The Spirituality of Capitalism

Capitalism is often portrayed as ruthless, and without morals. Remember the “greed” speech from the movie “Wall Street”? Even one of my personal favorite author/philosophers, Ayn Rand, is said to portray capitalism as “selfish”. Of course, “selfishness” is a bad trait. It takes no one else into consideration. It’s not what I read in Ayn Rand, though.

In spiritual philosophy, at least as I study and engage in it, there is a distinction made between a “low-self” (which is the set of beliefs about ones individuality, sometimes referred to as the “ego”, though not in the Freudian sense, that a person has developed—basically a person’s belief that they are separate and apart from others, and God, and their methods of survival in that lonely situation) and a “higher Self” (which is the understanding of oneself as connected with God, and all that God is connected to, which is everything). When I read “Atlas Shrugged,” I don’t see “selfishness” in terms of an ego gratification or in pursuit of raising in esteem the beliefs about the “low-self”, I see “Selfishness” as in connecting with the highest creativity and capability in oneself in order not simply to benefit the ego, but to fully express that creativity and capability which benefits all that are connected with it.

For those familiar with “Atlas Shrugged”, it seems to me that Hank Reardon’s “Reardon Metal” was not a self-aggrandizing effort, but a desire to humbly express his God-given creativity by passionately bringing forth something that was superior in every way to what was currently being used, and that would be of great benefit to people. I say “humbly” because he wasn’t proclaiming “I’M better than you” he was saying, “This metal is better than what you’re using now and it will bring a greater benefit to the people using it than what you’re using now.”

Dagney Taggart took on the “impossible” task of completing the “John Galt” line, not for her own self-aggrandizement (ego driven), but because she knew that she could confront any problems in her way and could accomplish something that benefited others, including the entrepreneurs bringing incredibly superior products to the market and the general population of the region.

What I read was not a statement of selfishness in terms of attaining ego gratification, but a book about people working to attain and be true to the highest aspect of their beings. This, to me, is a spiritual thing. What was celebrated was the mind. However, the mind was not defined as the sum of one person’s knowledge. It sort of remained in that spiritual plane, where it was greater than merely the sum of knowledge, or the combination of knowledge and beliefs and personality. Ayn never said it, but, to me, there was room, in a person “of the mind”, for reaching into a Universal Mind, for “connection”.

When I look at capitalism at the level of the entrepreneur, I see a spiritual journey. I see someone tapping not merely into a base of knowledge acquired through their lifetime, but reaching into the realm of creativity, which is a spiritual realm. Why do I say that? First, creating is what God does. It is not that the inventor is usurping God’s prerogative, it is that the inventor is working in the same realm, side by side with what one might call the Creative Impulse. Second, it requires a leap from what you know into a realm of inspiration that takes you beyond your knowledge. It’s unpredictable, at least in the moment, though it can appear in retrospect that each step forward is a logical step, rather than a creative one. Third, though it might sound strange, the act of creation is often an act of love. It even requires passion. The inventor/entrepreneur loves his/her creation, and also generally loves both whatever prompted them to create, and whatever, or (more importantly) whoever will benefit by the creation.

So, creation is a spiritual act. When you talk to inventors, the fact that they didn’t know the solution to a problem, and couldn’t think of it on their own, but then had an inspiration that provided the answer is a common theme. It is not all that unlike the writer who feels an inspiration and simply begins typing and, two hours later, they don’t know how much time has passed, and aren’t even sure what they wrote until they go back and read it. Or the artist who begins painting, loses their sense of themselves, and finds themselves surprised and amazed at what they’ve painted when they’re done.

I’m actually a Patent holder. I have three, and will be applying for more for different aspects of the inventions. I can tell you from my own experience that I didn’t solve the problems that led to the invention. I simply opened up and let them come to me. In one case, I was standing in the shower and suddenly saw the completed piece in my mind. I didn’t even understand how it worked until I sat down and drew it out and saw what had been created. At the time, I was working with two very good mechanical engineers who hadn’t been able to solve the problem (I’m NOT a mechanical engineer). I faxed them the solution and they both thought it was brilliant. Frankly, I couldn’t take credit for it, though I was both pleased and amazed that they not only understood what “I” had created, but saw that it would work. The answer didn’t lie in being a brilliant engineer. The answer was in having love for the project, passion for it, and both a desire and a willingness to have the answer come. This is NOT a story that is unique to me.

There is also another creative aspect of capitalism, which is, I think, also spiritual and it distinguishes capitalism from economic models such as socialism. It has to do with bringing order, and not just order, but exactly what is needed, out of apparent chaos. In other systems, people try to logically engineer what is needed. An elite tries to plan for all that is needed. As a result of this, evidenced by the progress (or lack thereof) in socialist countries, or in countries controlled by a totalitarian regime, there is tremendous lack. Trying to control the economy just doesn’t work. In capitalist countries, there is a fluid response that allows market forces to call forth from the apparent chaos of the market what is needed. What is needed is provided, and there is a minimum of lack. What we end up with is a sort of “dance” where a variety of forces move together (need, creativity, capital, labor, etc.) and what is needed and/or wanted is provided.

In the mix of this is something that could be called “The Hand of Providence.” Serendipity is often present. Synergy occurs. Creativity (as noted above) is needed and supplied. Abundance often results.

If you look across the short time span from the beginnings of the industrial revolution to now, the progress appears to be miraculous. Who could have predicted or planned the infrastructure we all enjoy, or the abundance of food, shelter, clothing, and convenience items?

The question about capitalism and spirituality often comes down to an argument about the money. Is it fair that some have a lot, and some have a little?

In spirituality, which I will loosely define as a growing understanding and experience of God, there is a condition that is also fundamental to capitalism. You get out of it what you put into it. It’s about choice, and about the use of your mind and your effort relating to that choice. In spiritual thinking, God is there, omnipresent, but He is not forcing you even acknowledge Him, let alone love Him. You will experience your connection with God to the degree that you put effort into trying to experience that connection. And, occasionally, you will have an “ah-ha!” experience that is life altering, IF you make it so. Many of us experience realizations of greater or lesser magnitude, or experience something miraculous, either in presence or mentally, and we discount it, or allow ourselves to forget the impact it had. Others can have those experiences and allow them to change their entire lives. Ultimately, it is what we choose to do with our time, with our minds, and with our efforts.

Capitalism works the same way. One person can start from nothing, make choices about the use of their time and their mind and end up rich. Another person from the same circumstances can make other choices and never move an inch forward. And, there are all options possible in between. For most people working within the capitalist system, they attain a certain level of comfort, and that is enough. Thus, we have the vast middle class. It is the same with spirituality. People are comfortable with a particular understanding of themselves and their relationship to God, and they hold there. And there is nothing wrong with either being middle class, or finding a comfortable spiritual place and holding there. Just as there is nothing intrinsically wrong with people whose choices leave them poor. As the popular saying goes: it is what it is. Simultaneously, it is not terribly productive to make self-destructive, or unfortunate choices and then blame someone else. Just as the person who has made no effort to have an active relationship with a God Who is always present is not well served to suddenly find themselves feeling spiritually bankrupt and then blame God for it. It’s sort of like when I’m getting angry as I search the house for my keys while holding them in my hand!

To a large degree, it is choice that makes capitalism spiritual. In communism, socialism and totalitarianism, the state makes your choices, and puts limits on you. Having your choices taken from you crushes your spirit, because you know on some level (spiritual) that being a human being (a child of God) is ABOUT the freedom to choose how you use your mind, spirit, and even the body. You get out of your spiritual endeavors what you put into them, plus the benefit of grace. You get out of your life in free market capitalism exactly what you put into it, plus the benefit of grace (as in, isn’t it interesting how “luck” seems so often to happen to those who are the best prepared and have worked the hardest).

Capitalism also provides the opportunity to give, which is obviously spiritual. Giving can take many forms. It can obviously be taking some of your abundance and literally giving it to someone in need. Giving can also be the creation of something that fills a need for people. It can also be providing a pleasant work environment, or opportunities for advancement—the ability to take a risk on another human being and allowing them to prove themselves.

The trajectory of capitalism seems to be for it to be opening it’s “heart”, so to speak. Companies are not just trying to provide their products and services, they are also finding that contributing to their communities in other ways is a good thing. Some of this is purely market driven, some is simply the nature of the people running the companies. Companies know that people would rather do business with someone they like than someone they don’t. Far from being self-serving, this is an incredible testimony to the power of the market. Many companies have come to realize that the quality of the work environment allows them to attract and keep the best and brightest employees. Again, competition and the market move capitalists in directions that are not predictable. “Workers” are “exploited”! Well, not in a company that wants to keep the best and the brightest, and wants to be confident that its employees are proud of their work and want to produce the best quality product possible. This doesn’t require, and is actually harmed by, an activist union making demands and pitting workers against the employers. It is the product of the expansion of the mind and an understanding of fellow human beings. The same is true of environmental issues. The market began to demand that the companies it does business with be more environmentally friendly. This was sometimes expressed politically, though the political expression is far too often so strident and adversarial that it doesn’t take into account that the minds of the people in the companies can and have changed and can and have reacted to the demands of the market. Thus, the political fervor can do harm by limiting the entrepreneur where it began by doing good by helping them “wake up”. The result of the market demand for being more environmentally friendly is that the virtues of capitalism went to work on the problem, and created solutions. Thus, a nation like the United States continues to become less polluted, while countries mired in totalitarianism are increasingly polluted.

In addition, there is another spiritual quality to capitalism. In spirituality, we’re all the same. We’re all children of God. There’s nothing that disqualifies us from that, though we can choose not to believe it, not to act like it, or not to be part of the family. The capitalist makes no distinction either. Everyone’s a customer. The capitalist wants everyone to succeed because their success makes them a better customer, or their positive choices make them better employees. The thought that capitalists would want to oppress anyone is ridiculous, because it would be self-defeating. Capitalists want markets to expand and markets only expand when more people are successful enough to become customers. Capitalists root for the best for their “brothers and sisters.”

Creativity. Choice. Being a conduit for fulfilling needs. Generating abundance. Bringing order from apparent chaos. Growth and expansion. These are spiritual qualities and they are the qualities of free market capitalism. And the two actually mesh nicely. The lessons from one can be applied in the other. Moreover, as Maslow showed in his “hierarchy of needs”, the base needs of people have to be met before, psychologically, they’re ready for “self-actualization.” No system ever devised has been able to provide those base needs, more effectively than capitalism, which then gives people the psychological space they need to move to higher levels on the hierarchy.

Whether you want to talk about spirituality in terms of connection with God, or if you want to think of it as self-actualization in terms of fulfilling ones full human potential (spirituality in terms of the human spirit), capitalism is the system that, in practice, is the best analogue to spirituality.

UPDATE: For my Christian friends

One of the things I find interesting in the Bible is this: When Jesus was confronted with a situation where he had a multitude of hungry followers with no food, he did NOT say, "Go... find wealthy fishermen and bakers and confiscate their loaves and fishes and feed them to the people." Instead, he saw the need, and he created the solution. This is widely (and rightly) regarded as a miracle, but I think the story is also an interesting analogy. It would be fantastic if, in our present state of humanity, we could create the fulfillment of needs out of the ether. The closest we come in our present state of consciousness and connection is the kind of creation that takes place in free market capitalism. (And... do not let my first point about what Jesus did NOT say go by unnoticed.)