Monday, August 1, 2011

Social Security, Welfare States, and צדקה

Given the centuries-long debate of left-right economic politics i.e. socialist govt intervention of capital distribution on the one hand versus free market liberal capitalism on the other.

I think the key mistake in the left's "Social Welfare" thinking is one of misunderstanding what צדקה (and additionally Social Justice) is. Namely, the mistake of seeing צדקה as "charity"-- transferring of currency value, services, or even education, medicine, etc-- when in fact צדקה is as much an act of mutual interrelationship and joint exchange as that of the relationship between man and woman (as per the many kabbalistic sources). Ergo, you can't institutionalize צדקה/צדק by having an exteriorized beauracratic institution collecting from one class bracket and mailing out checks to the other, it lacks any sense of ברית between the parties and as such must at some point or other lead to a- abuse on the part of receiver b- inertial apathy on the part of governmental stewards providing the goods, and c- resentment by those whom the goods are being taken from.

All this besides for the more fundamental existential conundrum that R' Matis pointed out in the Sefirat HaOmer shiurim, that without ברית ומלכות the very act of giving something unto the other has impinged upon their independence by being a receiver. [Hence קנין חליפין, being a קנין of mutuality/exchange (מלכות), written in the book of מלכות (Ruth), being the only form of קנין that disregards currency-value of שוה פרוטה and is a sole function of the mutual exchange per se. In other words, the Giver has equally benefited insofar as the Receiver has allowed him to give  ותאמר שם האיש אשר עשיתי עמו היום בעז ]

Hence, essentially both camps of economic models are misguided, because it's not a question of "what Govt model you adopt" (Socialist or Liberal Capitalism) but rather the degree of interrelational integrity between the individual people that compose that system. Without ברית amongst them, the system will break down into either waste and abuse among others (Socialist Welfare) or Machievellian apathy and neglect (Liberal Capitalism).

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