football coaches paid millions of dollars a year? Isn’t this excessive? It all depends on whether football coaches are considered “worth it” – our society has decided that it values watching good college football teams compete, so there is a lot of money in that particular segment of the economy. The salary of a good football coach is also driven by competition for coaching talent (just like it is for professional sports players).

It’s not fair, nor is it logical, to draw the conclusion that people who have a lot of wealth don’t deserve it! In fact it is a sin, because it violates the commandment not to covet (Exodus 20:17).

As for the Bible’s views on wealth, when you really look at the passages related to riches or property (including the ones you cited) you find that a biblical worldview respects private property and does not make any judgment about the inherent state of being wealthy or poor. The point Jesus makes numerous times is not that being wealthy is bad, but that having great wealth provides sinful human beings with great temptation to place their security and their pride in their possessions, rather than in Christ. Jesus never condemned Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea for their wealth. When the rich young ruler came to Jesus to ask how he might inherit eternal life scripture says that Jesus “looking at him, loved him” (Mark 10:21). The point really was not that he needed to give up his wealth to become poor (as if there is virtue in being poor), but that he not love his money more than God – in contrast to Zaccheus who so loved Jesus and was so grateful, that he paid back multiple times what he had extorted from his victims.

In fact, both the commandments not to steal (Ex 20:15) and not to covet indicate the importance of private property in the life of the people of God. Nowhere in scripture is it commanded or even suggested that it is right for the state to take money from “the rich” and give it to “the poor”. Numerous provisions were made in the bible to provide for the poor (not farming up to the edge of your field, leaving the “gleanings”, not shaking down all of your olives off the tree), including inheritance laws and, significantly, the year of jubilee (Leviticus 25) which meant that every 50 years, property would revert to its original owners.

From a purely economic standpoint, society in the United States as a whole (“poor” included) would benefit from lower tax rates. It has been shown time and again that lower rates of taxation actually generate more revenue to the Federal government because wealth that would otherwise find its way into a tax sheltered investment is now freed to invest in wealth-creating industries that provide value and jobs. Even John F. Kennedy, during his administration, made significant reductions in the tax rate for that very reason. The purpose of taxes is to raise money to run the government, not to punish people who ostensibly have “more than enough”. If super-wealthy individuals like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet think they could afford to pay more in taxes, they are welcome to write the government a check – why do they need to change the tax law?

Brad, I honestly don’t know why so many folks who call themselves “progressives” get so angry and resort to name calling and class warfare. I’m sure they think it’s a matter of social justice. It’s pretty easy to stand back and say the government should tax that rich guy over there at a higher rate so that the poor guy over there can have more money, and thereby incomes will be more “equal”. It’s harder to get personally involved in ministering to the poor. Government administered social welfare programs have not won the “war on poverty”. They have only bankrupted the government and contributed to the breakdown of the nuclear family and the perpetuation of an economically dependent underclass.

As you can see (I hope!) I have given a lot of thought to this. I want you to know that I respect you for writing me, and I hope we can continue to be friends!