16 Eventually this worker dissatisfaction would produce a revolution, leading to a socialist state. But as individuals now operated under a new economic system — noncapitalist, yet communal and cooperative — their hidden cooperative nature would emerge and the state would “wither away.” Utopia would be achieved! Unlike Marx, we consider true human nature, to help markets function as much as possible as they should. The goal is to create the incentives for proper behavior in market settings that are as free as possible — not to inhibit markets unduly. Admittedly, if humans remained in a pre-Fall state, markets would work perfectly. But sin has entered and humans are predisposed to behavior that sometimes disrupts the efficient and just working of markets. Jealousy, envy, and greed make humans susceptible to behavior that interferes with others’ desire for freedom and pursuit of economic well-being. Even without those motives and their resulting actions, the mind is also distorted by sin, causing individuals to think falsely about their own habits, motives, and about the effects of their conduct. Therefore, a set of fundamental rules is necessary to constrain certain behavior and to provide positive incentives for other kinds of behavior. Rules then actually make for more prosperity and flourishing. Rules include laws against theft, fraud, and duress. They may also ensure that one is able to keep what he earns, with the exception of legitimate taxation. With these basic rules in place humans are free to be productive without fear that their creativity and productivity will be ruined when someone appropriates their “creation.” The market is able to produce tremendous flourishing, but it is made up of individuals who are subject to selfish and sinful behavior. Therefore, while maintaining the greatest possible freedom for market institutions, we must at the same time establish rules to prevent sinful behavior and to enhance human flourishing as a result of those markets. But we also want to be careful not to confuse selfishness with self-interest or to assert that humans are selfish all the time. The Bible does correctly label all humans as sinful, even in a state of belief. Selfishness is, of course, sin. But self-interest can be legitimate, as it drives humans to provide for themselves and their families. Otherwise they might simply fall into sheer laziness or a kind of profligate altruism and, ultimately, into poverty. Adam Smith made such a useful distinction, and we do well to maintain it, while at the same time we do not condone selfishness. In addition,
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