A Christian Economist’s Response to Occupy Wall Street

A Christian Economist’s Response to Occupy Wall Street October 22, 2011

The Occupy Wall Street protest has dominated the news over the past month, and it’s raising plenty of issues about financial governance, inequality, and fairness.  It is spreading beyond NYC to other cities and college campuses.  (There’s even an Occupy UConn).

Bruce Wydick is an economist at the University of San Francisco, and he is a friend of mine from college.  He has written a very thoughtful piece about the Occupy Movement for Christianity Today, and in it he diagnoses what he sees as the source of the crisis.  Here are some excerpts from Bruce’s essay.

“Part of the power of the protest lies in its ambiguity. Americans are angry about many issues today. In such a climate it may be more strategic to focus on the common anger than on specificities.”

“The crisis has spiritual roots. Jesus warns his followers, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15, NIV). But a syncretistic form of Christianity has emerged in our country, a syncretism that mingles genuine New Testament Christianity with the consumer materialism of the American Dream.”

“This spirit of entitlement in America also lies at the root of our national debt problem, a crisis exacerbated by the housing and finance meltdowns. Make no mistake: our national debt problem is a moral problem.”

Thanks Adrienne for the link!


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