Visions of the Economy

The Demonic Vision:

In the worship of wealth or Mammon, supreme dignity and rights belong to those who have. The owner of property is entitled to rights and control but also admiration. In the worship of Mammon, we seek salvation by amassing as much wealth as we can, knowing that what we can buy, be it food, health care, or whatever, is what will preserve our life and well-being. In the worship of Mammon, the greatest rule of ethics is the sanctity of property rights. The worship of Mammon says, "it's too bad people die because of police brutality, but looting and rioting has got to stop." Death is regrettable, but the destruction of property is the ultimate sin against the god Mammon. The worship of Mammon cherishes things and uses people, a perversion of our creator's intent.

This is the basis of our economy today.

The Beatific Vision (as I understand it):

God intends for all creatures to thrive.

Thus, each creature should expect from the community both the material and social conditions that promote their thriving and also the opportunity to do meaningful work, according to their gifts, to promote the wellbeing of the Kingdom of God. Each creature must also give an account for how they used all the gifts entrusted to them to build up the Kingdom of God.

In this worldview, personal property is real (both talents in the modern sense and talents in the ancient sense of wealth), but the idea of allodial private property that is one’s to dispose of as one sees fit is sinfully absurd. There is no wealth that does not belong to God. There is no human ownership, only stewardship. Any asset on a ledger sheet has a debit of accountability to God for how that gift was used to build up the Kingdom of God. The earth is the Lords, for he made it, as the antiphon goes; come let us adore him.

Any wealth or skill that is merely enjoyed and not used to build up others and promote the thriving of all creatures is wealth or skill misused.

The between-times

Scarcity is a function of people living according to the demonic vision and not the beatific vision. Both underproduction (hoarding the gifts of skill and labor) and overconsumption (hoarding the gifts of God and the fruits of human labor often alienated from the workers who made it) mean that many creatures live without what they need to thrive. This is sin.

The question is what the church’s role should be in these between-times. How should the church (and each of her members) use the gifts it has to help bring the world closer to the beatific vision and away from the demonic one.