Recently, I was speaking with someone who began to say that the ultra wealthy do not pay enough in taxes. The individual then asked me (as a tax professional) for my opinion on this issue. In the last few months, you have no doubt been aware that the amount of income tax paid by the ultra wealthy in the United States has come under fire, with a few legislators clamoring for higher taxes.
Of course, I am not familiar enough with any of their situations to know how their income taxes are calculated and whether their income taxes are “fair.” My response, however, apparently triggered the individual. I proceeded to discuss the extent of payroll taxes and other taxes besides income tax which are paid by the ultra wealthy. This is true because they all have various businesses, and the taxes generated from these operations is not insignificant.
It was at this point the individual pivoted the conversation away from taxes to wealth distribution. “The ultra wealthy will never spend it all, so they should be forced to share their wealth with the poor,” was the individual’s remark.
Unfortunately, I did not have the time at that moment to respond in substance and chose to simply acknowledge the complaint. However, in my mind, my reaction was, “The solution here is Christianity.” More on that in a bit.
First, we should deal with the most glaring problem with “wealth distribution,” also known as socialism. If I know that my wealth will just be taken away from me, then why build wealth in the first place? This is a fatal problem for socialism. It takes away the incentive to work and to create, innovate and build businesses. Without an incentive to work, there is no wealth to distribute, and socialism implodes.
The main solution to this problem is for those in power to forcibly enslave people in work, which actually has been done in nations which have embraced communism. It is always described as a utopia, but for hundreds of years now, such an environment has been impossible to achieve.
Thus, the second fatal problem to socialism is the sheer amount of corruption particularly among the power-brokers. This is why Christianity is the answer to the problem of concentration of wealth.
The case for Christianity is easily made through the Biblical book of Malachi. Without a standard of morality, there is an increase in corruption, greed and selfishness. This is the thrust of Malachi – in one word, lawlessness.
In Malachi, God is speaking especially to the leaders of the chosen people of Israel and indicts them on their lack of morality and the growing lawlessness. They are only bringing lame and sick animals for sacrifice to God and keeping the best for themselves. They are carousing with members of the opposite gender who are not their spouses, and the men were disregarding their own wives. The priests in their service to the temple and worship had corrupted the commandments God gave them earlier in the Old Testament and did so for their own gain. They were oppressing the widow, poor and fatherless along with the hired workers. Again, God was speaking largely to those in leadership, the wealthy, and the power-brokers.
All of this occurred because they abandoned a guiding moral principle. We can call it lawlessness because God had previously given these very same people a set of commandments to live by, all of which outlined what would please God. Instead, the priests and leaders of Israel flagrantly refused to honor such commandments. This is an ancient example of the absence of morality leading to lawlessness.
For just one example of this lawlessness, you can read Malachi 1 and then flip to Leviticus 22. God indeed commanded that only flawless animals may be used in sacrifices. This commandment was being woefully ignored in Malachi 1, and their disobedience was rooted in selfish gain – covetousness.
The absence of morality leads to self-enrichment at the expense of others, corruption, and lawlessness. We are often told and would like to believe that people are basically good; however, every society which has abandoned morality has run into the same problem.
We should also consider the words of Exodus 20:17: “Thou shalt not covet…” A key issue with a desire for wealth distribution is that it originates from covetousness. Socialism itself predominantly arises from covetousness, and this was a significant issue in Malachi.
The scribes and Pharisees – the leaders of God’s chosen people Israel – who are the very same set of people addressed in Malachi are addressed by Jesus Christ 430 years later in Matthew chapter 23. Again, we see a lack of morality, and in its place, we see lawlessness originating out of covetousness. Fast forward to 70AD, and we witness the collapse of Jewish culture, which God foretold was a coming consequence unless they returned to morality.
The underlying and well-hidden problem is blindness. When we are driven by covetousness, we become blind to the outcome and potential consequences. This blindness is so effective that it can be impossible to approach reality with reason and rational thought. Worse than this, continually choosing to press forward only increases our blindness.
Thus, the solution to what we truly desire is Christianity. In Jesus Christ, we find the only guiding moral principles that are effective and include those with means caring for the poor, sick and needy. An example of this is found in Acts 5:34-35; yet in Acts chapter 6, the lack of morality once again surfaces with selfish gain at the core of the story. Acts 6 is a stark example of how blindness casts large shadows over consequences.
In Malachi chapter 3, God challenges the hearer of the indictments to prove His faithfulness by “bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” This is what we all want, and it is what Israel wanted. It is when we are rich toward God and follow the moral fabric He has given us that we learn the extent of His faithfulness. However, our obedience is not without sacrifice which many are unwilling to endure.
Of course, this only works if those who control the wealth live by it as well. However, we have already established that desiring to have wealth someone else developed for themselves is envy and covetousness. So, what are we to do?
The main solution, and really the only one we’ve got, is to live an example of Christian morality in our own lives and to conduct ourselves as we hope others will do. In other words, live out Malachi 3:10 and Acts 5:34-35. While I am by no means a wealthy person, I have ordered my life and business in such a way to be a blessing to others and to be a living example of casting bread upon the water (Ecclesiastes 11:1). It is my hope that this will be contagious.
Unfortunately, Christianity and this kind of example is on the decline in the United States. We are instead led to believe that the only solution is wealth distribution and socialism. However, I am appalled and frustrated at the amount of corruption behind the scenes in the government and in the corporate world – confirming the lack of a guiding moral principle.
I wish that more people lived out the example of casting their bread on the water, bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse, and trusting in God’s faithfulness that it will return to us. We can best show our anticipation of this kind of culture by being an example ourselves … because it matters to you how I conduct myself and it matters to the people whom your life touches.
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