Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
On the Importance of Definitions
On the Importance of Definitions
Jul 5, 2025 7:45 PM

I recently asked the question at Ethika Politika, “Which Capitalism?” (also the title of my article), and I followed it up with a related question here regarding the relationship between distributism and capitalism (is the former a form of the latter?). In addition, Jordan Ballor reflected last week on the different orientation of definitions of capitalism and socialism, observing, “One definition [i.e. capitalism] is focused on structure, the other [i.e. socialism] is connected with moral ideals.”

On a related note, I found this post from Matt Mitchell at Neighborhood Effects to be quite to the point as well:

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt defended pany’s practices [of taking certain tax exemptions], saying:

We pay lots of taxes; we pay them in the legally prescribed ways…. I am very proud of the structure that we set up. We did it based on the incentives that the governments offered us to operate.

So far so good. He didn’t make the rules that privilege his firm, but he will avail himself of these privileges when offered. I can sympathize. I oppose the mortgage interest deduction but still take it every April. Schmidt’s next statement, however, is about as far from the mark as one can get:

It’s called capitalism…. We are proudly capitalistic. I’m not confused about this.

A quick lesson for Mr. Schmidt: genuine capitalism is peting on a level playing field for customer dollars. If you offer a superior product orservice, customers will reward you by voluntarily parting with their money in exchange for what you offer.

Schmidt’s confusion it widespread, unfortunately, and it can make clear, charitable, and productive discussion very difficult. When many Christians say that they support the free economy, people hear it as supporting the status quo of cronyism, but that is rarely the case in my experience. If we hope to have intelligent discussions with those who disagree with us, on any issue, clear and charitable definitions of terms are essential. And that, of course, goes for terms other than capitalism as well.

Read the full post by Matt Mitchell at Neighborhood Effects here, and checkout the other posts referenced in this one by clicking on the hyperlinked text in the first paragraph above.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
The making and unmaking of European democracy
If there is anything that we have learned over the past five years of political turmoil in Western countries, it is that large numbers of people across the political spectrum are increasingly dissatisfied with the workings of modern democracy. These trends reflect, as numerous surveys illustrate, deep distrust of established political parties and, more particularly, those individuals whose careers amount to a series of revolving doors between elected office, government service, the academy, and politically-connected businesses. What’s often missing from...
How John Paul II reminded us that liberty and truth are inseparable
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the late John Paul II’s birth, it’s worth underscoring that one theme which permeated his pontificate from its beginning to the end was that of truth. Many remember Pope John Paul II as playing a crucial role in Eastern Europe’s liberation from Marxist tyranny. But he also insisted that liberty needed to be grounded in and guided by the truth knowable via reason and faith. If freedom and truth e separated—as they...
What’s behind COVID-19 racial health disparities?
Soon after COVID-19 infection rates began to skyrocket in New York City and other densely populated urban areas, progressives and Democrats demanded data on the racial disparities of testing, treatments, and deaths. The data showed that blacks and Latinos were much more likely to die from the virus than whites and Asians. As expected, progressives moved to explain these disparities in terms of structural, systemic injustice in America’s health care system: Such injustice follows the country’s material and economic inequality....
Awe and wonder: The keys to curbing COVID-19 hubris
In our information age, armchair economists and epidemiologists are many. Society remains deeply divided—preoccupied with social media squabbles over the credibility of our leaders and the rightness or wrongness of their proposed solutions. Of course, the actual experts are divided, as well. Scientists and researchers are still arguing over the validity of various mathematical models. Inventors, businesses, munity institutions have adopted wide-ranging approaches to adapt to the virus. Governors and legislators remain split on how to interpret the bigger picture—weighing...
R.R. Reno, masks, and the vacuity of social media
First Things magazine is no stranger to controversy. In recent years, it has been increasingly critical­ of the market economy, made bizarre defenses of kidnapping in the guise of a book review, and e a clearing house of contrarian and moralistic perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this week, First Things editor R.R. Reno took to Twitter to accuse those who try to avoid the spread of the coronavirus by wearing masks of cowardice. The tweets, since deleted, were widely...
Acton Line podcast: What is Christian humanism? A conversation with Bradley J. Birzer
Bradley J. Birzer, professor of history and the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies at Hillsdale College, joins this episode of Acton Line to speak about his newest book, “Beyond Tenebrae: Christian Humanism in the Twilight of the West.” What is Christian humanism and what role does it play in the Republic of Letters? What does it mean to live as a Christian humanist? Birzer helps lay down some of the foundational ideas in his book and explains the...
Rev. Sirico: How central planning created tunnel vision on COVID-19 response
Did central planning in health care and government make the COVID-19 pandemic worse by making the response more ineffective? Rev. Robert Sirico, president and co-founder of the Acton Institute, offers his thoughts on how centralization in health care and the economy has marginalized other perspectives and pushed aside notions of subsidiarity. ...
We must cure the global pandemic of loneliness
Millions of people within our country are experiencing extreme social isolation and loneliness. In a time defined by a pandemic and lockdowns, one would naturally expect people to feel this way, being cut off from family, friends, and neighbors. In actuality, the coronavirus has just exacerbated an existing pandemic that had been plaguing the United States for many years: a broad cultural trend of increased social isolation and alienation. Long before the coronavirus started, large segments of our society were...
Rev. Robert Sirico: COVID-19 lockdown orders are the state-mandated ‘marginalization of religion’
Perhaps nowhere is the disconnect between private citizens’ views and those of the government clearer than when es to the role of religion in society. Acton Institute President and Co-founder Rev. Robert A. Sirico told a nationally syndicated radio program that state orders that effectively ban clergy from caring for sick patients represent “the marginalization of religion as a non-essential service,” and this “flies in the face of our entire history as an American republic.” “Who knows best what is...
For St. John Paul II’s 100th birthday, Italy gets gift of religious freedom
Today, May 18, is a very good day, indeed. It is a heroic day for the Italian Catholic Church on the 100th anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s birth. There could not be a better birthday gift from a saint who, fluent in 13 languages, was a veritable Paraclete-on-earth. He spoke courageously and often, raising his voice against persecution of religious freedom. He did so not just in his munist Poland, but throughout the entire secularized world. By the...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved