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August 12 An analogy as American as Apple PieI love analogies... I thought of this one whilst ummm... "having a constructive dialog" with a super lefty guy on the bus to Montreal. It describes my views on the distribution of wealth, especially in the face of calls for all wealth to be distributed equally. Frank and Joe are both presented with a bunch of apples, some sugar cane, an oven, flour, etc. Frank just eats the apples raw and chews on the sugar cane whilst checking the time on the oven. Meanwhile, using the same goods and tools that Frank got, Joe refines the sugar, makes the flour into dough, cuts the apples... and makes himself a delicious apple pie. Both were able to eat. But, come on... Who ate better? Joe, of course! Given the same opportunities, resources and capital, Joe was able to create more wealth by investing more labour and intelligence. Should he not be able to enjoy the fruits of his labour and intelligence? Of course he should! In the real world, it's often the same. Some people are simply wealthier because they do more with their opportunities and whatever is given to them. Granted, some people start off with more and get more opportunities, but all I'm trying to say is that perfect equality is unwarranted in a society because some people create more wealth in relation to what they are given than others so they should be allowed to enjoy at least most of the benefit of their efforts. Now, if Joe had used some of the wealth he created in order to buy up all the apples and sugar, or if Frank didn't start off with as many apples, perhaps then he'd owe Frank a piece of his pie or at least a couple of apples, since everyone should be able to eat, even if they can't eat as well as others. Perhaps it would be reasonable for Joe to demand that Frank help him in the kitchen in return for a piece of his pie, though. But he shouldn't just let Frank starve even if Frank was kind of dumber than him. My point is: Although everyone should be provided with enough wealth to survive, the wealth of a nation need not be divided equally since some people earn that wealth more than others. This is the conclusion I came up with until I heard the bible reading at Mass: Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.” ~ Luke 12:13-21 So what does this mean to Joe and Frank? Joe can enjoy his apple pies but he shouldn't get carried away by producing a huge surplus that he really doesn't need... God doesn't care that if he makes a lot of extra apple pies. So he can go ahead and make a few for his enjoyment but his focus should be on loving and serving God, not himself. Creating wealth is not bad, in and of itself, nor is enjoying that wealth, but stockpiling way more than you need is wrong because it is greedy. God is not impressed. Joe must focus on loving and serving God. Joe should make some apple pies for him and his family to enjoy, perhaps he should sell a few to generate money to buy other things his family needs, perhaps he should give some of his pies to charity or to Frank, even. Loving and serving God entails showing compassion towards his neighbor. Joe could spend all of his time baking pies and thus accumulate more of them, but he shouldn't. The point is that he puts God first. God may want him to make pies but God doesn't want him to be greedy. After a while, he should maybe stop and do other things to serve God. Perhaps he could teach Frank how to make apple pies, for example... |
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