The Choice: MEconomy or WEconomy?

Several years ago, I encountered Charles Eisenstein and the gift-economy.¹ It was like light flooding into the darkened maze of our competitive, profit-obsessed, BIG business culture. My first introduction to Eisenstein was through the printed word, but here is a short film introduction for the uninitiated:

Sacred Economics with Charles Eisenstein - A Short Film (Time 12:08) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEZkQv25uEs&t=4s

Sometime before Eisenstein, I had encountered Daniel Pink² and his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Therein, he described how researchers have discovered that money as a reward / incentive can actually be a hindrance and disincentive to efficiency, creativity, and best effort.

Then about two weeks ago, I heard Quinn Michaels³ distill the choice into: MEconomy or WEconomy.

So, let us ponder: What are the choices we are individually making in economics? Do we think we have to wait for “authorities” to setup,  define, or structure the WEconomy before we can choose? Have we fallen into the déjà vu seduction of power and gain agendas of the MEconomy?⁴ Do we have the courage and faith to trust in God's gift economy and begin to make individual changes that in the aggregate of many individuals can change the world?

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1. https://charleseisenstein.net/ ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Eisenstein ; http://sacred-economics.com/ ;
My previous posts relating to the gift-economy are at http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2014/06/gods-economy-is-it-possible.html ; http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2013/12/gods-economy-christmas-perspective.html
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_H._Pink ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive:_The_Surprising_Truth_About_What_Motivates_Us
My posts relating to Daniel Pink are at http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2013/02/one-more-nail.html ; http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2014/03/truly-afflicted-with-riches.html
3. I did not record the exact video at the time, but Quinn Michaels is a unique researcher who may have much to tell us, if we are able to listen beyond our possible biases or expectations, and beyond the smear campaigns of those pursuing or protecting power and gain agendas. His YouTube channel is at https://www.youtube.com/user/quinnmichaels
4. Remember Ayn Rand, et al.? http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2014/03/me-me-mine.html ; http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/search/label/AynRand

"The Love of Money"?

(Another Prophetic Voice from the Dust — of 1800s AD?)

I know of no country, indeed, where the love of money has taken stronger hold on the affections of men, and where the profounder contempt is expressed for the theory of the permanent equality^[1] of property. (Tocqueville, Alexis de, Democracy in America, vol. 1)

Men living in democratic ages have many passions, but most of their passions either end in the love of riches or proceed from it. The cause of this is, not that their souls are narrower, but that the importance of money is really greater at such times. When all the members of a community are independent of or indifferent to each other, the co-operation of each of them can only be obtained by paying for it: this infinitely multiplies the purposes to which wealth may be applied, and increases its value. When the reverence which belonged to what is old has vanished, birth, condition, and profession no longer distinguish men, or scarcely distinguish them at all: hardly anything but money remains to create strongly marked differences between them, and to raise some of them above the common level. The distinction originating in wealth is increased by the disappearance and diminution of all other distinctions. Amongst aristocratic nations money only reaches to a few points on the vast circle of man's desires—in democracies it seems to lead to all. The love of wealth is therefore to be traced, either as a principal or an accessory motive, at the bottom of all that the Americans do: this gives to all their passions a sort of family likeness, and soon renders the survey of them exceedingly wearisome. This perpetual recurrence of the same passion is monotonous; the peculiar methods by which this passion seeks its own gratification are no less so. (Tocqueville, Alexis de, Democracy in America, vol. 2; bold emphasis added.)

If one will follow the daily exposures coming out of Crowd Source the Truth² and George Webb,³ (and many others), one will come to understand how the love of money (and power) has brought the U.S. (and the world) to political / legal / moral / spiritual / constitutional crisis — to this “perpetual recurrence.” Ratlines marketing every (in)conceivable form of corruption are all about MONEY and the power it brings. The “monotonous” Master Mahan⁴ plan of “rape, pillage, and plunder” is flooding this world and we remain ignorant or dismissive at our dire peril.

Please listen to the warning voices.

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1. Contrast with:
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 70:14 ~ Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 78:5-7 ~ That you may be equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things. For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things; For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.
2. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Cl9QaRtuW9CNjP7pP4BBQ
3. https://www.youtube.com/user/georgwebb
4. Pearl of Great Price | Moses 5:31~ And Cain said: Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.
Pearl of Great Price | Moses 5:49 ~ For Lamech having entered into a covenant with Satan, after the manner of Cain, wherein he became Master Mahan, master of that great secret which was administered unto Cain by Satan; and Irad, the son of Enoch, having known their secret, began to reveal it unto the sons of Adam:

Molten Images ?

“They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods. Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.”
       (Old Testament | Isaiah 42:17-18)

Will we finally understand when all our investments, savings, and retirement funds vanish “in an instant suddenly”?

Arms Race?

aka: Colossal Squid
can be up to 46 feet long
from WikimediaCommons: author Rcidte

If a group of divers were attacked by a Colossal squid,¹ and became obsessively focused on disabling a single arm as the chief and all consuming danger, what would be their chances of survival? Slim to none?

Well, that seems to be the strategy of many defenders of freedom. They latch onto the parasitic system of socialist / communist tyranny and hack away, leaving other arms free to contort and captivate, seemingly oblivious to the danger or damage.

So, one last time (maybe),  I sound the alarm and lay it out as plain as I can.

Babylon is the body of the Colossal—the “brain,” the nerve center manipulating all the arms of destruction. Babylon—the whore of all the earth (God’s description²)—will co-opt, infiltrate, and corrupt everything she can lay her arms and tentacles to, and she has done so. Science, government, law enforcement, military, militias, politics, philosophy, entertainment, religion, finance, business, education, industry, you name it—she has a suckered arm for each. But perhaps the more far-reaching, dangerous tentacles are those devoted to that other (conjoined) parasitic system known as capitalism / corporatism.

It remains astounding that people with conscience and grey-matter cannot yet discern that corporate capitalism has done more damage to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness worldwide—at warp speed—than any other tyranny ever threatened to do. Of course, tyrannies have done enormous damage, but there are no countries or institutions that so market and manufacture deception and destruction (despite some real and perceived contributions) like those promoting  the primacy of profit and the supremacy of “competitive” capitalism. Capitalism has become its own tyranny, one we seem reluctant to investigate, because the perks and privileges of power and gain hide a multitude of sins—mostly in the third world, but more and more, sweeping round as a global flood.

Just take a look at the “dark side” of what power and gain and the desire for power and gain (the focus of corporate capitalism and its architects) have wrought and ask:

▪ Where would our world be and what incredible advances might be present IF our paradigm had been one of cooperation and compassion instead of competition, self-interest, and profit?
▪ What two words describe the way of iniquity (the way of the Natural Man³) more succinctly than these two: competition and self-interest?
▪ Can force or intimidation ever begin to match the captivity that freely-chosen iniquity will bring upon the soul who succumbs to the riches, enticements, images, and flatteries of Babylon?

As for Ayn Rand devotees, it’s past time to observe the science of self-interest and motivation.

As it is, there is probably no age, ever, since the beginning of time that has been as obtuse and blind to truth and consequence than this age obsessed with power and gain, competition and self-interest. The so-called dark ages might be considered a time of enlightenment in comparison for

… if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,
how great is that darkness!
No man can serve two masters:
for either he will hate the one, and love the other;
or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
(New Testament | Matthew 6:23-24)

Do we really think mammon and materialism equates to communism / socialism or some other government tyranny? Why do we seem so reluctant to admit that Babylon has acquired her coveted wealth and power (and consequent captivation of others) through the corruption of our (so-called) free, capital markets? What other economic system is so saturated with money, merchants, riches, costly apparel, endless things, vain images, gross inequities, and unconscionable debt?

When will we awake to the great deception—to our awful situation?

Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you,
when ye shall see these things come among you
that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation,
because of this secret combination
which shall be among you;
or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them
who have been slain;
for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it,
and also upon those who built it up.
For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up
seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries;
and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people,
for it is built up by the devil,
who is the father of all lies;
even that same liar who beguiled our first parents,
yea, even that same liar
who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning;
who hath hardened the hearts of men
that they have murdered the prophets,^[4]
and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.
(Book of Mormon | Ether 8:24-25; bold emphasis added)

And if we haven’t noticed that warp speed has warped again in these latter days, then maybe we should re-read New Testament Revelations, especially:

... Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea!  for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. (New Testament | Revelation 12:12, bold emphasis added.)

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1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_squid ; current estimates put its maximum size at 12–14 m (39–46 ft) long.
2. Doctrine and Covenants | Section 86:3 ~ And after they have fallen asleep the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign—behold he soweth the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness.
New Testament | Revelation 17:4-5 ~ And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
New Testament | Revelation 18:2-3 ~ Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 28:18 ~ But behold, that great and abominable church, the whore of all the earth, must tumble to the earth, and great must be the fall thereof.
3. Book of Mormon | Mosiah 3:19 ~ For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
4. (Includes all those who speak truth to power and who lose life or liberty for doing so.)

Deception, Inc. ?

Frankly, it is discouraging to hear good Christians rail against socialism¹ as the great enemy of God and mankind—as if socialism were the despised Babylon. Yet the facts witness that socialism is a convenient decoy to keep us distracted from the real Babylon.

What are those facts?

▪ Socialism has never had the capacity, incentives, or excess to constitute Babylon with all her merchants and her

merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. (New Testament | Revelations 13:12-13)

▪ Socialism is not “clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! (New Testament | Revelations 13:16) Or as Nephi describes:

I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots. And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church. (Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 13:7-8)

▪ Socialism will never achieve the prosperity or opulence ascribed to Babylon.

▪ Socialism is essentially a national merchant with everyone working for the one (corrupted) merchant-state which, more often than not, presides over scarcity and rationing.

So, if we want to discover who Babylon really is, and shift our paradigm and focus to the greater enemy, maybe we should ask some comparative questions, like:

What economic system:

» has a surfeit of merchants?
» is known for its “abundance of delicacies” (as opposed to recurring scarcity and rationing)?
» owns malls, media, and markets that promise: “You can buy anything in this world with money” (and then offers it, no matter how depraved or trivial)?
» makes massive profits from perpetuating the myths of free markets, “invisible hand,” faux-personhood, meritocracy, trickle-down, and on and on?
» co-ops freedom and free-markets in order to amass private oligopolies, monopolies, and tyrannies?
» enslaves more persons worldwide (including faux-persons) with credit and debt?
» manipulates global markets, strategies, and governments?
» measures everything in terms of money and bottom-line?
» profits most from war and disease?
» traffics in (i.e., buys and sells with money) the souls of men (via HyPE² contracts; perks; bonuses; loyalty demands; investments without accountability; promises of wealth, power, immunity; etc.)?
» sells to and buys up armies and navies, politicians and pundits, researchers and writers, publishers and performers, churches and colleges, actors and activists, lawyers and lobbyists, and on and on (as opposed to nationalizing / expropriating / confiscating, / prohibiting / threatening, etc.)?
» has a foundation and future that depends on perpetual, unsustainable growth and increasingly transitory stuff?
» best fits the description of John the Revelator in prophesying the nature and fall of Babylon:

… the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. (New Testament | Revelation 18:3)

the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: (Ibid. 18:11)

The merchants of these things,^[3] which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate (Ibid. 18:15-19)?

Socialism (like every other economic system of the world) is administered by the Natural Man⁴ who will forever siphon-off the most and best of everything for self and let the common man portion out the remaining, minor percentage. Socialism may speak fine words (equity and justice for the working class), but just like Democrats and Republicans, Conservatives and Liberals, it all goes by the board when perks and privileges come knocking at the door of power-hungry leaders. Thus, we are sadly misled if we think that Socialism, with all its scarcities and rationing, is the great archenemy, which God defines as Babylon.⁵ We are even more tragically misled to think that the excesses and disparities of Babylon can be ignored or, even worse, praised and promoted as the inherent, just rewards of (what must surely be!) God’s economy.⁶

When do we finally clue-in that God’s economy is not of this world? And if we don’t clue-in, is that the great deception?

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1. It seems in recent decades that Socialism (an economic system) has replaced Communism (a political system) as the great enemy. They are in fact linked because Communism manages its economics through an extreme form of socialism (or at least pretends to). But Communism / Socialism is as susceptible to the tendencies of the Natural Man (fn 4) as all other systems are, so we always find at the “classless” top of communist / socialist systems, a group of privileged elites who come nowhere near sharing the lot of the common man. Communism / socialism always descends into a pretense of itself, just as democratic / republican / free-market systems do.
2.  (Highly Paid Employee)
3. [“the fruits that thy soul lusted after”; all things which were dainty and goodly” (New Testament |  Revelations 18:14]
4. The Natural Man: Book of Mormon | Mosiah 3:19 ~ For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
Book of Mormon | Alma 41:11 ~ … all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.
Book of Mormon | Alma 42:10 ~ Therefore, as they [mankind] had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state.
5. Additional descriptions of Babyon:
» Old Testament | Isaiah 13:19 ~ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, (See also: Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 23:19)
» Old Testament | Isaiah 14:4) ~ … the golden city …
» New Testament | Revelation 18:3 ~ For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
» New Testament | Revelation 18:9-19 ~ And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
Compare with Book of Mormon, great and abominable Church:
» Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 13:4-9 ~ And it came to pass that I saw among the nations of the Gentiles the formation of a great church. And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity. And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was the founder of it. And I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots. And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church. And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity.
6. Do we think the word free in free-markets is the operative word? Or is this scripture more on point?

... freely ye have received, freely give. (New Testament | Matthew 10:8)

See also: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2013/12/gods-economy-christmas-perspective.html and http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2014/06/gods-economy-is-it-possible.html

Truth Be Told ! ?

“I worship at the altar of the free market.”

(Quote from Gerry Nicholls¹ at minute 9:50 on CBC “The Current”: episode titled, “What is the Future of Public Broadcasting in Canada?” broadcast May 14, 2014.²)

Staunch conservative Mr. Nicholls managed to condense into nine words, the “free-market” devotion of millions who have bought, hook-line-and-sinker, the idea that almost everything must “succeed or fail on the basis of the free market” (minute 6:30). A devotion that fails to acknowledge:

▪ the real facts and history of big business;
▪ the natural corruptions of the profit-motive;
▪ the truths obscured by “free-market” platitudes;
▪ real world manipulations, schemes, delusions, and persuasions (aided by communication consultants, like Mr. Nicholls); and
▪ the meaning and purpose of altars. Are they not intended for sacrifice? In Mr. Nicholls' case, sacrifice of what? Truth? Reality? Thoughful analysis?

Makes one wonder:

1) Could this worship of the “free-market” be related in any way to “that great Church”³ that Book of Mormon Nephi warned us about?

And [the angel] said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 14:10)

2) Is this “free-market” worship, the kind of self-con included when Jesus said:

And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted [to God’s economy], and I should heal them. (New Testament Matthew 13:14-15)

How long before we Christians recognize that the economic systems of capitalism AND communism are just opposing sides of the same corrupting, counterfeit coin of this worldly realm? and that there is a higher, better way?

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1. Gerry Nicholls is a communications consultant and former vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition (Canada’s largest organization for the defence of economic and political freedoms). See http://www.gerrynicholls.com/
2. http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/current_20140514_13102.mp3
3. See also http://www.dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2011/03/econ-009-church-of-laissez-faire.html
http://www.dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/search/label/Laissez-faire

God’s Economy: A Christmas Perspective

(Part One of a series)

Perhaps at this season of gifts and giving, we “religious” folk should take a serious 360° look at our preferred economic system. For disciples of capitalism,¹ the writing has been on the wall since Cain. For devotees of planned economies (socialism / communism), the writing on the wall may have preceded Cain.

In any event, both systems have served the god of Master Mahan² superbly well. If you don’t believe, look at the excesses (including the endless trivial) that glut our temples of commerce on the one hand and the scarcity and tragedies that haunt the environs of 3rd-world factories on the other. And that is just a 360 view of our “treasured” capitalism. The scarcities and tragedies of failed Communism were a little harder to conceal because the mountain of “goods” never materialized to obscure the truth behind the lies.

SO, if you think capitalism deserves all the credit for all the bounties that we “enjoy,” CONSIDER: What are the advancements and enlightenments we have forfeited³ because we have never been faithful, trusting, courageous, or charitable enough⁴ to live God’s economy—an economy of gifts, giving, and forgiving?

So what are some truths of God’s economy?⁵

▪ Every good thing is God’s and of God, including every breath we take.⁶
▪ There is enough and to spare.⁷
▪ Every soul has at least one specific gift to share with the world,⁸ plus the universal, though varying, gift of time.
▪ Gifts are not to be denied or ignored.⁹
▪ Gifts must be used and increased to warrant retaining them, but God gives the increase.¹⁰
▪ We are to ask for spiritual gifts we desire.¹¹
▪ We are to petition God for our daily needs.¹²
▪ Gifts are not always linear as to effort or merit.¹³
▪ We are stewards of God’s gifts.¹⁴
▪ We are to give in wisdom and order: as we are able; as we are inspired.¹⁵
▪ We must learn to be equal in earthy things,¹⁶ which comes as we live the two great commandments.
▪ Good gifts to others are as gifts to God.¹⁷
▪ The principle of gift-giving permeates historical and latter-day commands.¹⁸
▪ Anonymous gifts are preferred.¹⁹
▪ Gifts can be corrupted and corrupting if not given and received with an eye single to the glory of God.²⁰
▪ The idle (whether rich or poor) are not to take except through fair and consensual compensation, though all may receive gifts voluntarily given.²¹ The same applies to employers.
▪ Every soul is invited to partake freely of the gifts of God.²²
▪ We are to extend the gift of forgiveness.²³
▪ We are to continually thank God for our gifts.²⁴
▪ We cannot give enough to get the upper hand with God.²⁵
▪ It is more blessed to give than to receive;²⁶ (thus, it is also blessed to receive).
▪ We are to give cheerfully, not grudgingly.²⁷
▪ In order to have gifts to give, we must labour (i.e., give of our time, energies, talents, increase).²⁸
▪ We are not to judge whether a person deserves a gift or whether they will use it wisely.²⁹
▪ By living God’s economy and laws, we qualify, by virtue of the atonement, to be heirs (giftees) of all things.³⁰

One of the great sermons on God’s economy was given by King Benjamin circa 124 BC.

16 And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.
17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—
18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.
19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?
20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.
21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.
22 And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.
23 I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.
24 And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give. (Book of Mormon Mosiah 4:16-24)

Is living God’s economy practical in our present world? Perhaps not. Is it rational? Not really. It’s like Jesus and His life and death. It’s transrational. And transrational in this world is to live in faith, hope, charity, and obedience because God has said:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Old Testament Isaiah 55:8-9)

That’s the gist of it. We develop our gifts. We share our gifts. We help others develop and share theirs. We consecrate our all to God and His wisdom and purposes. We give anonymously to overcome the disposition to pride and corruption.

The good news is that not one of us is prevented from living, desiring to live, or beginning to live the economy of God (or elements thereof) even in the midst of Babylon and her carnivals of deception and excess.

In short: if we lived God’s economy of “gifts, giving, and forgiving,” there would be no poor among us, every person would be free to develop and use his/her gifts, and we wouldn’t be stuck in “The [tragic, obscene, pathetic, despicable] World As It Is” described by Chris Hedges and others. We wouldn’t be competing for power, privilege, wealth, popularity, land, or fame. We would be cooperating for that which would maximize the good, the true, and the beautiful.

~~~~~~~~~

This post only begins to scratch the surface of God’s economy. In coming weeks, there will be additional posts dealing with:

▪ a (partial) history of giving;
▪ what God requires of us;
▪ ways to begin living God’s economy in the midst of Babylon;
▪ (and perhaps others).

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1. And by this, we mean corporate, corrupted capitalism with all its bottom-line, competitive, and corrupt justifications. This is not to say that nothing good has come from capitalism, but it is to say that nothing "achieved" through capitalism could not have been achieved through cooperation and collaboration sooner and further without the awful costs. For more of this writer's thoughts on capitalism and competing economic systems, see: http://www.dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/search/label/Corporatism ; http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/search/label/Economics .
2. Pearl of Great Price Moses 5:31 ~ And Cain said: Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.
3. As in the myriad gifts buried in migrant fields, slave plantations / camps, sweatshops, shanty towns, ghettos, soulless jobs, bars, casinos, and the like; or the gifts sacrificed in pursuit of power, prestige, privilege, wealth, appearance, popularity, and so forth; or the gifts bought up and “disappeared” in the economics of competition and bottom-line.
4. (Including this writer, along with most of mankind.)
5. (This is but a sampling.)
6. Old Testament Exodus 19:5 ~ ... for all the earth is mine:
Old Testament Deuteronomy 10:14 ~ Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
Old Testament 1 Chronicles 29:14 ~ ... for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
Old Testament Job 12:9-10 ~ Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
Old Testament Ecclesiastes 3:13 ~ And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
Old Testament Ecclesiastes 5:19 ~ Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
Old Testament Isaiah 42:5 ~ Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
New Testament Acts 17:24-25 ~ God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
New Testament 2 Peter 1:3 ~ According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Book of Mormon Mosiah 2:21 ~ I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
Book of Mormon Moroni 7:16 ~ For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
New Testament Romans 14:8 ~ For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. (See also Old Testament Daniel 5:23; Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 9:26)
7. Doctrine and Covenants Section 104:17-18 ~ For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves. Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.
New Testament Romans 8:32 ~ He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
8. New Testament 1 Corinthians 7:7 ~ For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 46:11-12 ~ For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.
9. New Testament 1 Timothy 4:14 ~ Neglect not the gift that is in thee, ...
Book of Mormon Moroni 10:8 ~ And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.
Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 29:6 ~ Yea, wo unto him that shall deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost!
10. See the parable of the talents: New Testament Matthew 25:14-30; Book of Mormon Ether 12:25; Doctrine and Covenants 82:18.
New Testament 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 ~ I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
11. Doctrine and Covenants Section 46:8-12 ~ ... seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given; For verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me, that ask and not for a sign that they may consume it upon their lusts. And again, verily I say unto you, I would that ye should always remember, and always retain in your minds what those gifts are, that are given unto the church. For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.
Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 27:29 ~ Therefore, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened.
12. New Testament Matthew 6:9-11 ~ After this manner therefore pray ye: ... Give us this day our daily bread.
Book of Mormon Alma 7:23 ~ And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.
13. New Testament Matthew 5:44-45 ~ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Old Testament Deuteronomy 6:10-11 ~ And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
Old Testament Joshua 24:13 ~ And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
Old Testament Psalms 105:44 ~ And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;
Book of Mormon Mosiah 2:20-21 ~ I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another— I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
Book of Mormon Mosiah 4:11 ~ And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
New Testament John 4:36-38 ~ And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
Also consider Manna, Quail, working poor, idle rich, family ties, etc.
14. New Testament Romans 14:12 ~ So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 42:32 ~ ... every man shall be made accountable unto me, a steward over his own property, or that which he has received by consecration, as much as is sufficient for himself and family.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 51:19 ~ And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and shall inherit eternal life.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 104:12-13 ~ That every man may give an account unto me of the stewardship which is appointed unto him. For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures.
15. Old Testament Deuteronomy 16:17 ~ Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.
Book of Mormon Mosiah 4:26-27 ~ And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants. And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.
New Testament Romans 12:8 ~ ... he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity;
16. Doctrine and Covenants Section 78:5-7 ~ That you may be equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things. For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things; For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 82:17-19: And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just— And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord's storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church— Every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.
Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 26:19-20 ~ And they taught, and did minister one to another; and they had all things common among them, every man dealing justly, one with another. And it came to pass that they did do all things even as Jesus had commanded them.
Book of Mormon 4 Nephi 1:3 ~ And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.
New Testament Matthew 22:35-40 ~ Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
17. New Testament Matthew 25:34-45 ~ ... Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 42:38 ~ For inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of these, ye do it unto me.
18. Might it be possible that a prime purpose of all those centuries of burnt, wave, heave, peace and other offerings and tithes were to keep people in the spirit of giving? And what about the year of release (i.e. debt forgiveness) as in Old Testament Deuteronomy 15:7-11 ~ If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
Remember the rich, young man at New Testament Matthew 19:16-24. See also Doctrine and Covenants 42, 49:20; 51; 82 respecting the Law of Consecration
19. New Testament Matthew 6:3-4 ~ But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
20. Book of Mormon Moroni 10:30 ~ I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.
Book of Mormon Moroni 7:6 ~ For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.
Old Testament Isaiah 1:23 ~ Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Old Testament Exodus 23:8 ~ And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
Old Testament Deuteronomy 16:19 ~ Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
Old Testament Proverbs 17:23 ~ A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
New Testament James 4:3 ~ Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
21. Doctrine and Covenants Section 42:42 ~ Thou shalt not be idle [as in idle rich or idle poor]; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 42:54 ~ Thou shalt not take thy brother's garment; thou shalt pay for that which thou shalt receive of thy brother.
Old Testament Proverbs 21:25-26 ~ The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour. He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not.
Book of Mormon Mosiah 18:24 ~ And he also commanded them that the priests whom he had ordained should labor with their own hands for their support.
New Testament Acts 20:35 ~ I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
To employers:
Old Testament Deuteronomy 24:14-15 ~ Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee.
Old Testament Malachi 3:5 ~ And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against ... those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
New Testament Luke 10:7 ~ ...for the labourer is worthy of his hire.
New Testament 2 Thessalonians 3:8-11 ~ Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
New Testament James 5:4 ~ Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 70:12 ~ He who is appointed to administer spiritual things, the same is worthy of his hire, even as those who are appointed to a stewardship to administer in temporal things;
Doctrine and Covenants Section 56:16-17 ~ Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved! Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men's goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, and who will not labor with your own hands!
22. Old Testament Isaiah 55:1-2 ~ HO, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
New Testament Revelation 22:17 ~ And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 9:50 ~ Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 88:33 ~ For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.
New Testament Matthew 10:8 ~ ... freely ye have received, freely give.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 38:16 ~ And for your salvation I give unto you a commandment, for I have heard your prayers, and the poor have complained before me, and the rich have I made, and all flesh is mine, and I am no respecter of persons.
23. Doctrine and Covenants Section 64:8-10 ~ My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened. Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men. (See also footnote 18 about the year of release and debt forgiveness.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 98:38-40 ~ Behold, this is an ensample unto all people, saith the Lord your God, for justification before me. And again, verily I say unto you, if after thine enemy has come upon thee the first time, he repent and come unto thee praying thy forgiveness, thou shalt forgive him, and shalt hold it no more as a testimony against thine enemy—And so on unto the second and third time; and as oft as thine enemy repenteth of the trespass wherewith he has trespassed against thee, thou shalt forgive him, until seventy times seven.
Old Testament Deuteronomy 15:1-2 ~ AT the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD's release. (See also verses 7-11 at footnote 18.)
24. New Testament Ephesians 5:20 ~ Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
New Testament 2 Corinthians 9:15 ~ Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
Old Testament 1 Chronicles 16:34 ~ O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
Old Testament Psalms 30:12 ~ To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
New Testament 1 Thessalonians 5:18 ~ In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Book of Mormon Mosiah 18:23 ~ ... every day they should give thanks to the Lord their God.
Book of Mormon Mosiah 26:39 ~ ... being commanded of God to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things.
25. Book of Mormon Mosiah 2:21 ~ I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
New Testament Luke 6:38 ~ Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
26. New Testament Acts 20:35 ~ I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
27. New Testament 2 Corinthians 9:7 ~ Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
Book of Mormon Moroni 7:8 ~ For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 70:14 ~ Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld.
28. New Testament Acts 20:35 ~ I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Book of Mormon Mosiah 18:24 ~ And he also commanded them that the priests whom he had ordained should labor with their own hands for their support.
New Testament Ephesians 4:28 ~ Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29. Book of Mormon Mosiah 4:17-18 ~ Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just— But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.
Footnote # 21 concerning idlers seems to be a personal directive to idlers and not a mandate for others to judge merit. Idlers are accountable to God and will be judged righteously by Him.
30. New Testament Matthew 25:34 ~ Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Old Testament Proverbs 8:21 ~ That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.
Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 9:18 ~ But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever.
Book of Mormon Mosiah 27:25-26 ~ And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.
Book of Mormon Ether 12:34 ~ And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 51:19 ~ And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and shall inherit eternal life.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 78:17-19 ~ Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you; And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours. And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.

Some Choice!!!

Yesterday, a die-hard, grass-roots conservative said to me, “If I had to choose between government corruption and corporate corruption, I would choose the corporate.” He does not seem aware that much of the current government corruption is “purchased” by huge corporations in order to enhance and protect their own (not just national, but) global profits and devastations. He has bought into the Libertarian idea that government regulation is the root of (unfortunate) free-market and social evils. He, like most of his ideological mates, is utterly naïve about the true nemesis of a Zion society.

Babylon is happy to point her engorged finger at government. She is delighted to deflect attention from her abuses. She is thrilled to shift blame. She spends millions attempting to silence voices of warning. And more millions to produce enough pop, porn, paraphernalia, and propaganda to keep people sufficiently sick, addicted, debt-ridden, and deceived that the voices go unheard. Voices like:

The Future of Food ¹
Inside Job ²
You, Me & the SPP ³
The World According to Monsanto ⁴
Toxic Sludge is Good for You! ⁵
Sweet Remedy: Adulterated Food Supply ⁶
Corporate Crime and Violence ⁷

This is but a miniscule sample of the voices crying in the latter-day wilderness. Perhaps we could take an hour or two a day for ONE week and listen. Would it make a difference? Would we finally clue in that the (déjà vu) “natural man”⁸ operating in the artificial form of a faux-person has become an insatiable, collectivized, rampaging beast?

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1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Future_of_Food ; http://www.thefutureoffood.com/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Job_(film) ; http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/inside-job/
3. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/trading-democracy-for-corporate-rule/ http://watchdocumentary.com/watch/you-me-and-the-spp-trading-democracy-for-corporate-rule-video_06d2f63f7.html ;
4. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-world-according-to-monsanto/
5. http://www.prwatch.org/tsigfy.html ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaMh8KGfkTM
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUubCJz2d8U or http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/sweet-remedy/
7. by Russell Mokhiber. Read his 1988 book entitled, Corporate Crime and Violence: Big Business Power and the Abuse of the Public Trust. Things have not improved. http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1987/04/editorial.html
8. (Old Testament Ecclesiastes 9:3) … the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, … ; (Old Testament Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? ; (New Testament Romans 8:7) … the carnal mind is enmity against God: …. ; (Book of Mormon Mosiah 3:19) For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

A Fork in the Road!

If you’re headed down the wrong road and you take the right fork in it, as opposed to the left one, does it suddenly become THE right road? Somehow that seems the logic of “God-fearing,” free-market capitalists. The economic road forks a few paces in, and despite the fine rhetoric of freedom, choice, agency, prosperity, ownership, private enterprise, growth, merit, values, etc., etc., capitalism has even less conformity to Christ’s teachings (let alone, those of other faiths) than communism does. When compared with the moral teachings of spiritual leaders through all ages, both economic systems reveal themselves as fallacious ideologies with just enough smattering of truth to decoy the good and mollify the greedy. Here is a quote that should help wake us up!

Satan's masterpiece of counterfeiting is the doctrine that there are only two choices, and he will show us what they are. It is true that there are only two ways, but by pointing us the way he wants us to take and then showing us a fork in that road, he convinces us that we are making the vital choice, when actually we are choosing between branches in his road. Which one we take makes little difference to him, for both lead to destruction. This is the polarization we find in our world today. Thus we have the choice between Shiz and Coriantumr—which all Jaredites were obliged to make. We have the choice between the wicked Lamanites (and they were that) and the equally wicked (Mormon says "more wicked") Nephites. Or between the fleshpots of Egypt and the stews of Babylon, or between the land pirates and the sea pirates of World War I, or between white supremacy and black supremacy, or between Vietnam and Cambodia, or between Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers, or between China and Russia, or between Catholic and Protestant, or between fundamentalist and atheist, or between right and left—all of which are true rivals, who hate each other. A very clever move of Satan!—a subtlety that escapes us most of the time. So I ask Latter-day Saints, "What is your position frankly (…) regarding the merits of cigarettes vs. cigars, wine vs. beer, or heroin vs. LSD?" It should be apparent that you take no sides.^[1]

If a weapon of war works, why not keep using it—déjà vu upon déjà vu, as noted above? Thus we see our present-day polarity: “We have the choice between the wicked [Communists] (and they [are] that) and the equally wicked ([if not] “more wicked”) [Capitalists].

If we think that competition, bottom-line obsessions, management excesses, private luxury, elitism, disparities, consumerism, materialism, lobbying, favoritism, mammon-mongering, debt/credit, etc., etc., have any place in Zion OR that our active promotion of capitalism is furthering the kingdom of God, perhaps we should think again. Perhaps we should make a more careful study of the economics of Zion vis-à-vis that of Babylon. Perhaps we should flee the excesses to which we have become accustomed before it is too late.^[2]

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[1] Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, Chpt. 4, “Gifts,” edited by Don E. Norton [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1989], 112-113. Bold emphasis added.)
[2] "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies." (Old Testament Jeremiah 51:6-9)

Occupy Wall Street*

(* i.e., the “street” that hides behind a massive WALL of false ideology, propaganda, idolatry, and fraud)

Finally—at last! global protests against the perennial hoaxes of Big-Business and the so-called “free markets of invisible, intelligent design”! Here is a page or two worth pondering by my fellow Mormons (and others) from the book, Approaching Zion.

What kind of justice is it when the nobleman, the banker (goldsmith), the money lender, in short, those who do nothing productive, glory in riches while day laborers, teamsters, blacksmiths, carpenters and field workers, whose work can not be dispensed with for a year can sweat out a miserable existence at a level below that of beasts of burden? Our animals do not work so long, are better fed and have better security than they do, for our workers are pressed down by the hopelessness of the situation and the expectation of beggary in old age. What they are paid does not cover their daily needs, and to save anything for old age is out of the question. So we find shocking waste, luxury, triviality and vanity [the lives of the rich and famous] on the one side and utter abject misery on the other.⁴⁶

So as things are, we get the worst of both worlds.

… when I consider this, then every modern society seems to me to be nothing but a conspiracy of the rich, who while protesting their interest in the common good pursue their own interests and stop at no trick and deception to secure their ill-gotten possessions, to pay as little as possible for the labor that produces their wealth and so force its makers to accept the nearest thing to nothing. They contrive rules for securing and assuring these tidy profits for the rich in the name of the common good, including of course the poor, and call them laws!⁴⁷

"But after they have divided among themselves in their insatiable greed all that should go to the society as a whole, they still are not happy."!⁴⁸
The law can avenge but never hinder the deceptions, thievery, riots, panics, murders, assassinations, poisonings, and so on, all of which spring from one source—money. That is Thomas More writing—and it cost him his life.
It has been the same story all along, only suddenly we have reached a new level. For the first time selfishness goes by its own name: "The virtue of selfishness" is the testament of Ayn Rand, the guru of Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, and James Watt, long the favorite reading of BYU students. "No other civilization has permitted the calculus of self-interest so to dominate its culture," writes R. L. Heilbroner; "it has transmogrified greed and philistinism into social virtues, and subordinated all values to commercial values."⁴⁹ This is exactly what Thomas More said: "What has heretofore passed as unjust, … they have turned upside down, and in fact proclaimed it publicly and by law to be nothing less than justice itself."⁵⁰ Mr. Ivan Boesky, in college convocation, commended "healthy greed" as a virtue to be cultivated by the young.⁵¹ That's a virtue! A frenzy of privatization now insists that the only public institution with a reason for existence is the military, to defend us against societies more committed to sharing, and to root out those among us who doubt the sacredness of property. [End of quote.]

Surely, the “sacredness of property” must be reviewed in light of how much has been acquired through oppression, deceit, coercion, corruption, collusion, injustice, and unpunished criminal acts.

Let us, in light of current events and omnipresent déjà vu, take up the task of rethinking the economic theories (of Babylon) and finally admit that men and women have far more to offer the world than self-interested, profit-driven excuse. Why in rejecting the tyrannies of socialism/communism do we so readily accept the inevitable tyrannies of (corporate-driven) capitalism—as if those were the only two choices?

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Footnotes from pp. 486 of Approaching Zion
46. [Thomas More, Utopia, tr. Robert M. Adams, 2 vols. (London: Yale University Press, 1964)], 2:88-89.
47. Ibid., 2:89.
48. Ibid.
49. See Leonard Silk, "The End of the Road?" New York Times Book Review, a review of Robert L. Heilbroner, Business Civilization in Decline (New York: Nolton, 1976).
50. More, Utopia, 1:25.
51. Mariann Caprino, "Healthy Greed Was Boesky's Undoing," Salt Lake Tribune, 20 November 1986, D9.
(Hugh Nibley, [**] Approaching Zion, edited by Don E. Norton [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1989], 466-7.)

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** For those who wish to disparage the life, scholarship, and POV of Hugh Nibley because of the accusations of Martha Beck, I refer you to:
https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/136-62-68.pdf
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/review/?vol=17&num=1&id=570
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/review/?vol=17&num=2&id=587
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/review/?reviewed_author&vol=17&num=1&id=569
http://en.fairmormon.org/Hugh_Nibley/Footnotes

How long?

(Reader’s caution: Perhaps this writer has read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Malachi, & the Book of Mormon too many times! Now juxtaposed against the latest pundits!)

How long till seeing we see, hearing we hear, and reading we understand? Reviewing the dismal records of past “chosen” peoples,^[1] shouldn’t we, in this latter-day, exercise extreme caution in attaching ourselves to philosophies and precepts of the world, especially economic ones. Ask yourself: What is Babylon (the archenemy of Zion) if not our present corrupted capitalism? READ HER DESCRIPTIONS.^[2] She is NOT the failed scarcities of socialism and communism that many conservatives decry with such passion and naiveté. Yes, naiveté, because the decoy is so transparent when one identifies the ways and means and agendas of Babylon. Many “conservatives” beat the drums of fear about “European socialism,” while touting the “rights” and wonders of global markets (wrapped in free-flowing camouflage). But at core, we have a global plutocracy that maligns and manipulates governments, scorns rules and regulations,^[3] claims special status as BIG employers, pollutes, cooks books and tax shelters, lies, steals, abuses, wounds, enslaves, etc., etc., etc.

The hook-line-and-sinker avowals of faith in conservatism, capitalism, and (so-called) free-markets fall so readily from the lips of so many Mormons (and other Christians), it is stunning. Almost as stunning as that “believers” should think Fox News employees and similarly-scripted pundits (all beneficiaries of Babylon?) are prophets of truth and defenders of freedom.

Babylon loves such prophets. They distract—gesticulating at the flat tires of socialism while Babylon pick-pockets in broad daylight. These “prophets” malign protestors who gather at B.’s banks and temples (of commerce). These “prophets” deride those who seek to assert their “bill of rights” vis-à-vis the faux-persons of corporate dominance and power/wealth concentration. These “prophets” peddle their fake brands of fairness, balance, freedom, merit, constitutionalism, corporatism, and righteousness.

How long will we play the fool AND the harlot as investors and debtors in Babylon—praying that someday soon the doors of promise will open to admit us into the higher ranks of “following the profits”?

How long will we look to such false prophets (and profits)? How long will we be suckered by Babylon’s propaganda? How long till we start to use our heads and think beyond the dogma of big business and finance? How long till we befriend the Constitution so that it belongs to all mankind^[4] instead of to wealthy, powerful faux-persons^[5]? How long till we remember the divine directive:

Let not that which I have appointed be polluted by mine enemies, by the consent of those who call themselves after my name; (Doctrine and Covenants Section 101:97, emphasis added)?

See also: http://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2011/01/are-we-serfing-yet.html

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[1] Jaredites, House of Israel (remember there were 12 brothers so Judah wasn't alone in receiving/deserving chastisement!). Remember also those broken-off branches: Mulekites and Nephites/Lamanites. “Chosen” is used in the sense of chosen: 1) to deliver messages to the world of faith, hope, charity, and truth; 2) to be an example of those virtues to others; and 3) to stand as a witness of God at all times and in all places. "Chosen-ness is not just a claim of religious peoples. Remember the sense of  “manifest destiny” of such empires as the Roman, the British, etc.
[2] e.g., New Testament Revelation 17 & 18; compare with Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 13:4-9, 25-34; 14:10-13.
[3] (except those they lobby for, for their own welfare)
[4] "And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me. Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land; And as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil. I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free. Nevertheless, when the wicked rule the people mourn." (Doctrine and Covenants Section 98:5-9)
[5] http://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2011/02/econ-005-person.html

“Priests & Levites”1—modern day parallels?

At my father’s funeral, a speaker (giving the biography) said:

“Travers didn’t separate temporal and spiritual matters. Often times we hear people excusing themselves, ‘Well, that’s business, and this is church. You don’t mix the two.’ They do mix, and Travers kept them together all the time wherever he went, and in the work that he has done.”

Perhaps that is why I see the separation of “church and business” as one of the great failings of our corporate times where many of the values taught in churches and other spiritual centers seem lost in our collectivized rush to prosperity in an increasingly business-dominated world.

Have we, by relying so much on the collective hierarchy of corporate systems, lost our sense of individual responsibility, accountability, and compassion for those that the system casts to the side of the road? Why is it that respectable, honorable men and women can countenance—even engage in—disreputable, dishonorable acts when working for legal fictions² or when shielded as mere investors? Why do so many of us hide our head in the sand of maximized profit and deregulation while our “priests and Levites” promenade the byways of so called “free-markets”? “Free-markets” that have surreptitiously reverted to Adam Smith’s despised mercantile system of amassed wealth, power, and privilege!³ Déjà vu, anyone?!

Adam Smith⁴ believed that self-interest, when properly channeled in the competitive marketplace, could promote virtues of order, trust, self-command, prudence, probity, and even benevolence; that a properly channeled self-interest would redound to the public good. This required that a monopoly of physical power reside with the state—that the state monitor the considerable ironies and negatives that the natural tendencies of competitive markets exacerbated.

Our newspapers, magazines, newscasts, blogs, and websites are filled with stories of the wounded and dying because of increasingly unregulated tendencies. Consider:

▪ Companies continuing to operate unsafe mines⁵ after numerous citations and huge fines.
▪ Businesses justifying subsistence wages and sweatshop conditions.
▪ Companies polluting air, water, land, and living beings.⁶
▪ CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies engaging in bribery and fraud.⁷
▪ Companies knowingly manufacturing and marketing hazardous goods: addiction-enhanced cigarettes, fatal pharmaceuticals, toxic toys, contaminated foods, defective autos, bogus cures, etc.
▪ Financial schemes plundering to the right and to the left.
▪ Multinationals buying up global competitors or destroying them via rumor-mongering.
▪ Big-business falsifying earnings and liabilities.
▪ Etc., etc., etc. ⁸

The list is endless, as are the witnesses⁸ that cry in continual litany against our blindness and deafness. Why do we keep defending corrupted systems that pose as advocates of “competitive free-markets” while violating both the tenets of such free-markets and the professed virtues of owners, managers, shareholders, employees, and citizens at large? Why do we sustain these imposters that malign and weaken, with our consent and complicity, the very institution meant to monitor their adherence to the rule of law and human decency? Instead, we champion a corrupted system that has brought death, disease, injury, pollution, fraud, bribery, and a myriad sins into a marketplace that now survives, not on competition, but on favors? And we? Instead of identifying the brigands that plunder for profit, we demote the “sheriff” by popular (and propagandized) sentiment.

Adam Smith was not anti-government or anti-regulation. He believed that government would grow in size and importance along with the growth of a “channeled” and appropriately regulated competitive free-market as it helped elevate citizens to “universal opulence.” But the very institution designed to protect private property and enforce the rule of law has been co-opted by increasingly unrestrained self-interest and the negatives of wealth combined with power and influence. Large sectors of government now lie wounded at the side of the road along with other citizens while faux, laissez-faire priests and Levites of every stripe take great pains to “not see” or, in the alternative, to justify the wounded and dying. (“Them’s the breaks of the marketplace!”)

There is much good that has come out of the marketplace, but if we persist in blindness by mocking “motes” in government while discounting “beams” in business,⁹ our democratic values and the very Republic of America herself shall be found amongst the victims at the side of the road.

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1. New Testament Luke 10:25-37: And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
2. See Corporate Personality at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_fiction
3. For example: Who else gets Golden parachutes for failing? http://photo.newsweek.com/content/photo/2008/9/photos-ceos-golden-parachutes-from-failed-firms.html
4. Review lectures 7-10 of “Thinking about Capitalism” taught by Jerry Z. Muller, PhD; The Catholic University of America (© 2008, “The Teaching Company®, The Great Courses®)
5. Mining, e.g.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_accident ; http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/04/06/virginia-mine-explosion.html ;
6. Polluters, e.g.: http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/02/19/10-Worst-Corporate-Polluters ; http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0933679.html ;
7. Corporate Fraud: http://securities.stanford.edu/news-archive/2004/20040306_Headline01_Staff.htm ; http://articles.sfgate.com/2002-07-14/business/17553322_1_scandals-regulation-stock ; http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudAmericanHistory.htm ; http://www.itexaminer.com/the-history-of-corporate-fraud-is-banal.aspx ; Bribery: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1977526,00.html ; http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/172/30078.html ; Smuggling: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/04/13/tobacco-smuggling-lawsuit-settled.html ;
8. The list grows every day. For past examples see: http://www.corpwatch.org/ ; http://www.corp-ethics.com/ ; http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/list.html ; http://www.corporations.org/ ; http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/ ;
9. New Testament Matthew 7:3 “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” Of course there are problems with the present state of government excesses and abuses, but the real threat to liberty and democractic values is in the corrupted state of wealth, power, influence, and excess of modern business, which also accounts for much of government corruption.