[CS-FSLUG] Corporate Rule

[Mike Cumings]

A quote from the movie Braveheart: "Fine speech."  :)

You've hit on a topic that I have been mulling about in my mind for
a while.  Capitalism - though a very good self optimizing/balancing
economic system - is based entirely on greed.  The buyer wants to
obtain as much value as possible from a transaction while the seller
wishes to obtain an item/service of value, sacrificing as little of
their accumulated value in the process.  Curiously, the transaction
only takes place if both parties believe they have executed a positive
value proposition (implying that the total value or the buyer, seller,
and item/service is higher at the close of the transaction than at
the start).  The problem with this, as you have pointed out, is that
each party is evaluating the situation from a purely selfish standpoint -
not from a perspective of self-sacrifice and love.  This is in stark
contrast to Christ's value proposition to the world: A life of
sacrifice in which the value that was gained benefited not himself,
but everyone else.

Ed Hurst wrote:
 > The individual consumer ceases to exist as
> anything more than an economic source -- the buyer. Whether the buyer
> has a genuine need for the merchandise is seldom a factor in
> consideration. Do they want it; can they be made to want it? This
> dehumanization is the tragedy of what began as an attempt to make life
> for humans better.

I think this highlights one of the major problems in the way we think
as a fallen race.  To make things better we try to eliminate the notions
of self (probably an attempt to eliminate selfishness) and truth (which
naturally differentiates one self from another when our human nature
generates disagreement).  As a result, We now live in a world of
postmodernism - majority rules and nobody is wrong.

> "If you want to protect your right to have this great
> product, you need to tell your representative..."

This could probably be tied back to the marketing comments you made,
as this effectively promotes the interests of the seller by falsifying,
distorting, or otherwise manipulating the truth to the buyer.

> Individuals in business occupations may well have surrendered to
> Jesus Christ, but their activities contribute inevitably to denying
> Him. It is the paradox of living in a fallen world: you cannot prevent
> Satan gaining in some way from what you say and do. In a sense, the
> merchant god *is* Satan. We see him well described in Ezekiel 28. Tyre
> was the archetypical merchant of Ezekiel's day, and in this chapter
> many scholars find the true ruler of Tyre was Satan himself.

Here's my problem.  I work for a company which by many standards has
high ethical scores when dealing with customers.  Predominantly concerned
with being on the leading ranks in the the march of technology (for
money, of course), the company is working to develop a product (RFID)
which I can see as a means to fulfill the prophecy in the Bible relating
to the "mark of the Beast" and it's associated integration with economic
control (i.e., those without the "mark of the Beast" not being able to
participate in trade).  As a product which as it's sole purpose is to
further optimize the economic gain of the seller, this directly links
our current economic system with a tool directly used by Satan to
persecute the Church.  Perceived "good" ends up being no good.

Note that historically people thought the same things about bar codes
and other such devices.

> It is most certainly possible for the individual businessman to deny
> Satan's rule and engage in commerce with complete purity and holiness.
> Doing business is not inherently evil. Indeed, the call of the
> Christian businessman is to redeem trade from the hands of our Enemy,
> by seeking the best benefit of his customer. His true customer is God,
> and he makes his deals with God, and the customers and partners are
> those to be blessed in turn.
> 
> We as Believers are commanded to watch the world around us with His
> wisdom and insight, not ignorant of Satan's schemes. Know and
> understand that any vector of power in the earth will be Satan's
> playground, insofar as he can make it so. The greatest threat to human
> life, safety, and sanity today is the business culture. This is the
> power behind every throne, and it is on that culture's behalf that all
> rule and regulation is made. Even when good laws are made, look for
> them to be perverted for the sake of corporate entities. Your
> government is but a pawn in the greater battle to destroy humanity, not
> by simple death of the body, but by dehumanizing and controlling.

Very refreshing commentary.  Thanks for sending it our way!

Mike