| Doug Jones and Capitalism |
| Wednesday, March 19, 2008 |
 Douglas Jones is an author that I like to keep my eye on - who could forget his hilarious The Mantra of Jabez? It's a genius satire of The Prayer of Jabez. His contributions to the church are significant. For instance, the work he has done on the apologetic front, bringing the Christian worldview to bear on forms of unbelief has been helpful in my own theological development.
Recently, Jones started blogging at Scribblative Agincourting, and I must say, that I have been surprised at some of what he has written. Jones has long had association with the newer wave of Christian Reconstruction, a part of which is the philosophy of libertarian economics and political thought. Reading his blog, one sees a certain shift in Jones' thought. Although I'm not sure if it's necessarily a shift in the wrong direction.
Whether one agrees with Jones' shift, he definitely gives pause for thought. He is an insightful writer, who pulls no punches, yet shows balance and conviction in his expression. Personally, as one with libertarian leanings, I find a lot that I agree with in Jones (it strikes me that he's critical of conservatism more than he is of libertarianism). Whether he is a libertarian or not, he is worth listening to. This is why I'm posting links to some of his posts and the discussion that followed as a result:
I'll start with the post that has sparked a small controversy in the blogosphere:
And here is Jones' recent response to Bahnsen.
Labels: capitalism, doug jones, economics, libertarianism |
posted by Ian @ 9:07 AM   |
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| 8 Comments: |
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Thanks for the heads up, Ian. I never knew Jones was a blogger.
I'm a little confused about what he writes, perhaps mainly because I'm not entirely clear on the full nature of his distinction between capitalism and free markets. It almost seems like he may be defining capitalism based on how detractors cariciture it, rather than it seems to be actually defined. But, of course, capitalism is not a sacred cow, and is worth scrutinizing, assuming it is scrutinized fairly and rationally of course.
It certainly looks intruiging. Here's something: I'm more than a little surprised, though, that he would classify Naomi Klein's "Disaster Capitalism" as "worth reading". Of course, there were some good points she makes, but even on those she misdirects her anger. So even when she has good analysis, her misdirected vitriol spoils it. And she especially relentless on her attacks on Milton Friedman.
I've read that book by Klein and my review is listed here.
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Doug is great and as he notes:"The truth wil set you free, but it will first make you angry".
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Whoops.. The book I referenced, "Disaster Capitalism", is actually entitled "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism"
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Look what you made me do, Ian - leave a comment at Sandlin's blog (since Bahnsen has no comments section). We'll see if Sandlin approves it or not. Although the subject matter is over my head and outside my interests, I would take anybody to task on what C.S. Lewis would call the conjectural reconstruction of the history of a work (for example, questioning whether the reviewer really read the book). To be fair, Lewis does also take aim at reviewers who don't really read the book. But still, the back-and-forth of "you-didn't-read-the-book" and "yes-I-did" is terribly sophomoric.
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I have been a long time fan of the Dougs (Doug Jones and Doug Wilson); this recent post on economics is insightful. I would certainly agree with his assertion that a church community should reflect this economic application of gifting, mercy and sacrifice. Jones writes, “The Church seeks to be a unity of diverse persons by relations of gifting, mercy, and sacrifice — true economics.” I am not sure that economics should be the central aspect of church fellowship. Giving, mercy and sacrifice have other applications beyond monetary. It seems it is the 20th century academics who interpret all history, sociology, psychology, and literature through the lens of economics. Perhaps they are right. Even the gospel, I suppose, is an example of supply and demand.
Hmmm... Gifting, mercy and sacrifice… sounds communist.
Whatever the case, I know I could use some “mercy” from by student loans.
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Thanks for linking to these posts. There is a lot that i agree with there, especially "the Immorality of the Left-Right distinction."
Lets continue interceding for our governments, and be thankful for our freedoms.
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I noticed that "Why we Fight" is Doug's #1 recommended documentary, and I agree it's terribly important. Have you seen it?
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Thanks for the heads up, Ian. I never knew Jones was a blogger.
I'm a little confused about what he writes, perhaps mainly because I'm not entirely clear on the full nature of his distinction between capitalism and free markets. It almost seems like he may be defining capitalism based on how detractors cariciture it, rather than it seems to be actually defined. But, of course, capitalism is not a sacred cow, and is worth scrutinizing, assuming it is scrutinized fairly and rationally of course.
It certainly looks intruiging. Here's something: I'm more than a little surprised, though, that he would classify Naomi Klein's "Disaster Capitalism" as "worth reading". Of course, there were some good points she makes, but even on those she misdirects her anger. So even when she has good analysis, her misdirected vitriol spoils it. And she especially relentless on her attacks on Milton Friedman.
I've read that book by Klein and my review is listed here.