Inasmuch

"Jay Richards argues that Christians who care about human well-being should support free markets." Because . . Jesus said that "inasmuch" as we care for the well-being of our brothers and sisters in need, it's as if we do it for Him. So let's think about well-being and ask good questions.

"Even if you live in the bottom quintile (20%) of the American economy, you are among the wealthiest people ever to have lived in the history of the human race." (Q) How did it happen that people even in the bottom income bracket in the United States are wealthier than most of the rest of the world? 

Poverty has been the state of humanity throughout history since the Garden of Eden. By far the majority have had a subsistence living, just enough (material wealth) to survive. So the most important question that can be asked is not "where does poverty come from?" but (Q) "where does prosperity come from?" 

The second most important economic question is, (Q) "what special conditions have enabled whole cultures to leave absolute poverty and enjoy more than subsistence?"

The key factor that answers that question is in tomorrow's post.

(cont'd tomorrow)