During the election season, many supporters of Barack Obama loved the fact that he abandoned a business career for a career in public service, or popularly stated, “community organizing.” So the story goes, one is more reputable and favorable if he or she doesn’t pursue a high-paying career. The best examples in our country, and the best people we have, so the fashionable opinion goes, is those who “give up” so others could have more, or have a better chance, or have a better opportunity.
No doubt lawmakers are necessary to protect people who are underprivileged from becoming victims of fraud and deceit, or from being exploited illegally. Even libertarians understand the proper place of the rule of law. That’s not the issue. My complaint is about the fallacy that public servants such as Barack Obama are better than those who do not pursue high-paying careers (as if people who make a lot of money simply did it because they could make a lot of money).
Throughout seminary I heard it said that Christian ministry doesn’t just fit within the boundaries of Sunday services, or “vocational ministry” jobs such as employees of a missions agency or religious school or a church staff. Likewise, I do not believe the term “public servant” is limited to the politician, the community organizer, and those who volunteer their time for helping the needy. Indeed, for the most part, with the [possible] exception of volunteers, those types of public servants are actually draining from society more than they are helping it out. Unless those organizations are making a profit, or are producing something that makes a profit over that from which the resources are being taken, they are wasting resources.
Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are possibly one of the most important players in a prosperous and sustainable economy. Without them people won’t have work, and without work people cannot pursue self-development. When entrepreneurs provide jobs, others have the opportunity to learn, grow, and better themselves, wherever they start on the ladder (that is, if the minimum wage laws didn’t price people out of jobs to begin with).
An entrepreneur IS a public servant, with rewards dictated by how well that entrepreneur uses the resources within his reach. Sure, there are the Madoffs of the world who don’t care; that’s what the rule of law is for. But strictly speaking, entrepreneurs create opportunity, and the profit they receive is a due reward for the benefits they bring to society. For entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, while we may claim he has “too much money” (he doesn’t—if he had double imagine the good that could be done), none of us complains that he attained his wealth at “our expense.” Of course he gained his wealth at our expense! What he created was more valuable to us than the money in our pockets! Had it not been what we wanted, he would have been wasting resources, and his business should have gone bankrupt and the resources he was wasting would have been utilized elsewhere in a more beneficial area.
Profit is an incredibly important indicator as to the stewardship of resources (economists call it allocation or misallocation). Christians must take stewardship seriously, and when endeavors that are not good stewards of the limited resources our world has, those endeavors must end; in the case of a business misusing resources, they must “go under,” and those resources that were being wasted must be allocated elsewhere. In other words, without a profit, resources are being wasted. One can’t consume, consume, consume, and expect life to sustainably get better. Eventually, the bubble bursts (which is what is happening now in our economy). Yes, some “excess” can be allocated to work for the “common good,” but when that route is taken, rarely are resources profitably allocated. But without the creation of resources, simply taking from the success of others and using those resources to consume other resources—without creating new ones to replace the used-up ones with—is poor stewardship.
I’m not saying all “public servants” are draining from the economy; that can only be decided on a case-by-case basis. But imagine if Barack Obama, one of the most talented, gifted, and successful men in our time, had used his abilities to build a business and create jobs. He’d have done it ethically, and would treat his people equally. Surely a man as gifted as Obama would be an excellent boss to work for, and perhaps more people would be out of poverty. No, instead he is punishing those who are successful, telling those who have yet to be successful that he will take care of them, and promising to take more from those who create jobs for those seeking to work. I’m sorry, but that type of public servant I’m no fan of. It’s poor stewardship, it’s unethical, and it’s pretty despicable when you get into the details of it.
Doug Stuart is a committed follower of Jesus and passionate about building for the Kingdom of God through education and mobilization. He is a regular writer at LibertarianChristians.com as well as the founder of Living Loud.
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