KARL MARX – continuation
Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”
The theory of Karl Marx can be summed up in one sentence: “Abolition of private property.”
It is important to look at the ten planks of Marx’s theory that have so captivated the world. Here in the States as well as in Western Europe we see how these planks have been incorporated into the government. But it is imperative that we put these planks up against the Word of God. Kevin Swanson in his book APOSTATE lays out these ten planks that will be covered in this chapter and the next.
Plank #1: Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
I can pay the mortgage of my house off, but there will still be a yearly state tax that needs to be paid. I might think that I own my home, but if I miss several years of not paying my property tax, then I can see the government put my house up for sale for the taxes to get paid. We have seen property taxation incorporated here in all fifty states.
The question is what does the Bible have to say about the confiscation of private property? Proverbs 23:10 “Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless.”
In 1 Kings chapter 21 we have the story of Ahab wanting the vineyard of Naboth and since Naboth did not want to sell the land to Ahab, through deceit Ahab stole the land.
The eighth commandment says that we should not steal; which brings in the idea of a person having private ownership.
Plank #2: A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
Since 1913 a graduated income tax was brought in the United States and since then it has only increased. Actually this is one way of spreading the wealth around that ‘progressives’ talk about. But again, is this what the Bible teaches?
Exodus 30:15 “The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives.” Leviticus 19:15 “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”
Here we see that God did not allow a graduated tax for construction of the
temple or other public works and when it comes to the matter of the civil magistrate God said: “Do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.” Exodus 23:3
It would seem that taxation by the government in order to bring about equality does not pass the Biblical test.
Plank #3: Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
It would also seem that the Bible prohibits inheritance taxation just like it prohibits property taxation. “If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.” Deuteronomy 21:15-17
Here the state is not even mentioned as a beneficiary.
Inheritance taxation has also been incorporated (as of 2012) at the federal level and in 23 states.
Plank #4: Confiscation of all the property of all emigrants and rebels.
God was concerned about the aliens (immigrants) since for over 400 years Israel was an alien in Egypt. “Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years.” Exodus 12:49
Plank #5: Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
Some of our past leaders (Hamilton, Burr, Andrew Jackson) fought against establishment of a central bank, but in 1913 the United States created the Federal Reserve Bank.
A very informative book called THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND tells about the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank. It is interesting because even though it is called “Federal” it has nothing to do with the Federal government, but is controlled by just a handful of powerful banks.
The book mentions five goals in the formation of the Federal Reserve Bank:
(1) Stop the growing company vision for the nation’s newer banks.
(2) Obtain a franchise to create money out of nothing for the purpose of lending.
(3) Seize control of the reserves of all things so that the more reckless ones would not be exposed to currency drains and bank runs.
(4) Get the taxpayers to pick up the cartel’s inevitable losses.
(5) Convince Congress that the purpose was to protect the public.
We will look at the remaining five “planks” later, but we can see how our governments have incorporated so much of the philosophy of Karl Marx. The Iron Curtain may have come down, but the communist philosophy is still very active.