Dale Anthony Pivarunas

Christian Economics


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these needs and everyone has the right to have these needs satisfied. The people of the United States are joined together so that they can work together for the good of all. These two purposes and objectives of the United States are equally important.

      The purpose of the government is to direct the corporation of the United States towards the attainment of its objective to satisfy the natural needs and desires of all Americans for safety, food, clothing, housing, a livelihood, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation/entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect. Because the United States corporation is large and complex consisting of over 315 million people grouped into families, communities, social corporations and productive corporations working and interacting constantly and continuously, it is not possible for the United States to achieve its purpose and objectives without direction, management and regulation. Unfortunately, there is a fallacy that has been influenced millions of Americans and which holds that the role of government should be extremely limited. The fallacy sometimes referred to as the libertarian philosophy is very deceiving. Many people have espoused this philosophy because of certain inappropriate and in some cases immoral actions taken by the government. Unfortunately, the government today does not promote and support the true objectives of the United States, but instead promote and support the objectives of the wealthy elite. Because of this, the various branches and levels of government engage in policies and actions which are contrary to the true objectives of the United States which are the safety and economic welfare of all. As a result, people interpret these incorrect actions on the part of the government as the reason why there should be very limited government. So, while those who follow the libertarian political philosophy are correct in their position that many of the actions and policies of the government are wrong and even outrageous; they are incorrect in their conclusion that government needs to be limited in its abilities. A corporation with 315 million people cannot function efficiently and effectively without direction, management and regulation.

      One of the main purposes of the government is to manage the economy so that the economy achieves its objective which is to satisfy in the most efficient and effective way the natural needs and desires of all Americans for food, clothing, housing, a livelihood, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation/entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect. The management style of the government in managing the economy should be management by exception, that is, it should only get involved in the management of the economy when it is necessary. One case where the government needs to get involved in managing the economy is when there is unemployment. Central planning by the government should take place where and when private industry planning is lacking in order to promote full employment. It should do so by helping individuals create their own businesses. Maximum economic production for the economy, which is one of the purposes of the economy, can only be achieved through full employment. Another case where the government needs to get involved in managing the economy is when competition is out of control. The government needs to referee businesses to make sure that competition is fair.

      The US economy is a social system consisting of millions of people working together, approximately 315 million people of which approximately 160 million people work to produce goods and services. Obviously, the vast majority of these people work together with the intention that all of them will be able to provide themselves and their families with safety, food, water, clothing, housing, education, healthcare, transportation, etc. It is just as obvious that these 160 million people do not work so that a small, select group of individuals can own or control most of the wealth and live lives of luxury while most other people live lives deprived of the basic necessities in life. Yet, in spite of the intentions of the majority of US workers, the US economy is far from realizing its objective. What is the problem? How can the US economy achieve its objective and why is the current US economy so far from achieving its objective?

      From the premises that natural resources are limited and to be shared by all and from the purpose of the economy (to satisfy in the most efficient and effective way the natural needs and desires of all Americans for safety, food, clothing, housing, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation, entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect), it follows that natural resources as property must be both privately owned and commonly owned. And this principle applies to all property; some property needs to be held by individuals (all individuals) and some property has to be held in common. There are over 315 million people in the United States. Everyone needs these things, at least a minimum amount of these things. The use and ownership of these things has to be done so that no one is deprived. That does not mean that everyone shares equally. What it means it that there has to be both minimums and maximums to the amount that one person or a group of persons can own or control, and that some things can only be shared in common. Parks, roads, bridges, large lakes and rivers, large underground water tables, scarce elements and minerals which are needed by the majority of people and underground sources of energy (coal, petroleum, and natural gas) have to be held in common. Again, these resources are limited and God gave these resources to all people, so they have to be shared by holding them in common. The kind and amount of natural resources that an individual or group of individuals can own or control as well as the kind and amount of natural resources that need to be held as common property can only be determined, managed and controlled through laws and oversight by the different branches of government and the different levels of government.

      Again, the US economy is a social system consisting of millions of people, over 315 million people of which approximately 160 million people work to produce goods and services. Since the purpose of the economy is to satisfy in the most efficient and effective way the natural needs and desires of all 315 million Americans for safety, food, clothing, housing, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, communication, recreation, entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect; it follows that all those people who are capable of working need to be employed and productive in supporting the economy. This concept is called full employment. There are 160 million workers who need to produce the goods and services required by the 315 million people. Obviously, it is best for the economy that all those who want to work are employed. The more people that are working, the more productive and efficient the economy is. Unemployed people do not support their own personal goals or the goals of the economy. How can current economic theories argue that it is good that 9 million people are out of work (the number of workers who are underemployed is over three times that)? How is it good for the economy that 9 million people have no income? How do these people pay their bills? How do these people pay for food? How do these people pay for housing? What do these people do when they get sick? How can these people provide for their children? 9 million unemployed people do not pay income taxes, do not pay Social Security taxes, and do not pay Medicare taxes.

      Unemployment is a bad thing; bad for the unemployed and their families and bad for everyone in the economy. And yet, current economic theories actually hold that a certain rate of unemployment is a good thing. They argue that there needs to be a pool of unemployed workers so that businesses can draw from that pool of individuals when they need more workers. According to this theory, if there wasn’t a pool of unemployed workers, then businesses would have to entice employed workers with better compensation to quit their current jobs and come and work for the new employer. When this happens, then employers pay more for labor and they have to raise prices causing inflation. Current non-Christian economic theories hold that an unemployment rate of between four to six percent is best. From a numbers perspective, this means that 6.4 to 9.6 million people should be unemployed. According to these economic theories, it is better to have 150.4 million workers supporting 315 million people rather than 160 million workers supporting 315 million people. Of course, this does not make sense. 315 million people need food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, disability care, old age care, transportation, furniture, education, etc. It obviously makes more sense to have 160 million workers providing these things for the 315 million rather than 150 million workers.

      The arguments of current economic theory regarding full employment and unemployment rates are both false and deceiving. These arguments are based on the perspective of what is best for profit-based organizations and not what is best for the economy and not what is best for workers. For-profit organizations (not all organizations are for-profit) have as their primary objective the maximization of profit. Because of this they want to be able to minimize