As the national election drama begins in earnest, I find myself hoping that we will be able to have some of the conversations that are long overdue in the public square. My hope is tempered, however, with fear that we will be able to talk only in emotionally laden code words and that our conversations will move us deeper into denial rather than toward the Beloved Community.

The current attacks on “vulture capitalism” are a case in point. As Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital is used to discredit his claims to understand job creation, other voices warn that any such discussion will threaten our “capitalist” system. At the same time, President Obama is described as our greatest “food stamp” President and accused of being a “socialist.” I should note that these arguments are all taking place within the Republican ranks. But Democrats will have their turn. I fear to think what the discourse will be like once the Republican nominee is selected.

Both those terms, “capitalist” and “socialist,” obscure the realities we should be discussing. The truth is that we have a very mixed system. Our economy operates with considerable freedom, but also with considerable constraints, incentives and privileges put in place by our elected representatives (“we the people”). There are those voices calling for fewer constraints and a greater tilt toward unfettered markets. Other voices, including mine, critique the results of unconstrained greed, and want our society to set tighter boundaries within which markets can operate and sustain a broader safety net to protect the most vulnerable.

Setting “capitalism” or “socialism” for that matter, as an absolute value will guarantee an unproductive debate. If we make either an idol to be worshipped and served, we will have failed. Human life is not in the service of any abstract economic system. Our economic system should be in the service of human life. The measure of the decisions we make, it seems to me, should not be how closely they approximate some ideal (or idol), but whether they enhance and sustain human living.

So, with both our citizen and Unitarian Universalist hats on, let us remember two things:

First,  that our government is charged to support and protect “we the people,” not a particular economic philosophy.
And, second, let us remember both our Seven Principles, and our final Source that “counsels us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn(s) against idolatries of the mind and spirit.”

I believe this election season will be a test of our ability to have a better conversation, and a test of our ability to resist rhetoric that obscures the impact on real lived experience. May our voice always strive for those better conversations in which human thriving is the highest value, those conversations which help us move toward our vision of the Beloved Community.

Blessings,

Bill