The invisible hand

God created Adam and blessed him to be a good steward of all creation. Made in God's image we live productive lives. To satisfy our basic needs and various wants we must first toil for them. Fortunately I don't have to sweat to make the things I consume from scratch or mine would be a very miserable existence. The global division of labor makes us amazingly productive.

The spread of capitalism also makes us interdependent. To make a living I have to serve my fellow men even when I fail to love them as I love myself. At the same time they are persuaded to work for me even if they don't care much for my wellbeing. As in the story of Jacob's sons selling their brother Joseph into slavery, we see a good social outcome of some not-so-praiseworthy personal motifs.

I use my God-given talents to Supply education. Those who value my product willingly pay for it in both cash and the opportunity cost of their time. I earn income as a producer and thus my basic needs and multiple desires become Demand for goods and services. Now that I have obeyed my Creator's mandate, I am in a position to order the production of the things that please me.

As I buy food and transportation, I empower farmers and drivers to enjoy the fruits of yet other hands. In the presence of institutions protecting life, liberty, and private property, an "invisible hand" guides self-interested individuals to promote each other's interests in the market. And it happens without commissars telling people what to do! I have to be selectively blind not to appreciate the wisdom and beauty of such Divine mechanism.

Is free market capitalism a perfect system? Of course not. But none of the collectivist Utopian alternatives gets even close to its ability to satisfy our needs and protect our rights. Can we rely on the invisible hand and the Constitution to preserve and enhance our freedom and prosperity? Don't be naïve. As John Adams said, "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion."