For a single person, with subsidized housing, this level bites at a US$45,000/UK£32,000 salary level. Little is means-tested, except housing subsidy and city taxes. Philosophically, the USA, Canada, Australasia, and Germany have few problems with means-testing, whereas Britain and Scandinavia do.
How we encourage (and vote for) society’s organization not only determines its financing and social polity but often also our thinking about how we share both monetary and community wealth with others than our historic citizens.
Both US Republicans and UK Conservatives would disagree with me but, for the record, I am a “high taxation-high welfare-free education” advocate. But I am also a vocal supporter of the debate that says that every country should have both a minimum and a maximum wage, incurring 95 percent taxation beyond the top hourly level. Elsewhere, I have already detailed my much lower income needs32 but essentially I believe in simplifying our lifestyle and needs sufficiently to thrive on the state-recognized living (minimum) wage while using any surplus for charitable and other pro bono work.
Finally, I want to commend the Irish system that enables artists, musicians, sports stars, actors, etc., who are relatively temporary high earners, to spread their income over several years, paying the appropriate level of tax in each of those years. With a maximum number of applicable years, dependent upon career length, this seems equitable to both the individual and the wider society.
What would Jesus do?
Jesus shared our human nature and well understood the innate desire to get something for nothing that afflicts us all. Indeed, he reminded his closest followers to “render unto Caesar . . .” (i.e., pay the due taxes), he confronted the corrupt tax collector Zacchaeus, inspiring the latter’s reparation, and taught many parables about the value of money. Jesus taught that money, resources, and food are to be shared if God’s intentions are to be fulfilled—and those who follow his words and ways now must share that same intention.
Therefore, I believe that the Western world must increase taxation to provide both overseas aid and interest-free development loans. Failure will bring the alternative that rich nations get richer and the poor countries poorer. The current European migrant crisis is symptomatic of that. Tragically, the guys in my local bar who complain about such migration are not always the first or worst to avoid paying tax. Rich people pay accountants to do that for them.
Serving God and Mammon
Jesus was very clear in declaring the dilemma between the intentions of God’s reign and serving one’s self-interest in pursuit of money: “You cannot serve God and money” (Matt 6:24). Unequivocal! Jesus declared God and money to be two distinct masters, between whom choice has to be made. For the disciple of Jesus, there is no choice but to accept God’s intention, as revealed in the words and ways of Jesus.
For too long, there have been many rich men (and women) metaphorically stuffing camels through the eye of needles to try to prove otherwise (Matt 19:24). But “Go sell all that you have and give it to the poor” (Luke 18:22), “If anyone has two coats, let him give one to the man without a coat” (Luke 3:11), and the Parable of the Rich Man’s Feast (Luke 14:12–24) are also unequivocal. When I open my closet full of shirts and suits, I know that Jesus’ direct word is just as much for me as for the richest people in the world—and you as well.
Jesus’ own ministry, and that of Peter, Paul, and the other apostles as well as the ongoing early church has always relied upon the unstinting generosity and hospitality of its materially blessed supporters. There is nothing wrong with making money but we must do it in both ethical and Earth-friendly ways. Then it is what we do with it and how we share our material resources that will demonstrate our commitment to the “reign of God,” as revealed in Jesus of Nazareth.
Just as voluntary socialism and brutally enforced Communism have failed as alternatives, the endless pursuit of capitalism is being questioned by both our finite environmental/ecological limitations and an exponentially growing global population. How we live with those constraints demands some prophetic alternatives. The next chapter seeks to offer some initial pointers, thinking, and questions.
24. Jacques, When China Rules the World.
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