For the last couple of weeks, I've been seriously racking my brain over Wesley's maxim: “Earn as much as you can. Save as much as you can. Invest as much as you can. Give as much as you can.”
Seriously, even the nicest idealistic ventures need money that has somehow been generated somewhere within the system. I have no intention of running out of boiled eggs, but then I don't want to make the money for the boiled eggs through a system that generates so much misery. While I'm attracted to the frontline, I also realise that frontline communities need to be funded somehow and that even church donations were originated somewhere. Besides, if frontline communities are joined only by a tiny minority of people, they stand no chance of altering the broader system.
All the time I think "ethical standards". Wesley + Standards. I can't think beyond ethical capitalism. Frederic Jameson once stated that it was easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. On days like these I'm ashamed of my (high) level of education. Still, even the profs at my university don't seem to know much better than Wikipedia. Please Lord, I'm begging you, please give us an understanding for our times, don't let us be so stupid and clueless.
Painting by Gustave Caillebotte
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