Letter to the Editor: Jesus has a conversation with a capitalist

Jesus: Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Capitalist: I’m sorry, but I have to take exception to that. In a capitalist society, if you are a loser, that means you or your family haven’t tried hard enough to play the game. The game has rules. You must play by the rules or socialism will happen, and we know that socialism is the work of the devil. 

Jesus: But that doesn’t fit with the way I treated poor people, right?

Capitalist: That may have been true in your time, but that was before the United States and other industrialized countries discovered the marvelous power of capitalism to make lives better for the poor. You just don’t understand today’s world. We have come a long way since the first century. Adam Smith and Ayn Rand, you know. 

Jesus: I think it is you who doesn’t understand the world. The way you see the world is not so different from the world governed by the Roman Empire. And I know that world firsthand. 

Let me explain it this way. Your capitalism is founded on a fine insight: that people do better when they can compete in a fair game. People don’t want to be spoon-fed. They want to compete. But the game must be fair. When the game isn’t fair, the players get discouraged and walk away from the game. Your capitalism makes people compete with one hand tied behind their backs, then you blame them for being poor losers. 

Capitalist: But look at all the good capitalism has done for the world! Billions of people were lifted out of poverty, billions living healthier and longer lives. 

Jesus: True, but look at the billions who are living on the edge of deprivation. Look at the people who must leave their homes because it never rains anymore, and their crops and animals can’t survive. Do you think those people don’t want to play in the game?

Capitalist: If they are losers, they must not want to play in the game. 

Jesus: I would say that you need to change the rules of the game. You must make the game fair for all the players, not just for the ones who got there first. 

Capitalist: I hate to say it, Jesus, but you sound like a socialist. 

Jesus: They have called me worse. Look. How will you lose if you change the rules so more people can compete on a fair playing field? The way I see it, God creates every human being to live life with abundance. When more people can do that, you should be happier. 

Capitalist: I wish I could, but the world just doesn’t work that way. You are too soft-hearted. Life is hard. I said it before and I’ll say it again, people just must play by the rules. 

Jesus: You sound like some Pharisees I know. They get carried away by multiplying the rules so people can’t get in the game. I tell them that it is not God’s will that one person gets lost. Translated: not one of them gets kicked out of the game. 

Here’s the problem. The system you call capitalism has a fine insight into how people live. But a disease has infected the insight — call it a demon — that inspires people to take as much as they can get even when they ruin the game for others. I’d like to do something about that demon. I have some experience with such things. But these days I must depend on human beings to drive out such demons. I suggest you pay attention to people who talk like I do. You can learn, you know. You can change your mind. We call that repentance. It can lead you to a more abundant life yourself. 

Capitalist: I’ll think about it. 

Jesus: One more thing. This fine way you play the capitalist game, it is heading for disaster because it is making the world unlivable. It is chewing up resources and pouring things into the air that are making the whole world hotter. You say that capitalism has done more for more people than anything before it. But it is on the brink of doing more harm to more people than anything before it. That is the way things go when they are infected by a demon. You should think about that too. 

Capitalist: You are messing with my head. You would mess up the whole capitalist world. 

Jesus: That’s the idea. I appreciate your honesty. Do think about it. 

Brother Joe Zimmerman, OFM
Holy Cross Friary
Quincy, Illinois