Viewpoints: Capitalism

The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are two of the most respected newspapers in the nation. I've always known that the Times has a liberal spin to some of its stories, while the Journal tends to be more conservative. I did not realize how pronounced those differences were until this past week, when I was assigned to compare two Op-Ed articles with different viewpoints on a similar issue.

For my assignment, I chose an article issued in The Wall Street Journal entitled "What the Bible Teaches About Capitalism" by Rabbi Aryeh Spero, president of Caucus for Amerca, a Republican political organization which urges the continuation of those values and policies that preserve historic American civilization and promote America's strong, unique culture. In it, Spero uses Biblical references to build a case in favor of capitalism on religious, moral, and patriotic grounds. He argues that capitalism is the basis for America's historic prosperity and builds the qualities of responsibility, accountability, and ingenuity its citizens. I compared this with "At Davos, Debating Capitalism's future," an article issued in The New York Times by Ed Miliband, a member of the British Parliament and leader of the Labour Party. In it, Miliband describes capitalism as a flawed economic model that is unsuitable for promoting long-term economic recovery and success in the 21st century. He argues that capitalism is a system which promotes the predatory behavior of opportunistic investors and widens the gap between the rich and the poor.

While I generally believe in the Capitalist system, I found Miliband's article quite persuasive. Perhaps we do not have to do away with Capitalism completely, but we need to make changes to the system that can address the chasm between rich and poor that has grown over recent years. I believe that Capitalism produces a competitive market which keeps quality of products high and cost low. It also supports the innovative and creative efforts of entrepreneurs. However, the current system has, perhaps unfairly, rewarded some people for their labor and risk taking more than others.

I was not particularly moved by Spero's argument in favor of capitalism. I think the main reason was that Spero selectively used biblical texts in his argument. He often references the Old Testament, but he rarely addresses the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. Another religious official could examine the New Testament text and conclude that Jesus would have stood against Capitalism. In short, Spero's argument relied heavily on interpretation.

The differences between the opinion pieces issued in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal were markedly different. These opinions may be evident in news articles as well. This article in Forbes discusses how the political views of newspaper editors and staff members may leak into their hard news stories. Readers must be wary of the political spin on stories they read and consider this in developing their own opinions.