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Prophets and Profiteers
else could there be profit in the deal? So Aristotle
viewed the middle man as a parasite on society who
gained at the expense of others.
These ideas affected the economic philosophies of
early Christianity. The most outstanding economic
writer among the many medieval religious philosophers
was Thomas Aquinas. He wrote in great detail
emphasizing the ideal of just price and the injustices
which occur when one trades for profit and strays from
the just price.
The concepts of working to get ahead and acquiring
material wealth were condemned by medieval religious
writers. However, we would recognize these concepts
as basic conditions essential for a market place to
operate and for economic growth to occur. Consider
the times. The Middle Ages lasted for a thousand
years, from approximately the sixth century to the
sixteenth century.
The clergy and nobility, the educated class at the
time, decided that they should set the economic rules of
life for the masses. When one went to church on
Sunday, he was likely to hear grim sermons:
''Better to
be
poor(purposely or accidentally)
and leave more for
others and then have your reward in the
hereafter. .. than to be rich
(purposely or accidentally)
and leave less for others and lose your soul"
How could it be otherwise? A good moral person
would practice personal denial, and he was also to feel
good about his miserable situation. Then came the
Renaissance and the Reformation. Both occurring
around the sixteenth century, ideas long dormant were
brought to the surface and led to much progress.
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