Are Kids Born ‘Capitalists?’ This Experiment Might Prove, ‘Yes’
- Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:16am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
- Print »
- Email »
Eric Falkenstein opens his blog post on whether kids are born “capitalists” very appropriately: “Bastiat noted that “Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.”
In essence, laws were created to protect the rights that were already present. The Founding Fathers recognized this in the Deceleration of Independence, saying that we have been endowed by our “Creator” with certain “inalienable rights.” Considering all these things, then, is it possible that we are born with an inherent understanding of property rights? Or, as Falkenstein puts it, are we born capitalists?
According to an article published in ScienceNews magazine, the answer could be “yes.”
The article details an experiment by Ori Friedman of the University of Waterloo in Canada. According to him, at ages four and five, youngsters value a person’s ownership rights far more strongly than adults do. How did he prove it? For starters, he used a crayon.
Rather than being learned from parents, a concept of property rights may automatically grow out of 2- to 3-year-olds’ ideas about bodily rights, such as assuming that another person can’t touch or control one’s body for no reason, Friedman proposed.
[...]
Friedman’s team presented a simple quandary to 40 preschoolers, ages 4 and 5, and to 44 adults. Participants saw an image of a cartoon boy holding a crayon who appeared above the word “user” and a cartoon girl who appeared above the word “owner.” After hearing from an experimenter that the girl wanted her crayon back, volunteers were asked to rule on which cartoon child should get the prized object.
About 75 percent of 4- and 5-year-olds decided in favor of the owner, versus about 20 percent of adults.
But wait, there’s more. Apparently Kids are able to distinguish between “using an owned or nonowned object:”
A second experiment consisted of more than 100 kids, ages 3 to 7, and 30 adults. In this case, participants saw the same cartoon boy and girl but were told that the crayon belonged to the school that the two imaginary children attended.
Nearly everyone, regardless of age, said that the user should keep the crayon for as long as needed in this situation. In other words, kids distinguished between people using an owned or a nonowned object.
In a final experiment that presented two cartoon adults, one using a cell phone that the other owned, most 4-year-olds but only a minority of adults declared that the device should be returned to its owner even before the borrower had a chance to use it. Children showed some flexibility in allowing borrowers to keep the phone — say, if it was needed for an emergency — but adults adjusted their opinions more readily to such circumstances.
Fridman concluded that “learning” has little to do with understanding property rights. Which leaves another possibility: whereas Newsweek says “we are all socialists now,” maybe the truth is that we were all capitalists once.
(H/T: Business Insider)
Popular Stories
MSNBC Host Snaps in Heated Segment: ‘What in the World Is Riskier Than Being a Poor Person in America?’ 684 Comments
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 648 Comments
‘Jumah at the DNC’ Speaker: ‘Muslims Visited America Prior to Columbus’ & ‘It Was a Muslim’ Who Guided Him to the ‘New World’ 523 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 361 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 318 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 182 Comments- Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More
- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 212 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 147 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 300 Comments
Scathing New Ad Capitalizes on Rep. Ryan‘s ’Fading Obama Posters’ Remark 124 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 182 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (76)
Midwest Blonde
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 4:27pmVery very few posters made this distinction: That the kids and adults were not the “owners” of the item in question. They were simply asked to evaluate this: one person owns something, the second person is using it.
If the test subjects had been listed as owner or user, the outcome of the study would have been vastly different. That’s when you see the selfishness and self preservation come into play.
Report Post »Liberty-lover
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 3:57pmIt takes a child to raise a village.
Report Post »freedoc
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 3:36pmOf course they are, if you define capitalism as the ‘need to produce’.
The NATURE of man, is they know they must EXIST, and to do so means necessarily to produce.
This is demonstrable thru the process of reason and logic—if not observation. No study is needed to prove it.
Report Post »CharlieSheen
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 2:39pmbut by age 6 kids generally start learning to share. Nooo! Stop Barney and Socialism!
Report Post »SAPSECRUS
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 2:27pm@SEC777
Report Post »There are several excellent responses from other Christians to which I would like to add my “amen” and add one additional thought. To those who opposed paying taxes because they hated Rome and the unjust collection that was a part of their daily lives, Christ words were also crystal clear, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s”. Jesus understood and upheld the right to personal property with the understanding that everything we have is a gift from the Father. He gave the Jews the land of Israel. He didn’t give it to everyone, everywhere. While we posess no created thing forever, what we have earned by His grace is ours and the choice to share it or keep it is ours. Caesar wanted his crayons back. That was his right, even as an unbeliever.
wisehiney
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 2:21pmWhat is not sustainable will not be sustained.
Report Post »constitutionaldirective
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 1:57pmYou’re born free… then you spend the rest of your life having those freedoms stripped by authoritarian elitist-progressives.. Like Bush(es) and Oblabba!
Report Post »Syrin
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 12:35pmFurther proof liberalism is a mental disorder and contrary to human nature.
Report Post »ephraimtheox
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 11:25amIt amazes me each year as the weather warms up…. The lemonade wars begin. This year a young competitor crossed the street, asked for a drink, then spat out the lemonade and said this sucks! Most children are naturally competitive and want to make money… In order to have an edge my kids dress up in costume and wave at cars going by. Always looking to expand their product line too….toys, cookies, slushies. I love it but can do without all the yelling.
Report Post »EqualJustice
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 11:02am“Newsweek says “we are all socialists now,” maybe the truth is that we were all capitalists once.” B I = Before Indoctrination
Report Post »Canada_Goose
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 10:58amThis has got to one of the dumbest stories I’ve every read on the Blaze, even judged by this site’s low journalistic standards. And I am saying this as a finance professional, a property owner and a parent.
First of all the concept of “capitalism” or the word capitalism is not even mentioned in the Science News article.
Second, Mr. Seidl must know that the inalienable right of property was deliberately replaced in the declaration of independence by the more subjective idea of “the pursuit of happiness”. Even Mark Skousen notes in his biography of Benjamin Franklin that Benjamin Franklin was in agreement with Thomas Jefferson in downplaying protection of “property” as a goal of government. It is noted that Franklin found property to be a “creature of society” and thus, he believed that it should be taxed as a way to finance civil society.
Second anyone who has had children knows that 2-5 year olds are almost always very self centered and selfish. Therefore they need to be taught to share. A child may have a million toys, but will throw a tantrum if their little play buddy wants to play with one of them.
Finally, is Mr. Seidl suggesting that the growing number of Chinese billionaires don’t own property in China?
Happy capitalism everyone!
Report Post »Komponist-ZAH
Posted on June 24, 2011 at 3:29am“It is noted that Franklin found property to be a ‘creature of society’ and thus, he believed that it should be taxed as a way to finance civil society.”
So? Even Franklin can be wrong. Property is the outcome of labor, which has nothoing to with society.
“Second anyone who has had children knows that 2-5 year olds are almost always very self centered and selfish.”
First, this is actually your third point.
Report Post »Second, did you actually read the description of the experiment? It consisted of asking children about the property rights of **others**, not themselves, so how could it have had anything to do with selfishness?
Volfie
Posted on June 24, 2011 at 5:09amI was specifically looking for the first person to point out the glaring problem with this The Blaze article: Property rights are not synonymous with capitalism. Do you need strong property rights for capitalism? Yes! Of course! Are they the same thing? No! Of course not!
It is also true that any child will go through a phase of “mine!” Parents must teach their children about property rights because a child simply cannot possess everything that the child will try to claim. That is true because the child literally will try to claim everything it knows exists.
We need better critical thinking in this country. Without having at least a moderate level of critical thinking, we are doomed to accept the lies and deceptions presented to us. That is the great failure of this article. The writer of this article for The Blaze should have known better than to leave such a silly notion as property rights=capitalism unchallenged. The second thing that should not go unchallenged (and still would be low on the critical thinking complexity scale) is the fact that the children in the study had plenty of opportunity to learn concepts of property rights, thus any assertion that they were born with that knowledge is just plain silly.
Shame on everyone that did not immediately understand just how ridiculous the assertion Eric Falkenstein made about capitalism, and shame on everyone that did not realize that the age of the children studied gave plenty of time for children to learn it.
Report Post »Canada_Goose
Posted on June 24, 2011 at 9:55am@ Komponist-ZAH
Ok you got me my point about children being selfish at that age that should have been my third point. My posting was very rushed.
As far as the point about Franklin, is was to illustrate that he agreed with Jefferson on deemphasizing Locke’s inalienable rights of property in The Declaration. So I guess you believe that Jefferson was wrong also.
———
Second, did you actually read the description of the experiment? It consisted of asking children about the property rights of **others**, not themselves, so how could it have had anything to do with selfishness?
————
Yes I read the experiment description. What do you think a 4 or 5 year old’s frame of reference is to the property of others. It is clearly how they perceive their own property. It would be a stretch to think that children that young would be more willing to think of a crayon that they actually owned to be the property of the borrower.
In fact if the experiment was structured in a way that gave a child a crayon and then asked the child to lend it to a another child and then decide who’s crayon it is, 100% would decide that it’s theirs. That would not be much of an experiment.
Report Post »Buttercup
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 10:52amI think a better test would be the ole lemonade stand. Now, that’s capitalism at its finest! But now the adults in some communities are stopping little kids from doing their thing by requiring permits to have lemonade stands (or Girl Scout cookie stands). Cheesh!!
In every human heart there is longing — one is for freedom and the other, for God. All these people searching for meaning, or trying to fill a void — what they are looking for is God. God’s hand is in natural law, that “instinct” about what’s right and wrong, who’s the true “owner” (as in the story above). Who do we think made DNA? Also, for our atheist friends — think “First Cause” if you can’t say God.
Report Post »Elena2010
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 1:30pmAye, and look what happens when budding capitalists DO open that lemonade stand. Some gov’t pig shuts them down! Grrr!
Report Post »shannon1776
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:46amGreat news to hear. It takes 12 years of public school to brainwash our kids and turn them into marxists. Along the same lines, I have noticed something as I have coached my two gilrs soccer, basketball and tee ball games. We aren’t supposed to keep score. HOWEVER, kids KNOW the score anyway. They want to win even at that age. The reason we don‘t keep score is because of all the non sport’s minded marxists who never were good at sports taking it out on those who enjoy competition.
The way I see it, there is one way to turn the marxist society around over the next 20 years. if at all possible, try and send your kids to private schools, or try and home school, IF at all possible. They will learn about private property, they will learn about faith, they will learn that they can’t always win.
Then maybe a future generation will appear that will tell the marxists to stick it up their asses.
Report Post »MarketsClear
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:44amBastiat FTW!
Report Post »THX-1138
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:30amThe sad fact is that some people *are* born slaves. The longer we remain in their midst the more likely we’ll become slaves too.
It’s time to take our stuff and leave. The only question is, “Where do we go this time?”
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 10:06amwe don’t leave, we defend.
Report Post »John 3:16
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:27amI assume this was not paid for with my/our stimulas package since the outcome conflicts with socialism and one world governance,
Report Post »sbenard
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:07amI am listening to an audiobook I borrowed from the local library called “Seven Miracles that Saved America” by Chris Stewart. Wow! I have studied a lot of history, and especially in recent years, but this one puts much of America’s early history into context. I had no idea how heavy a price was paid by not only the Founding Fathers, but by many early settlers of this country. Jamestown was nearly annihilated repeatedly by Indians and the Spaniards. I suggest everyone get this book and read it or borrow it from the library as I did. I has opened my eyes to how precarious freedom really is. There is NO freedom without free enterprise (also known as capitalism). Read this book and realize how rare free enterprise really is throughout history.
Report Post »thinkhard64
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:58amI hope so! Lets get breeding! and save our country!
Report Post »Eliasim
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:52amBecause if it is Socialism that is incorrect then civilization will fade away and take billions of people with it.
Report Post »Eliasim
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:50amOne thing for certain is that God, mother nature and the earth will have the final say in whom is correct.
Report Post »Rapunzel
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 6:39pmI don‘t think ’mother nature’ or the Earth will have much to say.
Report Post »nomercy63
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:47amOk How much did this useless info cost us!!!!
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:24amNot sure I buy that. Kids are taught at a young age to share, many having younger siblings at the ‘toy grabbing’ age. As kids get older, each child has toys that belong to them so they are now the owners and prize what belongs to them. I think all kids are capitalists, they just don’t understand the entire concept, as shown by the video of ‘Do you want to pay your share of the current debt’ – heck no, they want to keep what’s theirs. The progressives have just learned to word these definitions to their advantage and made capitalists the enemy.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:22am.
Are Kids Born ‘Capitalists?’
No, around here they are born indentured servants until they move out, and get a job.
Report Post »Then they are Capitalists………..
travlman77
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:56amLOL
Report Post »Here on the farm we have the same policy as my grandparents, “You eat, You work”
It has served us well for generations!
jb.kibs
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 10:02amborn selfish, not ‘capitalist’..
baby humans, like every other thing in nature, are born selfish for good reason. survival. if you don‘t eat you don’t live. kids get in the habit of grabbing things and shoving them into their mouths. then they just grab things when they are past the whole “is it food?” stage. until finally, they grab someone elses thing and get ‘taught’ a hard lesson about other peoples property. then most of them, who can learn, refrain from grabbing so much. the problem is politicians, and people like them, never stop thinking everything is theirs.. “mine”, “mine”, “mine” … llike flying rats (seagulls)..
statistics…
there are not just option 1 and option 2 like most polls lead you to believe.. they discount 100′s of options to sway the minds of the public into believing that the majority think a certain way.. it’s totally bunk. if they ask 100,000 people a question, and 1000 people answer the they want them to.. it is too easy to say, 10 out of 10 people answered “this way” (out of 1000). but they never tell you that they are just using a small section, of a very large poll, to their advantage. statistics are total bullpies.
liberal interpretation…
Report Post »anything and everything can have its meaning twisted. literally ANYTHING. there is ALWAYS, 100% of the time, more than 1 way to interpret anything. people, of today, make such pathetic attempts at what they call research. this is one of the few facts that still holds true.
TexasCommonSense
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:22amIt takes years of indoctrination to turn kids into government-dependent losers.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:28amI had to deal yesterday with one of these idiot progressives yesterday – the one who felt, in his words, that the job of his (making frying pans with a machine) is worth 250.00 a day for his services; and he is feeling slighted for the part time work at that.
Clueless to the extreme indeed.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:29am.
Report Post »Tex,
I hate to tell you but, most of them come out the womb hooked to the Government’s Nipple…..
masterplan
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 3:37pmYou Win The Prize. Exactly right !
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:21amInteresting, so now the administration will shut this group down in how many hours?
Report Post »lovenfl3
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:23amAll of these studies are a bunch of garbage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWDHs-GnHh8
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:29amMorning, SNOW, hope your day started out with a great cup of tea! All is well here – added a new cat to the pride (shh, hubby doesn’t know – what’s one more black cat, right?). Hope you have a great day!
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:30amEveryone starts out getting ahead with how well they do. More like a meritocracy, than capitalism.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:35am@Grandmaof5:
Morning, sometimes the kids in these surveys remind me of cats; independant and creative, and yet they understand who owns whom (the cat figures its boss of course). I have to wonder where in the path from childhood into adulthood we finally lose our common sense and start acting like rabbits instead of cats.
Also, have added one of my own to my cat girls; check out ANNA on my gallery if you would, just click the screename of mine…let me know what you think.
I will not say anything of your new kittie; hope they all get along fine.
Report Post »Rocky_biskit
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:40amNow the Socialists/elitist will say that Capitalists are acting like pre school children.
Report Post »Thatsitivehadenough
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:45amYES, it is human nature to create, compete, and succeed in freedom.
Report Post »Steverino
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:45amDECELERATION of Independence? We certainly are decelerating mans’ independence, but,
Report Post »Whaaaa…?
C’mon, Jonathon.
grandmaof5
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 8:54amSNOW, Anna is lovely, so simplistically (is that a word?) elegant. Still alot of hissing going on but will get better in time. Have a great day!!!
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:03amKeep in touch with this Blaze Thread for more new and exciting kitten raising news.
Report Post »cowdude
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:20amWhat’s this say about the DEMS when a 2 or 3 yr old child gets it but adult OBAMA voters/supporters/the dead can’t figure it out?
Cowdude
Report Post »http://conservativewatercooler.com
Susan Harkins
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:23amAnd one must WONDER why Communism is a FAILED system, from the start?
Humans are NOT ants.
Wow…that was difficult — NOT!
Report Post »nzkiwi
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:37amI have a 3 year-old and a 5 year-old and I can tell you that these tests are right. Kids of this age can be downright savage in defence of their property. Interestingly, while they understand ownership, they have no qualms about trying to steal an item and then arguing vociferously as to the reasonableness of their actions.
I say this with some feeling as I am frequently called in by one or the other to act as sheriff – and its not always as easy as you might think!
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:41amEvery child us born with the knowledge of God. Every man knows the difference between right and wrong.
All men and women know God exist, skeptics and atheists spend a great deal of time avoiding Him.
Fear God and keep his Commandments. The unbelief is a conscience choice to be deceived.
Report Post »hechafteth
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:43amMine! Mine! Mine!
…another revelation from pop psychologists that never raised children.
Report Post »SEC777
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 10:14amIn my faith, people are all born with original sin, where we are bent towards pride, sinfulness, and selfishness. This experiment, from my view, does not support capitalism, but selfishness.
Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, made it clear that a) what I own isn’t really mine, but God’s, and b) if someone asks for your cloak, you give him your tunic also.
The right in this country isn’t nearly as Bible-believing as they would like to believe that they are, because there are some key points that they choose to eliminate.
Let’s ask how Christ would answer this question. Would Jesus tell the person using the crayon to give it back, or would he tell the owner, “Let him finish using it first?” I think the gospels are extraordinarily clear how Jesus would respond, so why should I choose to do something different?
Report Post »jeffreylayne
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 10:20amPOVERTY.SUCKS,
You are exactly right! Scripture does not treat “unbelief” as passive. Rather, it treats it as an active rejection. This is especially seen in the first couple of chapters of Romans.
Anyway, I know this doesn’t have much to do with kids being capitalists, but I just wanted to give my two cents on that statement. :-)
Report Post »Marci
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 10:31amIsn’t it scary on the adult responses?
Report Post »NathanM
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 10:58amSEC777 – I may be reading your comments wrong, but it seems that you fail to differentiate between mutual aid & assistance as a chosen way of life (biblical), and a socialist form of government (not biblically supported). Unless we want the federal government to punish people for all of the biblical sins of commission (adultery, fornication, homosexuality, etc.) let’s not give them the power of legislation over sins of omission (lack of generosity, lack of humility, etc.).
This study shows a valid recognition of property rights. The children were being asked to judge as a third party, with no personal stake in the matter. This then precludes the assertion of selfishness. Their response would likely be different if they were the “user”, which would reveal the selfishness to which you refer.
Your quoting of the Sermon on the Mount is correct, but your application of it seems to skew the point. From your other comments, it seems that you would apply it like this: “What you own is not yours, so when I see someone who “needs” what you have, I can take it from you and give it to them.”
Report Post »fastfacts
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 11:06amEvery kids, when they were young were inventors, they always build things. Every kid, wants their own something and when they have to give it up they want something better.
Report Post »masterplan
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 11:42amKid are lucky to be born at all
with the FU elite making the rules:
The correlation between higher numbers of vaccines and infant mortality figures takes on an altogether
more sinister
context when we consider the fact that during the February 2010 TED conference,
Bill Gates, an enthusiastic proponent of vaccination programs,
openly stated that vaccines
should be used to lower global population
in the pursuit of reducing CO2 emissions.
Gates is an avowed eugenicist
Report Post »who is committed to drastically reducing the world’s population
in the name of combating global warming. This is alarming given the fact that the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds the production and distribution of vaccines to the third world
PrfctlyFrank
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 12:06pm@NATHAM.. Thank you for that explanation..As it is true. Render unto Caesar That which is Caesars, render unto God that which is Gods.. comes to mind..
Report Post »nomorpc4me
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 12:29pmWhat I’d like to know is how this “capitalistism” trait (which I still have) is morphed into an “entitlement” trait. I think that there is a lot of brain washing going on from a very early age.
Report Post »Elena2010
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 1:22pm@SEC777 — Key words “ask” versus “take.”
The quote fm Jesus has to do w/being hospitable to the inhospitable. It’s not a definition of “yours” versus “mine.” He spoke to a work that was occupied by Roman legions who would take what they wanted, killed when they pleased, and generally abused the Jews.
Rome could compel you carry the pack of a soldier one mile. Jesus says — show them love and carry it two miles.
An insult was to be slapped across the face. However, when you turn your cheek the other way and offer it to be slapped, the insult goes back on the originator of the insult.
God affirms personal property in the Ten Commandments — twice! No stealing, no coveting. Be content w/what He has given to you. Furthermore, the Year of the Jubilees when all land goes back to its original family ownership points again to personal property rights. The cost of the land was determined on how many crops betw “purchase, really rental” and the Jubilee.
Dear Brother/Sister, you need to do some more Bible study.
Report Post »Candorgram
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 1:50pmStudies such as these prompt me to think too deeply, and to do things like sign-up and speak-out. Liberals will, of course, conclude that children are simply “selfish,” and unable to grasp complex scenarios in which another child possessing a crayon is necessary. The best study I’ve seen is one where college students are encouraged to give their grades to the less motivated. The resulting reactions are clearly not socialist.
Report Post »Libertarian
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 7:50pm@ Elena2010
God bless you. You were far more eloquent than my response was going to be. You are absolutely correct, Thou Shalt Not Steal implies ownership.
Report Post »TheCenturion
Posted on June 23, 2011 at 9:56pmLet’s apply a little common sense, for a change.
Man(and woman) have a NATURAL instinct to survive. ANYONE with one microcosm of sense knows that in order to survive you must meet basic needs. To meet these needs you quickly figure out that you must have a way of procuring those things.
The next logical step is to EARN the means to obtain what you need, unless of course you’re a liberal, and you scheme ways to steal what you need, and more, from those who work for what they have. And then the war on poverty was born.
Report Post »TylerD
Posted on June 24, 2011 at 2:03am@ELENA2010
You’re partially right that the Bible does mention and respect personal property “rights.” But be careful to not run too far with that. God also allowed people like Solomon to have multiple wives, even though that was not His original design for marriage. Since man was sinful, God often allowed him to engage in activities that were not in his best interest. It’s not so much that God wanted everyone to “have” their own stuff, but that, since we decided we “needed” our own stuff, He said to respect that desire among our peers.
If you really think about it, the Commandments you mention are really almost diametrically opposed in a way. It says not to take someone else’s possessions, yes. But it also says not to desire possessions so much that you are desiring someone else’s. What we gather from this (and texts such as Mattthew 6:24 & I Timothy 6:10) should not be that we should desire only our own possessions, but that we should desire only God. Let’s not forget that Jesus also said, in Luke 12:15, “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Also take a gander at Acts 4:32-37:”Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” Or I John 2:16: “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is fro
Report Post »TylerD
Posted on June 24, 2011 at 2:03am…continued…
Judging by Acts 2:44-45, where it says the believers “gave to anyone as he had need,” I’d guess Jesus would tell the kid asking for his crayon back to let the other kid use it, as he felt he had a need for it. And really, to use your own words, wasn’t the second kid, in refusing to give the owner the crayon, being “inhospitable?”
And for what it’s worth, it would be inaccurate to say that all societies/humans have a natural sense of ownership. The Bulu people in Cameroon, for example, do not have any sense of personal ownership. All possessions belong to an entire village, not any one person. At the very least, even if this is a value that has to be taught to young children, it’s not a characteristic that is universally desired. I think SEC777 is probably right that our desire to own something is probably fueled, at least partially, by selfish desires.
I don‘t think there’s a difference between socialists and capitalists in wanting to have stuff. Rather, capitalists want to earn their own stuff, while socialists want people to give them their own stuff. They both still selfishly want the stuff, which is what God and Christ ultimately speak against. If we, as a society, are so focused on what is “ours” then we might be missing out on the fact that God has called us to make nothing “ours” but Christ. Whatever system we live under, Christ still calls us, in Matthew 22:21, to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the
Report Post »TylerD
Posted on June 24, 2011 at 2:05amSorry, the website cut off the end of both posts. The first was supposed to end,
“…from the world.”
And the second was supposed to end,
“…to God the things that are God’s.”
Report Post »