A2 - Sunday, January | 16, 1983 - North Shore News

strictly personal

b y Bob Hunter

Is capitalism moral?

I FIND IT interesting that the group of Catholic
bishops who dared to publish their view on the
moral responsibility of government during the
recession have been dumped on from just about

every angle, including other bishops.

Deeply concerned about
the scale of unemployment
and—the -htiman™ -suffermng
involved, the bishops argue
that government must shift
its emphasis from fighting
inflation to providing jobs.
They also knock capitalism
for its pursuit of profit.

Part of this message pees
back to Chnist driving the

money-changers out of the
temple. It is no more sur-
prismg, comme from” “the
mouths of bishops, than a
similar declaration from

Yet the bishops have done
a service in reminding us
that there is a moral and,
andeed, a rehgious side to
the debate over the

economy.

With all the talk of interest
rates and deficits and bottom
lines, it’s easy to get the idea
that the economy is strictly
the result of some kind of
wonky science. In fact, the
economies of both the East

and the West—_have been.

shaped — and it shows — by
spinitual beliefs.

tn case anybody hadnt
nouced, the Protestant work
ethic is alive and well, and so
is the spint of capitalism. In
some ways, both = are
healthier than ever.

The work ethic was based
onthe }7th- Century Cabinist
notion that only certain
people are “the elect”, that
is, the “saved of God”. The
only way to find out if you
were one of the elect was to
labor in the vineyard of the
world, and through the fruits
of your labor, you would be
known.

That is, your worthiness
would be demonstrated by
your matenal wealth - proof
that you were favored in the
eyes of God.

Put this way, Calvinism
sounds quaint. Yet there are
any number of successful
people today who sull hold
essentially the same belief,

évén though phrases” like
“the elect” have been

replaced by terms such as
“hiph-tevet ~— achievers”.
(Peter Pocklington was one.)

For these people, doing
well involves a measure of
spiritual justification. Those
who do not do well are

Mountie found guilty of assault

FROM PAGE A1

The incident occurred
after Britton had broken a
window at his Lillooet Road
townhouse to get in after
going out with the wrong
keys.

The RCMP went there to
investigate the incident as a
suspected break and entry
and one of the attending
officers was Ottmann.

Judge Hudson stated in his
findings that Britton’ was
drunk at the time and used
obscene language when
approached by the = in-
vestigating officers

Bnitton refused to identify
himself to them and told the
officers they had no business

being there.
The judge found that
Ottmann flung’ Britton

around and threw him to the
ground, with one of the
constable’s feet striking
Britton as he fell.

From the evidence given
at’ the previous hearing.
Judge Hudson found Ott-
mann had grabbed Bnitton in
a one-arm hold and hauled
him down two flights of
stairs, slapping him on the
back of the head when they
reached the bottom

Wants to sell off
closing schools

FROM PAGE At

The budget guidelines do
potnt out that the board will

continue with “pood per
sonnel practice such as
giving fai onotwe of ter
mination and honoring

moral and legal contracts
Canadian Union of Public

Laimployees (CUPE) mem

bers at the school distract
also face no amcrease thas
ar. wotmerding to the

svete

guidelines

Meanwhile, Trustee Dt
Ross Regan would like the
board to look into the
possibility of selling off the
three sx hool sites chosed last
year

Repan asked for the
appraicd valuc of North
Star, Cloverty and Hamilton
schools and ike oa
what financial

would
report cn
benefits Cauld) be acc rucd ty
the sale ol
schools

Iease oof the

Ferry crew
commended in
collision i inquiry

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At the police car, Britton
was ordered to stand with his
feet apart and bend over to
be searched. When he would
not open his legs far enough,
the judge found, the officer
struck him in the groin area
with his forearm.

Ottmann was transferred
from North Vancouver last
July, having been posted
here for two years. He
arrived in North Van after

The-Nutshell |

Deep Cove |

a licensed restaurant

being with the RCMP for
four years in the Northwest
Terntones and two years

previous to that in the
Nelson area of B.C.

North Van RCMP
Superintendent Roy Byrne

said of Oftmann’s transfer to
Pnnace Rupert. “He was
rotated on the basis of a
long-standing request to go
out to a smaller detach-
ment.”

just a fevo steps from

the dock

for

an orltintate oubiny

Narpeday Wrcnich

/

suspect. In the West, there
Rave abweys been -a subtic
correlation between = af-
fluence and worthiness that
had its omgins in religious
ideas.

Ask high-level achievers
in private if God's hight
shines on them more brightly
than others, and if they are
candid, they will very often
admit that they believe this
to be the case.

And who knows? The hne
between positive thinking
and prayer is a fine line,
It is not enough to
have faith. One must also
have confidence.

indeed.

With these two factors
going cfor them, the
CalvinistS ~— and their —
modern successors — could

see miracles of production
and e€ntréepréneurship
coming within reach.

In the Omtent, the work
ethic took a different form.

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At their best, the Japanese,
for «stance, draw no

distincuon between labor
and craft. Accordingly.
something of the same

precision that Zen masters
brought to bear on cooking.
gardening and housekeeping
now goes into the building of
a pcket calculator.

In considering the
religious dimension of the
economy, I can't help
noticing that the places
where such Buddhist terms
as “Right Livelihood” are
increasingly being used are
over here in North America,
while in Singapore, Hong
Kong and Japan, it is the
new spint of Calvinism
which has taken hold.

The good bishops are
right. There is much more to
economics than the theories
of Keynes or Marx or
Galbgaith.

God knows.

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