World of Business
Sept. 25, 2017
“Money, Greed, and God” by Jay W. Richards
Chapters 1& 2 Analysis
“Money, Greed, and god” Chapters One & Two Analysis”
I perpetually rest assure that Capitalism is selfish and corrupt. Contemplating that greed hurts the poor and helps the rich, that greed is all about the desire for money and power. After reading the introduction and chapters one and two of Jay W. Richar ds book “Money, Greed and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution “, Richard certainly grasps my consideration and leads me towards to considering that a capitalistic economy is not a deficient concept after all and that a “good Christian can be, indeed should be, a good capitalist”.The author seems to structure the book …show more content…
Richards starts his first chapter title with the question,”Cant We Build a Just Society?”. I answered this question, by saying that it is not that easy; we as people can not change human nature, bounded of doing such, and we as people are not perfect.Remarkably, after reading the chapter, the question required that I must work on the first myth of the eight Richard implied;”The Nirvana Myth”. The Nirvana myth portrays the deed of ”contrasting capitalism with an unrealizable ideal rather than its live alternatives’. At first, I did not know what this meant, but subsequently closing the chapter with clarifying the myth, the complexity became clearer. Richards himself states, “The question isn’t whether capitalism measures up to the kingdom of God. The question is whether there’s a better alternative in this life.”With this statement, I became to realize all of the other alternatives, capitalism seems to be the best system for our world. Richards provides communism and socialism as examples of a competition in the chapter, he disputed that both failed, and under communism, people died.According to Richard, struggles of constructing a “utopian society” has been unsuccessful. I believe that the world is not equal and there is no equal opportunity for the people, especially in developing countries And I agree with Richard although he implies that capitalism does fall short of the kingdom of God, it is the best flawed than the realistic alternatives …show more content…
I ask my myself the same exact thing “ what would Jesus actually do?”. In this chapter, Jay Richards acknowledges the ” Piety Myth”, As a Christian I believe, I need to care for and help the poor. Etienne said: “Piety is no substitute for technique.” In the Piety Myth, we mistakenly focus on our good intentions rather than on the real and often unintended consequences of an act or policy.Richard introduces that we must practice “prudence”, good judgment, to recognize that actions have” unintended consequences” in order to be economically wise. Christians have the desire to help the poor and go about completing this goal, but in ways that are unfair that actually ends up hurting the ones we try to help.Richards proposes the “living wage,” “fair trade”, “foreign aid”, and “government-run welfare” programs as examples where the intention is good, but the actual policy is harmful and increases poverty. I agree with Jay Richards, in order to fill peoples needs, we must learn the “art of economics” and have a mind for the poor, not just their hearts. Also, complying that if want to solve a difference in poverty, we must resolve long-term hope for the poor, no foreign aid, no charities, no government interference, but to have access to the free market economy where people can be inspired to build