capitalism

Capitalism  –noun

an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations,especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.

Capitalize –verb (used without object)

7.

to take advantage of; turn something to one's advantage

Greed –noun

excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions.

Economics.  It's not the funnest thing in life, but it does control many aspects of our lives: where we shop, what we eat, what we can afford, where we live, ect.  The system of capitalism has been an essential part of the American identity for a very long time and became even greater in the 1950's.  This was due to the fact that after WWII, production in Europe and Japan ceased to exist.  America became #1 in production of... well, practically anything.  The tax bracket worked something like this: the most wealthy paid 90% percent of their income to taxes, and managed to live VERY comfortable lifestyles.  At the same time, middle class America was capable of living well and having good jobs.   Roads, schools, hospitals, and all good things were built for people to maintain healthy lifestyles due to the fact that people in the upper 1% were paying their very high taxes.  The poverty stricken were provided for. 

Basically, its good to be the king of production.

However, during the Regan era, the upper 1% of the population went from paying 90% to about 50%.  No more roads, schools, or hospitals (in fact, he closed most of the mental hospitals and tried to get mental diseases to not even be considered as actual diseases).  People in poverty were not provided for.  The gap between the wealthy and poor began to increase as the middle class began to disappear.

The trend of tax cutting continued.  Money is now being taken away from schools, educators, and the poor due to greater tax cuts.

So, capitalism.  Liberal market.  Competition.  Let the invisible hand of the market do what it will.  Take raw materials, make a consumer good, and sell.  May the best product win. 

What this can lead to is one strong manufacture taking advantage of a weak manufacture and overtaking them along with their accessibility to raw materials.  This could possibly limit competition and make an eventual monopoly (hey, Rockefeller did it).  The leader of the monopolistic cooperation would be able to manipulate the means of production from the raw materials, workers, to the final product.  They would be able to cut losses and wages in order to create a greater profit for their company, which leads to lining their own pockets.

To me, that seems greedy.

People add to this greed because the owner of the production keeps insisting that more, and better things are needed.  Cost continue to rise, while wages go down.  People in the working class can become unable to afford basic needs due their wages.

With all that information in mind, it leads me to a question - Would Jesus be a capitalist?

               Think about it: capitalism is the idea of taking advantage of the situation

                for profit.  Your life is defined by how much money you make and where 

                to take greater advantage in order to make your life better.

There is no end with that cycle: take advantage, make a profit, take advantage, make a profit.

Jesus calls His followers to provide for the poor, orphaned and widowed.  Also, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God (Mark 10:25).

Please do not read what I have not written.  This is not against capitalism.  What I do not understand is why followers of Jesus act a certain way.

Evil Nanny

My current job is watching four kids ages 13, 11, 10, and 6 know as child #1, #2, #3, and #4 in this post.  They are great kids.

Most of the time I am a fun nanny.  I help them with their homework and I play games with them.  I get to encourage them and remind them that they are great kids.
          (mostofthetime)

However, I can be an evil nanny.  I make them do chores.  I punish them when they do not listen.  I work within the structure and follow the accepting guidelines for punishment.  I get this mean tone in my voice.

Sometimes, child #2 and I DO NOT get along.  He is ADD and has his moments where he cannot focus, which is ok, but not always easy.  He won't do his homework, or chores which makes me become the evil nanny.  The other day, he did not finish his chores, nor did he want to finish them.  I kept asking him to continue his chores but he refused and said he did not have to listen to me and continued reading a book.  He claimed that his part of the room (which is shared with child #1 and #4) was clean.  I checked his room and saw several things on the floor that belonged to him.  I asked him to pick up his things off the floor, and he repeated, rather loudly, that he does NOT have to obey me.

I walked up to him and tried to grab the book from his hands.  He held fast and glared at me with the clear intent that he was NOT letting go.  I told him that he had a choice: either stop and clean his room, or disobey me - which is a direct disobedience to his mother which means that he is disobeying God by disobeying his parent.  I also warned him that I would throw away anything that belong to him in his room if he refused to clean.
            I struck a nerve, but after five minutes, he had not moved.
So, I started "cleaning".  I took a trash bag, and with the help of child #4 (he pointed out the things that belonged to child #2), I disposed of a power cord to a PS3, stuffed animals, a game controller, a transformer truck, and a shoe.  I walked outside and "threw away" child #2's belongings. (they were in the trunk of my car)

Very evil nanny.

When their mom got home, I quickly stepped outside with her and told her what I did to punish child #2.  She approved of this action and we moved the trash bag from my car to hers, without any of the children knowing.  Child #2 was told to apologize for disobeying, and then sent to his room.

                      The next morning
Child #2 could not find his shoe, which sent him into a panic.  According to his mother, he began to shake and inhale very quickly - much like a panic attack.  The mother asked him where he found his first shoe, because the other one should be with it, because after all, he said his room was clean.  After a few minutes of panic, the mother finally had the idea to look in the trash bag.
The shoe was there.

She told me this story and I felt horrible.  I made an ADD kid panic because something was not where he knew it should be.
                      She did not understand why I was so upset.  She thought that it was wonderful lesson!

I am still unsure how I feel about what I did that day.  On one hand, I do like the fact that I can be the evil person and make them work hard, so when their mom comes home, she can love on them and they can love her because I was the one that made them do what they did not want to do.  I free their time so that they can have family time together.
I dislike being that mean.  It is so hard because I just want to be able to encourage them.  But, I know that they are aware enough to choose and decide their actions.
However, being this tough reminds me that it is GOOD to say NO.
I think the worst part about it is the tone in my voice.  It reminds me of my dad when he gets angry.  I do not like the fact that we have that in common
                I hope we don't have that in common.
                             more than anything.