economics

IMO, what we need is a new economic theory, one based on, and resurrects that most ancient of principles, the Golden Rule AKA The Ethic of Reciprocity. We need to reframe this whole debate about of economics in these old but universal terms.

I draw upon my own understandings and Frank Cocozelli's research, the wisdom of one of the best known persons of my parents generation, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR, as he was known, in 1944, presented to the world an Economic Bill of Rights. Briefly summarized, FDR, said we should all have; remunerative employment, food, clothing and recreation, a decent income for farmers, business free from unfair competition, a decent home, adequate health care, freedom from the fears of old age, sickness, accident and unemployment and a good education. To him all of these spelled security.

Going beyond FDR, I believe we should provide all members of the global human family guarantees of the basic four needs; physical, emotional, mental and spriritual. Being by divine edict first spiritual beings, if we get the spritual right the other three will be assured.

From this I see the economics of reciprocity providing:

.Food, an adequate daily caloric intake for every human being.
.Clean water, safe to drink and sufficient in supply to irrigate crops,
.Clear air, free from pollutants that endanger health.

Note: an economic policy white paper has been drafted by Frank Cocozelli. 26 pages in length, well footnoted, it is an excellently written piece. It is now being reviewed by IPC Board members and being revised by Frank. Once this process is complete it will be made available for comments and input from others.

I've read the many comments on economics posted here. I am very impressed with the level of knowledge displayed here. Yet I feel the need to go deeper, to get down to the basics.

So to get down to basics I offer the following. From my knowledge of life the very most basic need of humans, in fact all of Our Creators creation, is survival of the species. From this the next two needs are safety and security, safety in the immediate short term (from attack etc.) and security in the longer term, (insurance at some level that existence is assured).

So how do Christians, or people of any faith, assure that short term safety and long term security are achieved? I believe it is from adhering to the Golden Rule, to treat others and you wish to be treated. This is also known as The Ethic of Reciprocity. Stated in either a negative or positive manner, it is basic to all major religions. The non-religious can embrace the Ethic of Reciprocity

Once in a while I review my files, re-reading articles I've gleaned from the mass media. By divine coincidence I came upon an article entitled "Greed: The Mother of Sin", authored by Phyllis Pickle, then, in 2002, a Contributing Editor at Publishers Weekly. It relates directly to my recent posting re: Paul's contention that money is the root of all evil.

Subtitled "Many world religions say greed is the stuff other deadly sins are made of.", she references (the 2002) testimony by Alan Greenspan, then the head of the Federal Reserve Bank, as saying he believed "infectious greed" was the culprit in the (then) recent rash of corporate scandals. Some thought that the fact that Greenspan was "spanking businessmen for exhibiting greed" felt like some sort of betrayal. Afterall we'd been told that greed, properly regulated was good, for business and society as a whole, that we'd come to think of greed as being an ambigious quality; sometimes good and other times bad.

Ms. Tickle said that "the major religions had no such illusions about greed. Greed, say many of them, is not only unambiguous, it is the Mother of All Sins".

As the current leading political issue is, rightfully, the economy, I would like to assemble a team of writers, editors and reviewers to author a white paper on the topic of progressive Christain economic policy. With Kety's inside connections to the Obama campaign I would like us to develop a paper that places economic issues in a progressive Christian context.

Rev. Roger has graciously provided us with several good biblical references. With Bill Peltz' well established experience as a stock broker I invite others like these two to step forth and offer your thoughts and experiences.

I would base it in the premise that we, as divinely created creatures, have free will to choose and are bound by the consequences of our actions to provide mutual service one to another. The Golden Rule, AKA, the Ethic of Reciprocity, would be our guide. We would pursue policies that provide a level playing field for all persons.

So if we are a Christian nation, then what would a Progressive Christian Economic Policy encompass, how would it be implemented, what kind of legislation would be needed to put it into action?