RIGHTEOUSNESS AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT: Acquisition and Reward Linked to effort

Some people assume that poverty is due only to persons being socially disadvantaged and that others are rich because they are dishonest and employ foul means to acquire wealth. While there are genuine cases of unfortunate circumstances in the situation of some people who are poor and dishonesty in the situation of some people who are rich, such should not be assumed to be the universal reasons for wealth disparity unless there are clear evidences of such. It should be considered, as Longfellow says: “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept were upward toiling through the night”. It is just and reasonable that those who exercise themselves much, whether mentally, physically or both should be rewarded in accordance with the produce of their exercise.

Jesus Christ himself speaks of the servants who received talents according to their several abilities; one received five talents, another two and another one. They were rewarded according to their effort (Matt. 25:14-30). Another parable that is less told is the parable of the pounds (Luke 19:12-26). Each of ten servants received one pound each. One gained other nine pounds; another gained other four, while one hid his master’s pound in a napkin. Each was rewarded according to his effort. The poor will never cease out of the land, we are told (Deut. 15:11) because, obviously people will exert themselves to different extents and some will inherit greater advantages than others. The appropriate remedy is to provide opportunity for education for all, promotion of voluntary charity and a limited social safety net, but certainly not a governmental focus on re-distribution of resources.

Carnal desire

There is a carnal desire in humanity to be catered to at the expense of another. If you can get things free, why pay for it. It is to this carnal desire that the redistribution philosophy of social engineering appeals. It provides the masses with vain hopes of receiving scarce benefits from government. But such benefits will, of necessity, get less and less as the motivation to work diminishes. Further, such expectations foster an attitude that is not good for the society in that it leads to diminished effort to produce and increased reliance on welfare charity and hand-outs. Those who foster this type of dependency on government distribution of favours will make promises to the masses, appear to be caring (might even be genuinely so) and win elections while a society sinks gradually into unproductiveness, crime and degradation.