Social Gospel 2000

Although not enemies in the most literal sense, there pervades in the American business environment a state between competitors that could best be described as just short of war. In this warlike environment companies employ sophisticated propaganda, they launch hostile takeovers, and they devise strategies to cripple competitors in efforts to conquer new territory. Behind the lines, they zealously guard their trade secrets from industrial agents of espionage and swallow 'poison pills' to avoid hostile takeovers. Officers use golden parachutes to jump to safety when their company is overrun. Books such as Sun Tzu's Art of War for Traders and Investors by Dean Lundell and The Way of the Warrior by James Dunnigan and Daniel Masterson describe in detail how to apply principles of war in the conduct of business.

The message of Jesus however has always been one of love, not war. Likewise, our conduct, and collectively our conduct in business should be the same. This of course changes all of the rules that business is used to living, and dying by. Instead of savagely attacking competitors in the public arena, a business might state, 'Their product is a good product, but this is why you should buy our product.' Instead of stealing trade secrets, a business might devote more resources to product development in a way that encourages creativity and innovation. And instead of rejoicing when an enemy (or competitor) fails, a helping hand extended today to those in need could tomorrow in need find a helping hand. For there is more to be gained by all competitors in a market of good will, than in a market marked by enmity that tears down all.

VALUE - WITH VALUES

The Shakers, who produced works of enduring value, will always be remembered for their notable work ethic. Unfortunately though, our present day American society may be remembered more for its propensity to produce works of fleeting value. With mass production and mass consumption America has become a throwaway society. We create products of impermanent value with the least expensive materials that will produce the highest profits and offer the greatest immediate gratification to the consumer. We produce throwaway cars made out of aluminum and plastic, and houses made of fiberboard and drywall. The cars end up in junkyards, the houses collectively denigrate into neighborhood ghettos. We buy furniture and appliances for our houses produced the same way. They too are made of aluminum, plastics, and fiberboard, inhabit our lives for a short while, and end up a few years later in a landfill. We shop at neighborhood strip malls constructed the same way, hastily and cheaply constructed to meet a demand and turn a profit. We drive on streets, our houses sit on roads paved to last only until the next bond election. This throw-a-way of life is unique to America. In Europe for example, many people live in houses hundreds of years old and drive cars that last for decades driven on urban streets laid years ago.

America is already feeling the effects of this throw-a-way of life. America's suburbs, many of which were built during the heyday of mass production and mass consumption, the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, are already showing signs of a premature decay. As a result, those that can afford to are moving even farther out from the central cities to gated satellite communities miles from the core. Our suburbs are left to suffer the same fate as our inner cities. In the end everyone loses something - neighborhoods, shared experiences, and security to name a few.

Mass production and mass consumption have brought about a semblance of the American dream to many Americans that otherwise could not have afforded it. And in many cases, mass production has produced products of value and benefit to society. A cheaply constructed house provides better shelter from the elements than no house at all. But too many times, in our quests for immediate return on investment and immediate gratification, we produce and buy products of fleeting worth and value, and in the end have nothing to show for it.

We should seek therefore to reconcile our tendencies of mass production and crash commercialism with the standard of 'working as though working for the Lord'. We could for example - with a commitment to this standard - build smaller houses of better materials. Or we could build the same size houses with better materials, with lower interest rates charged by the lending institution. These are propositions that could work for all parties, since such houses would better retain or increase in value. It is also a proposition that depends on all parties.

By restoring worth, value, and dignity to our nation's tangible assets, we can also restore worth, value, and dignity to our intangible assets - the American people. For there is worth, both materially and spiritually, in working as though working for the Lord, for then we can produce works of enduring value, with enduring values.