Economic Justice

As long as a society tolerates great disparities in living standards between rich and poor, it cannot be regarded as a just society. Such disparities weaken the bonds of solidarity between citizens, and generate class distinctions and their accompanying prejudices.

Furthermore, equality of opportunity and equal justice under the law is a fiction in a society where the wealthy have every advantage over the poor. Visionaries of every age have sought for economic democracy to accompany political democracy. Socialisms of various stripes have arisen in response to this perennial desire of the original mind.

Economic justice begins with the commandment not to steal. Thieves are not only those who steal from other people, but also and more damagingly, those in a position of authority who rob from the public trough. This leads to the question of what is ‘public’ and what is ‘private.’

God created the earth, with its air, water and mineral resources, and in biblical Israel, all the land belonged to God with the people as its stewards. This scriptural viewpoint challenges the capitalist concept of private property, and suggests that a just economic system should involve some notion of shared ownership.

Furthermore, from God’s perspective, all people are members of one family. How, then, can the wealthy sleep in good conscience while some of their brothers and sisters go hungry? The early Christians held all property in common, a tradition that has persisted in utopian socialist experiments to this day. The key to successful socialism, according to Father Moon, is God’s love, which is the fount of the impulse to charity and brotherly love. It can prompt the wealthy to share their blessings, creating a virtuous cycle of giving. (See Chapter 13: Charity)

Communism, on the other hand, sought to institutionalize common ownership through a state mechanism that took from the rich to distribute to the poor. It utilized proletarian resentment to justify what was essentially stealing, enforced with great brutality.

It took this despicable strategy, in Father Moon’s view, because of its atheism and hostility to religion.

Instead of looking to the state to redress economic imbalances, we can look to ourselves. We can cease to strive only for our individual profit and instead regard each other as brothers and sisters, members of God’s family. Then, just as family members apportion income and expenses when making their monthly budget, people of each village or neighborhood would meet on a regular basis and voluntarily apportion income and share expenses to promote fairness and equality. By the same token, employers and factory owners should pay their workers a decent wage, not only to encourage their good industry but also out of regard for their value as human beings. Likewise, in the family of nations, wealthy nations would voluntarily offer aid and technological assistance to developing nations, with the goal that all people on the planet would have comparable standards of living. Supporting this, we should promote a culture that honors people more for their charity than for their wealth. Father Moon envisions this as a practical way to achieve economic justice.