GBTV: The Unrecognized Virtues of Owning Property

“We don't talk about taking money. We talk about making money," says rabbi Daniel Lapin to Glenn Beck.

What does he mean?

He’s talking about the fundamental principle of increasing one’s revenues by earning money.

“People think in terms of ‘taking’ money,” says rabbi Lapin, “’We must take it from the rich! And that way, we’ll all have!’”

“No!” the rabbi disagrees, “Let everybody be free to make it and then we’ll ‘all have.’”

“What do you think about these people that say . . . 'Jesus was a communist’?” asks Glenn Beck. “People will quote the bible left and right and say, ‘Yeah, you should take it from the rich.’”

“They should keep their day jobs, I think, because theology is probably not their main area,” replies rabbi Lapin.

“Look, I mean, Jesus was a rabbi and there’s no reason to suppose that he wasn’t intimately familiar with the Torah, with the Old Testament," rabbi Lapin explains, "I’m afraid you’ll search in vain there for any notions of socialism or any notion of redistribution.”

Indeed, many theologians argue against the idea of taking the wealth or property of another in the name of "fairness."

"But then we'll all be equal!" some (Occupiers) might argue.

The person who encourages the forcible confiscation of property in the name of “fairness,” although they may have a very loose understanding of charity, fails to understand that when charity becomes compulsory, it ceases to exist and instead becomes theft—a condemnable act.

Rabbi Lapin explains the importance of the notion of private property.

“Here’s the basic decision that every society has to make: If you want to take a whole lot of us away and start a new society, a new culture, a new community on a remote desert island, Glenn Beck is going to have to make several decisions right up front. One of them is: Are you going to allow everyone to have their own pieces of land? Or are you going to have the land owned by everyone?”

“That’s fundamental. In other words, is private ownership of property ‘okay’? And out of that decision results two completely separate and incompatible systems: one works, one flounders and fails.”

Watch rabbi Daniel Lapin, author of Thou Shall Prosper, and Glenn Beck discuss the virtues of owning property (via GBTV):