Torch, Spring 1986

I I 4 Free Enterprise: I n this issue we return to the theme of free enterprise , the economic system of our country that is today under increasing attack. The attack is coming from religious groups that should count their blessings for the benefits they enjoy because they live under this system. In recent months, position papers from a major religious body directly assaulted the Protestant work ethic , private enterprise , and the free market. While America may not be practicing free enterprise to perfection , I believe it is vital that this system be maintained to ensure the continuance of the freedom and prosperity we enjoy today. For more than 200 years, men and women have enjoyed the opportunity of living in this free country . Since the American Revolution, individual creativity, drive , and investment have produced a system known as the free market or free enterprise - a system that surpasses all other economic systems throughout history. It is interesting to note that in 1776 , the year our Declaration of Independence was drafted , Adam Smith, a Scottish economist , published his Wealth of Nations. This treatise, which outlines the basic tenets of capitalism, declares that an "invisible hand" puts together the efforts of individuals working in their own self interest , resulting in the best interest for the whole . Through our free enterprise system, four million American farmers produce food for 225 million Americans with enough left over to export around the world . By contrast, 34 million Russian farmers cannot meet their national food needs and must turn to America for help. Harold Lindsell states , "There is no socialist country in the world which has maintained its food production at levels to what those nations produced before they turned to socialism." However, when socialist countries open the door a crack to free enterprise principles, amazing results occur. For instance, when the Soviet government allows farmers to own small plots , they harvest more crops per acre than do large government-owned farms . China, a great bastion of socialism, is realizing the value of free enterprise principles . Well over 90 percent of'the businesses in the United States are small businesses that foster the Value It, Promote It, Protect It by Dr. Paul Dixon entrepreneurial spirit. A modem trend is for large corporations to imitate this entrepreneurial spirit by giving individual managers greater freedom and responsibility. Free enterprise is the American way. It is also embedded in the Judea-Christian ethic . As Americans, we prize the freedom to choose our place of work as well as worship the god of our choice . We value the right to earn a salary and to enjoy the privilege of giving to the charity of our choice . Private ownership is the main tenet of a free-market economy. The religious expression of giving to others presupposes ownership. Among the Ten Command– ments, the seventh urges man not to steal the private property of others . Free enterprise also presupposes many competitors , with each striving to make his product or service better. No one wins or controls the market. With competition, better products and the most efficient method of production surface while those that are inferior fall by the wayside. When government subsidizes inferior methods and products , creativity is stifled and inefficiency and waste flourish. In order for free enterprise to work , government must be the overseer, not the dominant factor in the economy. The intense conviction of Cedarville College about free enterprise is most evident in our refusal to accept or solicit government funding for the operation of the college or construction of buildings. Our position, however, is not primarily based on the fact that free enterprise works and is overwhelmingly successful. Rather, at Cedarville we believe free enterprise permits the economic climate in which the Christian can best function in obedience to God . As a Christian institution, we stress free enterprise because it is biblical. It is taught in the classrooms, especially through Business Administration, our largest academic department. Let us not take for granted the free enterprise system and the benefits we have come to enjoy through it. Let us thank God that we live in a country where free enterprise is practiced. Not only must we value it, but we must do all we can to promote it and protect it. For when economic freedom is removed, political and religious freedom soon follow . 3