Misconceptions about economic systems abound. Some believe that communism is inherently about laziness or creating human-made food shortages, while others believe that capitalism is inherently about exploiting the poor as if they were subhuman creatures. Despite being intrinsically far less vital than so many other truths, the nature of economics, especially as it relates to morality and the distinction between social constructs and core aspects of reality (for all economic systems, but not logical truths about the concepts, can exist only if communities create and preserve them) is not itself trivial. Non-rationalists are quick to support many myths about economics in the current political climate, with communism and capitalism being especially misunderstood as general or basic societal frameworks. For instance, there is the conservative myth that communism is about glorifying or encouraging laziness, when in fact, even in the practice of non-compulsory communism, someone has to work if the community is to thrive, and any sincere thinker would not mistake a misunderstanding of communism for communism itself! Or what of the liberal myth that it is not possible for a capitalist workplace to not be driven by classism and selfishness?
It is also fairly common to encounter straw man comments about how one of these systems or the other "inevitably" leads to starvation or misery, but not only is this not by logical necessity and thus only if they are acted upon in a certain way, but this is true of both communism and capitalism. Of course communism can lead to starvation or death: taking resources from some to give to others could easily be used tyrannically or lead to deaths out of neglect. This in part depends on the form of communism being implemented and how competently it is actually applied. However, tyranny is not an inherent feature of communism, and it is one that could easily be practiced in a capitalist context as well. Of course capitalism can also lead to starvation, artificial drought, and death: people quite literally are expected to go without food or water unless they either professionally work for money to spend on these things or have access to them in nature wholly apart from a conventional job, and circumstances beyond a person's control could suddenly interfere with their job(s) at any time. Communism and capitalism are both neutral, at least in the Biblical standard of ethics, until they are misused because there is no single form of them that can only be based on cruelty.
It needs to be realized that Soviet Russian communism is just one of multiple possible variations of communism, and truths and ideas are what matter rather than historical applications of ideas through people and events anyway (only in the context of truths and ideas is it even possible for events to occur or have significance). People who confuse Soviet communism for the only type of communism are inescapably looking to events instead of sheer logical proofs, which are true and knowable in a total vacuum of sensory experiences and historical information. It is also the case that America's way of expressing capitalism is not the only way, and that the faults and philosophical errors in American capitalism are not necessarily shared in other conceptual variations of capitalism. Communism in itself is only the communal sharing of property and capitalism in itself only entails having businesses and consumers that are supposedly free to succeed or fail based on how they react to each other.
It should be very apparent to anyone, at least with experiential/social prompting to dwell on the subject of economic justice, that there is not just one possible version of communism or capitalism and that either can be used in utterly predatory or beneficial ways. When it comes to Biblical ethics, there are additional factors that people, on the basis of assumptions and preferences, often ignore as they pretend like they know one an economic system is evil because they dislike it. The misrepresentation of thinking that Soviet communism is the only possible type of communism or that American capitalism is the only possible type of capitalism only feeds into this even for plenty of people who think they are thoughtful Christians.
Theological conservatives love to overlook that the early church of Acts was communist in its practices, just in a voluntary manner, and that there is nothing sinful about willingly living without individually owned property (Deuteronomy 4:2) or objecting to workplace exploitation and greed. Theological liberals, on the contrary, might rush to ignore that theft is unjust no matter who something is stolen from (they sometimes demonize the rich through asinine stereotypes) and dismiss how every able-bodied man or woman should work under non-oppressive conditions to earn a living (2 Thessalonians 3:10). It is just like conservatives and liberals to ignore anything that does not support their pathetic assumptions, and even then, they are quick to misunderstand the random ideas they hold to. One of their many ironies is that they do not even understand communism and capitalism as they exaggerate the philosophical importance of economics to begin with and base other parts of their worldview around economic misconceptions in a thorough denial of reason.
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