I was very surprised to find out in April that Colorado’s largest teachers union, Colorado Education Association (CEA), passed a resolution that states
“The CEA believes that capitalism inherently exploits children, public schools, land, labor, and resources. Capitalism is in opposition to fully addressing systemic racism (the school to prison pipeline), climate change, patriarchy (gender and LGBTQ disparities), and income inequality.“
So is capitalism bad? It looks like the majority of the delegates at the CEA convention believe that capitalism is bad. This really surprised me, especially since all the economically successful countries of the world use capitalism to a significant degree. We have seen almost all communist (i.e. pure socialism) countries become capitalistic. Communist countries could not provide a standard of living that the mostly capitalist countries could. Capitalism works. Pure socialism has not worked.
It needs to be noted that there is a spectrum of economies that exist between pure capitalism and pure socialism. Pure capitalism or laissez faire economics allows market forces to run free with no government interference in the economy. Pure socialism (e.g. communism) has the government in full control of the economy. Almost all country economies are not pure capitalist or pure socialist. The economies are a combination of both. China’s economy leans heavily toward a socialist economy, but it is also very capitalistic. The American economy leans heavily toward a capitalist economy. However, almost all economies today you can treat as capitalist economies, even the Chinese economy. It is effectively a capitalist world, so I am surprised that this resolution passed because it looks to me that capitalism has already won.
Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, in response to the resolution, defended capitalism. “It’s the great economic engine of capitalism that creates the prosperity that funds our schools,” Polis said. “Capitalism keeps teachers salaries up, funds our schools, and leads to the great prosperity we have.” Well said! That is the reality.
So why does the passing of this resolution bother me? With the majority of delegates, who I assume to be mostly teachers, supporting this resolution, I wonder what those teachers are teaching in the classroom. We must be careful not to take a broad brush and paint all public school teachers as anti-capitalists, but I do find the passage of this resolution to be very concerning. There is definitely an anti-capitalist bias among many teachers. One tweet praises the fact that the CEA can now lobby the state to pass anti-capitalist policies. They see the world very differently from how I see it. I believe it is their worldview that is why they are anti-capitalists.
That different view of the world is what bothers me. It is upside down from the Christian Faith, and I believe it is harmful. They assume they are by nature good. They look inside themselves at their feelings and desires to determine who they are. They look outside themselves and see a world full of problems. They believe it is out there in the structures of society where the problems exist. So they think that if they control society, they can fix the problems and with the right education and training create something that resembles an utopian society. I believe that is their worldview.
Instead the Christian will look inside and see that we are self-centered, selfish, and altogether broken. Our feelings and desires are not trustworthy. The Christian recognizes that the problems in the world are all the result of broken sinful people. The Christian also looks out beyond the world to find a God who loves each and every one of us and wants to begin a restoration process so to save ourselves from ourselves. Christians, who recognize they are forgiven and loved by God, can fix the problems and change the world. It has happened in the past and it still happens today.
I believe the reason pure socialism or communism failed is because we all are selfish and self-centered. Those in power selfishly took advantage of the rest. They looked after themselves and not the good of their country. Capitalism allows people to pursue opportunities to grow their own wealth. Selfish self-centeredness can be the motivation to improve one’s well being. Unfortunately, it also can be a reason to oppress one’s workers and one’s competitors. I believe that is why we do not have pure capitalism. At times, the government needs to step in and stop any bad corporate behavior..
It is my opinion that this non-Christian upside down worldview, that is being taught by many teachers, is harmful, especially to the young people. Puberty is a time of great change. It is also a time when the young person is trying to find their identity and figure out who they are in the world. It was true for me. These concepts of gender identity and oppressive structures in society can be unsettling and confusing. I believe this is why teen mental illness and teen suicide rates are up. It is an unhealthy worldview that is being promoted.
Yes, there are many problems in the world. Yes, there are societal structures that need to be fixed. Yes, there are many inequalities that are unfair. All these things are not right and need to be fixed, but the problem is not capitalism. The problem is us. With God’s help we can make progress against these problems. Christianity has been a strong force for good. (Unfortunately, it is not always the case because Christians are broken people too.) I truly believe the world is a much better place because of God working in and through Christians throughout the centuries. With a right worldview, a Christian worldview, we can make a positive difference in the world.