A rich man is shocked when Jesus tells him that to inherit eternal life he must “‘Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ His face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.” Jesus “’aid to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ I say again, ‘How hard it is.’” “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
It was a fundamental belief for the capitalists who helped write the Old Testament and remains a fundamental belief – the rich are rich and have value because they are good. Wealth is the sign of a person’s goodness, a just reward from God. Conversely, the poor are poor and are devalued because they are bad. Poverty is the sign of their badness, a just curse from God. How stunning it is when Jesus says it is basically impossible for a rich person to be One with God. It is a reversal of THE fundamental belief capitalists use to shape the world in their favor. Most of us work in the capitalist value system and may even be bosses in it. But we are not capitalists. We seek and exchange costs for food, housing, schooling, the arts, and such. What we are doing is progressing forward, for a shared good life – the definition of profit. Capitalists have stolen the word profit. They use it to cover up all the rest they have stolen. That which capitalists seek and steal is plunder. Plunder means to loot. Capitalists loot humanity and our resources so that we struggle to pay for the high costs they place on living expenses like food and housing. Capitalists are not workers but plunder the work of others. Capitalists use other people as property, for capital gain, whether as slaves or as indentured wage laborers. Capitalists include the 9 centi-billionaires in the world like Jeff Bezos who is denying workers unions; like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg whose lawyers and lobbyists are destroying any ability to hold them accountable for their stealing of government subsidies (Tesla 2.8 billion, Meta 1.1 billion – Open Secrets) and their platforms’ stealing of truth. Jesus’ words needling the rich are not for a particular time but for all time. According to Oxfam’s recently released state of the financial world report, the world’s top 1% own more wealth than 95% of all humanity because they keep stealing from common people.
Among the 99% there is Madeline Pendleton. Madeline grew up poor in a culture that forces we 99% into survival living. She was determined to progress forward, profit. She did so amidst many difficulties devised by the capitalist system to keep her poor. Her most serious difficulty was the 2008 bank entitlement theft. She then suffered through the suicide of her partner who did not see any other way out of his financial troubles. She knows “capitalism leaves us with few options for survival.” Madeline tells her story of surviving but more so of thriving in her recently released book, I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt. It includes her realization that “capitalism was literally killing the people she loved.” She knew “there had to be a better way.” She helped create that better way as a small business owner who does not plunder people for capital gain. Instead, she builds team work for shared revenue profits. She created a business “wherein people had ownership and agency.” Everyone is invested, physically, financially, which means “no one needs supervision because everyone knows we are in this together.” She pays employees and herself the same wage and all have health care. Madeline is not a capitalist who schemes for plunder and destroys a community of care. She built a community of care. She built an economy – “oikos” care of the home. She built a “business rooted in an ethos of community care.” Madeline includes in every chapter a “Capitalism Survival Skill.” For example, ‘How to Budget,’ ‘How to Get a Job,’ ‘How to Navigate College,’ ‘How to Buy a House.’ She is providing the skills to others who, like her, are devalued by capitalists to be used and abused for capital gain. Madeline is accused of being annoyingly anti-American. Perhaps she is helping people on Jesus’ Way, and needling the rich as she does so.
Prayer: Beautiful Spirit, all things are possible.
Question: How do I design my life so as to not take advantage but to create equality?
October 13, 2024 Mark 10:17-30 Twenty Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time