Marginal Christianity

In the second edition of  Karl Barth and Radical Politics  (2017), Dr. George Hunsinger provided a helpful summary of Barth's severe criticisms of capitalism, and in one quote, Barth calls capitalism "almost unequivocally demonic." In CD III/2, Karl Barth said true humanity is "Jesus, a man for other men" (CD III/2), and in the following quotations, Barth explains that the capitalistic person, is one who lusts for themselves, and a capitalistic system establishes a small group of capitalistic people (i.e. the 1%) in a position of oppressive self-seeking power, that debases culture, and removes the dignity of the other 99%. George Hunsinger summarizes Karl Barth as follows, "Capitalism, Barth argued, exacerbated some of the worst propensities of human nature. It fostered a revolution of empty and inordinate desires. It promoted 'lust for a superabundance,' 'lust for possessions,' and 'lust for an artificially extended area of power ov...

“It is certain that we all have reason to ask ourselves each of these questions, and in every case quickly and clearly to give the answer: “No, the church’s existence does not always have to possess the same form in the future that it possessed in the past as though this were the only possible pattern. “No, the continuance and victory of the cause of God which the Christian Church is to serve with her witness, is not unconditionally linked with the forms of existence which it has had until now. “Yes, the hour may strike, and perhaps has already struck when God, to our discomfiture, but to his glory and for the salvation of mankind, will put an end to this mode of existence because it lacks integrity. “Yes, it could be our duty to free ourselves inwardly from our dependency on that mode of existence even while it still lasts. Indeed, on the assumption that it may one day entirely disappear, we should look about us for new ventures in new dir...

Slavoj Zizek   http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/088ee78e-7597-11e4-a1a9-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=intl#axzz3QarbPV2B Economic models have proved more portable than political ideas, writes Slavoj Zizek   T o whom will monuments be built a century from now? Among them, perhaps, will be Lee Kuan Yew. He will be remembered not only as the first prime minister of Singapore, but also as the creator of authoritarian capitalism, an ideology set to shape the next century much as democracy shaped the last.   It was, after all, to Singapore that Deng Xiaoping came before enacting his far-reaching economic reforms in China. Until then, capitalism and democracy had seemed inextricably linked. Now the link is broken. It is often said that the west has failed in its attempt to export its civilisation to the rest of the world. That is only part right. No one dreams any longer of a global liberal democracy that marks the end of history. But economic models ha...

The Insatiable God - monbiot.com   Posted: 18 Nov 2014 11:59 AM PST The blind pursuit of economic growth stokes a cycle of financial crisis, and wrecks our world. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 19 th November 2014 Another crash is coming. We all know it, now even David Cameron acknowledges it(1). The only questions are what the immediate catalyst will be, and when it begins. You can take your pick. The Financial Times reports today that China now resembles the US in 2007(2). Domestic bank loans have risen 40% since 2008, while “the ability to repay that debt has deteriorated dramatically”. Property prices are falling and the companies that run China’s shadow banking system provide “virtually no disclosure” of their liabilities. Just two days ago, the G20 leaders announced that growth in China “is robust and is becoming more sustainable”(3). You can judge the value of their assurances for yourself. Housing bubbles in several countries, including B...

Giles Fraser The Guardian , Friday 4 July 2014 10.00 EDT                  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2014/jul/04/assisted-dying-triumph-market-capitalism   'Assisted dying opens up an emotional minefield of second-guessing and lonely choices.' Photograph: Getty Images I have seen many people die. Some slip away on a cloud of morphine. Others go in pain, coughing and spluttering, vomiting up their insides. It is a no-brainer which one we would all prefer – not least because the latter is a cause of such huge distress to those who lovingly gather round the patient's bedside. The case for assisted suicide is made every time we see another human being dying in terrible pain. But however compelling, this argument must also be set in the context of the more complicated hydra-like emotional pain that is generated by the process of dying. And I ...

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/30/savage-capitalism-back-radical-challenge   Capitalists spread prosperity only when threatened by global rivalry, radical movements and the risk of uprisings at home David Graeber The Guardian , Friday 30 May 2014 14.15 EDT   Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York's Times Square. ‘A miserly 1% are presiding over a social order marked by increasing social, economic and even technological stagnation.’ Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images   Back in the 90s, I used to get into arguments with Russian friends about capitalism. This was a time when most young eastern European intellectuals were avidly embracing everything associated with that particular economic system, even as the proletarian masses of their countries remained deeply suspicious. Whenever I'd remark on some criminal excess of the oligarchs and crooked politicians who were privati...

http://www.cardus.ca/comment/article/3995/capitalism-religion-and-the-economics-of-the-biblical-jubilee/ Capitalism offers unrestricted capital mobility and unrestrained debt creation. Is there an alternative? Perhaps we should investigate the biblical vision of Jubilee. July 12, 2013 - By Paul Williams Capitalism as Ideology Much of mainstream economics presents capitalism as a morally neutral economic system. It does so with two arguments. The first focuses on the individual consumer (or firm or worker). Capitalism is morally neutral, it is argued, because it is designed to enable individuals to make their own choices based on whatever values they happen to have. The second focuses on overall systemic outcomes: capitalism generates the largest possible economic pie and we can then choose what to do with the proceeds. But are these arguments compatible? Capitalism is not, in fact, morally neutral. The apparent neutrality of individual choice masks ...