I STOPPED ON MY WAY THROUGH MISSION VALLEY TODAY TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE HYNDAI BUILDING. It is a mostly glass building with interesting curved sections which distort and reflect the space around it. I thought the picture I took of myself reflected in the building suggests my state of mind after seeing Michael Moore's new movie.
I saw the Michael Moore film, Capitalism: A Love Story, this afternoon. I came home and went directly to my the big, two-volume dictionary I keep on my desk to check a couple of definitions: capitalism and socialism. Even thought Michael Moore hasn't made a film extolling the virtues of socialism and uses the word only a few times in the film; it is obvious that he favors a system that values and rewards "ordinary" workers. I came away wondering which of the systems is most nearly consistent with the Christian Gospel... so I also looked up the definition of Christianity; and as I read the definition, I thought about President Bill Clinton's answer to a grand jury's question about his alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky. He said, "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement....Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true." Matt Brundage ends his definition with, "Christianity is a stringent religion, that is, it focuses on "right belief" and adherence to doctrine more than it does "right practice". A Christian is not defined as much by what he does to practice his religion as much as he is defined by his beliefs. The various Creeds capture the beliefs of a Christian in a nutshell. Christians believe in the Bible, and believe that it is the inspired, unerring word of God."

My point is that definitions of capitalism and socialism are easy compared to definitions of Christianity. An objective definition of Christianity is difficult to find. An inescapable fact is that Jesus was not a capitalist, nor did he preach or teach his disciples to be capitalists.

CAPITALISM: A system in which private capital or wealth is used in the production or distribution of goods; the dominance of private owners of capital and of production for profit. Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are privately owned.

SOCIALISM: A system of economic organization advocating public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with a method of compensation based on the amount of labor expended.