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21. Prophets and Profiteers
Did you know that in the Old Testament riches were
equated with
"...having favor with God'?
That is why,
in the gospel account by Mark, after the example of
"...how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter
the Kingdom ofGod!"that
the people asked,
"Who then
can be saved?" (Mark 10:23-26).
Down through the centuries, we and our religious
friends have had trouble dealing with the issues of
wealth and income. Plato, a student of Socrates, wrote
in the fourth century B.C. about a city built on the
division of labor. He went on to describe his ideal state
as a planned community where the philosopher king
would have to be a dictator.
Aristotle, as a student of Plato, criticized the
totalitarian, ideal state that Plato described. Aristotle
pointed out that
"...people pay most attention to their
private property unless to that which they have but a
part interest"
He stood for the encouragement of
personal initiative and a sense of private property.
However, Aristotle also believed that exchanges in
the market place were unproductive activities: if one
side gains the other side must lose. Each family should
produce what it needs for itself. A person who happens
to have a surplus may exchange it for something else,
but only at the
''just price."
It
wasn't good, related Aristotle, for one person to
buy something with the idea of selling to someone else
at profit. The middle man-trader was viewed by
Aristotle as detrimental to society because he
apparently bought the item for less than the just price
or sold it for more than the just price (or both). How
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