Mouw's Musings: Two Cheers for the Free Market
Shortly after coming home from one of our trips to mainland China, I read a report by an ecumenical group about economic issues. It featured a rather unnuanced condemnation of “the global market.” It struck me that the Christians I had just been with in China would have found that critique ludicrous. The market system had been working wonders in their country, and the results had been quite visible to us. Only a few years before much of what we saw in China had been drab and depressing. Now, however, things were vibrant and colorful. More importantly, economic freedom was bringing with it more religious freedom, and even signs of new political liberties.
Not that things are perfect in China. With the free market has come new manifestations of human sin, both individual and collective. But it is difficult to deny—when looking at conditions in China up close—that capitalism has brought many blessings to the Chinese people.
It made me wonder what was going on in the minds of the theologians and church leaders who had issued the document that I read. These are the kinds of folks who often accuse those of us in the evangelical world of lusting after simplistic perspectives on complex issues in the human condition. Yet what they said about economics was sheer naitvete.
Nor am I judging that kind of perspective on the basis of one document—the naivete shows up often. A few years ago at a gathering of theological educators, for example, a scholar from a well-known liberal seminary provided us with a rant on the evils of capitalism. He concluded with this prophetic word: “We need to break the grip that the global market has on theological education.” He was asked how he thought theological schools like his would support themselves if they refused to profit from the market system. The answer, he said, was to find alternative sources of funding. Again, a question was posed: And where would we find those sources of funding? His answer—I kid you not!—was that we should form partnerships with organizations like Amnesty International.
Now, I have great respect for Amnesty International. I have even sent them money on occasion. And that makes my point. Amnesty International is itself dependent upon the good will of people who have benefited from the free market system. …
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