Globalisation and the Ten Commandments
John McKinnon | Monday, 4th May 2015
Throughout the latter half of the twentieth century an ideological battle raged between the forces of communism on the one hand and those of capitalism on the other. As is often the case, this ideological battle assumed religious fervour with capitalism and, in particular, it’s more laissez-faire forms, assuming the mantle of the “Christian” economic system. By the early 21st century, free market economics and its close cousin, globalisation, appear to have won wide acceptance, at least in the West, as embodying Christianity in society.
The foundation of these beliefs—in addition to their springing from the battles of the twentieth century—appears to be in the belief in individual freedom and reward for effort. Texts such as 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and the Parable of the Talents lend support to such idealization of entrepreneurship. However, with widening inequalities and 17% of the world in dire poverty (over one billion live on less than $1.25 per day),[1] it is worth re-examining whether further globalisation and spreading of free-market capitalism is in fact a biblical response to the current crisis.
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
In looking to the Bible for ethical guidelines at a societal level, the Pentateuch is a natural starting point. Here we find the Ten Commandments, universally accepted by Christians as the ethical foundation for a just society. The eighth commandment, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15), not only seems clear in its implications but also is accepted beyond Christianity as foundational in any societal context. However, as we shall discover, the elaborations and specific applications of this law given throughout the Pentateuch demonstrate a much deeper principle than a simple prohibition and raise significant ethical implications for today’s economic debate.
Patrick Miller, in his essay “Property and Possession in the Light of the Ten Commandments,”[2] demonstrates that far from being a simple statement protecting general property rights, the eighth commandment has a complex trajectory throughout both the books of the Law and the narrative sections of the Old Testament. This trajectory, summarised briefly below, highlights the positive ethical implications of the commandment.
Miller first looks at the prohibitions against stealing people—“Whoever steals a man, whether he sells him or is found in possession of him, shall be put to death” (Exodus 21:16). The version found in Deuteronomy (24:7) specifically refers to slave labour or sale for gain. The force of this commandment is that no one can appropriate another person for economic gain. That is, people are not goods to be bought and sold or used for economic exploitation. This point is furthered in some of the Sabbath regulations. Slaves (as a result of economic deprivation, not kidnap) are not only to be released every seven years, but this freedom must be accompanied with liberal economic benefit (Deut 15). Thus the commandments ensure that one who is in bondage, even through economic deprivation, becomes a recipient of economic benefit. An individual’s freedom and economic possibility was not permitted to be stolen, regardless of how it came to be imperilled in the first place. While the commandments acknowledge that humans become caught in economic bondage, it insists that this situation never become permanent and that people always have opportunity for a fresh start.
Secondly, Miller examines what he calls the legal trajectory of the eighth commandment in each of Exodus and Deuteronomy. Exodus 22:1–15 contains a set of laws relating to theft and restitution. In most cases the theft relates to those objects that are means of livelihood and production. It is not property rights as such that are addressed but particularly those things that people need to provide food, clothing and the other necessities of life. Verses 5–6 address the wider issue of loss of the means of subsistence, either deliberate or accidental. The underlying principle here is that of justice and fair dealing. In verses 10–13, the concern is to provide protection in the case where someone has lent property or provided safekeeping for property. It appears that God wishes to ensure that these social virtues are not endangered by concern about the liability or risks taken on. A further interesting law is described in Exodus 23:4–5. Here, one is required to look after the property of an enemy.
Deuteronomy 22:1–4 elaborates this command and makes it clear that there is a positive responsibility to care for a neighbour’s economic wellbeing. As Miller states: “The divine instruction about loving one’s enemy thus begins not in the New Testament but in the moral dynamic effected by the eighth commandment.” In Deuteronomy 24:10–13 the laws relate to the situation of a person becoming indebted. In this case, the creditor is not permitted to use their economic advantage to deprive others of basic necessities. In verses 12–13 the emphasis is not on the loan or debt but on ensuring that the poor have access to basic necessities. This is expanded to include the payment of wages in verse 15. Chapter 24 concludes with laws describing a process whereby the poor can have access to the land and its productivity. This highlights the fact that the property laws were not about protection of property of the rich from the poor but about ensuring that the poor had access to basic needs and to the means to provide a livelihood for themselves and their families.
Finally, Ephesians provides a relevant summary of the Pentateuch property laws. Ephesians 4:28 says, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, … that he may have something to share with those in need.” Just as in the Pentateuch, Paul here describes a positive action. In Miller’s words, “the trajectory of the eighth commandment explicitly opens up from a narrow reading of the commandment as aguard of private property to a positive inducement to generosity.”
GLOBALISATION AND TRADE
Economic globalisation is simply the term used to describe the phenomena of increasing international trade in goods, services and capital. As such, it involves diminishing national sovereignty in favour of increased power for the owners of capital and the producers of goods and services. As this power has become increasingly concentrated, we can identify clear breaches of the ethical principles derived from the eighth commandment and its applications in Hebrew law.
A major cause of poverty in the world today is debt. In the 1970s and 80s many poorer nations borrowed heavily from banks in the richer nations. Much of this money was squandered by corrupt dictators, leaving poor nations with massive debt and no means to repay. The situation is such that debt servicing far exceeds aid payments and has resulted in the decline in many essential services such as health and education. African countries spend four times as much on debt servicing as on healthcare. In some cases the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has assisted in debt restructuring but this has usually involved conditions such as the privatisation of utilities, reductions in government spending and the introduction of user pays principles. This can be contrasted with the Pentateuchal principle that debt, no matter how incurred, not be permitted to deprive the debtor of basic necessities or economic well-being.
The increasing freedom of international investment and finances has allowed many companies to become “multinationals”, that is, to operate across national borders. In fact, this freedom has resulted in a concentration of market power as companies have purchased competitors and used their size to dominate small markets. The aim of corporations is, of course, to increase profit. Poorer countries generally earn money by selling primary produce to richer countries. In the case of at least three of these commodities, coffee, cocoa and bananas, the market is dominated by a small number of large corporations. The market power of these corporations means that the prices received by the producers has remained low and a tiny fraction of the price of the final product as sold in the US or Europe. In many cases these “cash” crops have replaced subsistence food crops thus making the producers totally dependent on the global markets and a few large multinationals. Coffee prices have been highly volatile, varying by up to 80% over the period since 1990,[3] and at times many small producers have been forced to forego basic necessities. Retail prices of coffee products have not fallen since monopolistic corporations have increased profit margins. Once again, we must consider this in the light of the commandment’s insistence on economic wellbeing and the assurance that fair wages are paid and that people have the means to provide their necessities.
The third aspect of globalisation is the move to free trade and the removal of barriers to trade. While increased trade is a way to increased prosperity, free trade has often eroded the ability of national governments to protect their citizens against exploitation by foreign corporations. In recent times, just five companies have controlled 87% of worldwide banana production. These companies have sought to use free trade rules to prevent the European Union from choosing to import higher cost bananas from former colonies. This would devastate the incomes of producers in these places.
Wealthy countries also maintain high subsidies for agricultural producers. These subsidies not only lock out imports from the poorer countries but also encourage significant over-production. This surplus gets dumped on poorer countries thus further damaging the market of local producers. Such “theft” of markets denies these producers the means of economic livelihood and surely comes within the moral ambit of the eighth commandment. Free trade is actually something of a misnomer. Protectionism is still rampart throughout the world. However, international bodies dominated by richer countries have been able to shift the balance of the rules so that poor countries exporting to rich counties face four times the tariff barriers. Similarly, intellectual property and patent rules protect corporations in rich countries and effectively lock poor countries out of the market for lifesaving medicines and technological advancements. Patent protection for seeds and fertilisers directly impinges upon the productive capabilities of farmers in poor regions. Once again, we see the basic needs of the poor subjected to the need of the rich for high profitability, in contravention of the eighth commandment.
Similarly, cases of multinational corporations moving factories into poorer countries to exploit low wages bring to mind the commandment’s applications to slavery. This exploitation, which involves very low wages and appalling conditions, is often the only possible employment or income the workers have access to. They therefore have no option but to remain in the exploitative situations. They are not free and do not make enough money to have any other options.
SUMMARY
The commandment against stealing is far more than a simple protection of private property. It is expanded within the Pentateuch into a positive encouragement to generosity and a set of principles for caring for the poorer members of society. When the principles behind these expansions are applied to the forces of globalisation and global capitalism at work in the world today we find much that contravenes the commandment: “Do not steal”. We must face the conclusion that a significant amount of activity within the global economy is simply stealing.
[1] World Bank, 2011.
[2] Patrick Miller, “Property and Possession in the Light of the Ten Commandments,” in Having: Property and Possession in Religious and Social Life (ed. William Schweiker and Charles Mathewes; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 17–51.
[3] Information provided by the International Coffee Organization.
Dr John McKinnon has worked in finance, international development and philanthropy and has degrees in mathematics, biblical studies and development studies. He currently manages a charitable foundation and sits on a number of non-profit boards, and serves as the current President of the Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ).
