Introduction: Role of Property and Profits
The “light’ and “dark” sides approach developed by Richard Foster to explain the role of property can be understood well in the light of the “rights” and “duties” the ownership of property brings with it. The role of properties and profits are formed and defined on the basis of the rights of the owner (or its benefits to the owner) and the owner’s obligations towards others while exercising those rights or simply possessing (or acquiring) those properties and profits.
God has given us enough property in common and the blessing to be fruitful have dominion over the property. (Genesis 1:26). Bible explains property as God’s gift and provides rights to enjoy private property and gain (profit) from it if they are obtained properly and used responsibly. With this in mind, we can conclude one can possess property and the appropriate benefits (profits) acquired from property can be used for personal satisfaction.
“If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat.” (Proverbs 20:13). Scripture regards property and profit as the reward for our labor. By mixing our labor in the common property of nature, we add value to it. And the benefits (property and profits) obtained through one’s labor becomes his/her. An important issue in today’s world is: what is the appropriate level of benefit one can privately own? The answer is: “as much as one can make use of any advantage of life before it spoils, so much he may by his labor fix a property in; whatever is beyond this, is more than his share, and belongs to others. (Donaldson 159). This clarifies the role of property and profits or more generally, the appropriate human behavior guided by rights and dut...
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...od quality products in reasonable price, suppliers get a reasonable price for their goods, creditors get security and appropriate interest on their money, government gets tax and assurance from business to conduct business legally, community get clean environment and enhanced welfare.
Businesspersons are very good in making this profit. They have been performing this task very successfully for business owners and top managers. The only thing they need to do now is to broaden the list of beneficiaries to include all other stakeholders. Here, the key mantra is “efficient and effective use of God’s property applying the talent provided by God to make a profit and steward this profit appropriately and fairly between all stakeholders.”
Worthy insight: “Holiness is not a call for isolation but to responsible living.” (Hill)
Works Cited
Alaxender Hill, Thomas Donaldson
Assessment of the Statement that Property is a Power Relationship Between People Property is the right to possess, enjoy or use a determinant thing, and includes the right of excluding others from doing the same. The concept of ownership or property has no single or widely accepted definition. Like any other concept it has great weight in public discourse and the popular usage varies broadly. Property is frequently conceived as a 'bundle of rights and obligations.' Property is stressed as not a relationship between people and things, but a relationship between people with regard to things.
In this excerpt from the Second Treatise of Government, John Locke, argues that God gave men the Earth to enjoy, but man’s inherent greed is destroying the Earth. According to John Locke. men can inherit the property of the Earth through individual labor: “It will perhaps be objected to this, that if gathering acorns, or other fruits of the earth, &c. makes a right to them, then any one may ingross as much as he will.” Through this ideology man has the power to acquire as much property as he so wishes. This results in men procuring more property than what is necessary for survival or enjoyment. The acquisition of excess property is directly related to the fact that mankind is inherently greedy.
In Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, he defines his view of private property. He states that the earth belongs to all men in common, yet each man has possession of his own body. Since he has possession of his own body, he also has possession of his body’s labor. Therefore, that which he puts his labor into also becomes his property. Thus, one’s private property is that which one has put their labor into (692). Locke believes that, even though God gave the earth to all human beings, he did not want the land to be uncultivated. Instead, Locke says that God “gave it to the use of the industrious and rational” (693). Locke felt that land that was not being cultivated was going to waste, and by “waste”, Locke meant that which has little to no benefit. Initially, Locke says that one cannot hoard and possess as much property as he or she wants. They can only keep that which they are able to use, and any excess is considered waste. If one is hoarding property that they cannot use, they are thus preventing other people from actually using that property (693). However, an exception is made when the creation of money comes into...
We probably all agree that the primary objective of any business is to achieve revenue and attain a certain profit. But then here is the question that we might ask, is profit the only element that should be considered when making business decisions? In my point of view the answer is no as I will try to demonstrate throughout this paper. One quick alternative of what should be the first top priority of a business is creating a customer as Dr.Peter Drucker said. According to him “The customer is the foundation of a business and keeps it in existence. He alone gives employment. To supply the wants and needs of a consumer, society entrusts wealth-producing resources to the business enterprise.” (Santayana, George. Is The Tyranny Of Shareholder Value Finally Ending? )
Grudem addresses the possession of property. A method we have a tendency to honor God is by imitating His supreme possession and rule, or sovereignty. God gave people a want to possess material objects, and this enables American to imitate his sovereignty. We have a tendency to not own things fully, however solely pay attention of what belongs to God. As an accountable steward, we have a tendency to pay attention of our material possessions, whether or not it is as vital as a pencil or as vital as an oversized corporation.
Carnegie’s essay contains explanations of three common methods by which wealth is distributed and his own opinions on the effects of each. After reading the entire essay, readers can see his overall appeals to logos; having wealth does not make anyone rich, but using that wealth for the greater good does. He does not force his opinions onto the reader, but is effectively convincing of why his beliefs make sense. Andrew Carnegie’s simple explanations intertwined with small, but powerful appeals to ethos and pathos become incorporated into his overall appeal to logos in his definition of what it means for one to truly be rich.
It has been generally acknowledged that the doctrine of proprietary estoppel has much in common with common intention constructive trusts, i.e. those that concern the acquisition of an equitable interest in another person’s land. In effect, the general aim is the recognition of real property rights informally created. The similarity between the two doctrines become clear in a variety of cases where the court rely on either of the two doctrines. To show the distinction between the doctrines, this essay will analyse the principles, roots and rationale of both doctrines. With reference to the relevant case law it will be possible to highlight the subtle differences between the doctrines in the cases where there seems to be some overlap. Three key cases where this issue surfaced were the following: Lloyds Bank Plc v. Rosset (1991), Yaxley v. Gotts (1999) and Stack v. Dowden (2007). This essay will describe the relevant judgements in these cases in order to show the differences between the two doctrines.
Some of the most impoverished communities often have the greatest sense of gratitude and thankfulness for what they have, extending beyond material items. They are thankful for the friends, families, religions, as well as skills they obtain, and tend not to focus on the material items they are lacking. Ownership can be seen as the act, state, or right, of possessing something and is well defined by both Plato, who claims owning objects is detrimental to a person’s character, and Jean-Paul Sartre who proposes that ownership extends beyond objects. Skills and qualities that you posses are more valuable than tangible goods and allow you to fully develop a good, moral, character and sense of self. An example of someone who is lacking many tangible
The author indicates great qualities in regards to economics and wealth. He talks about how the bible states individuals should have qualities of a strong work ethic, and other entrepreneurial characteristics such as initiative and perseverance. He also highlights as the main elements of a biblical approach to economics are: 1. The materials in the world are good for man because GOD created it, but the love for it leads to sin. 2. GOD owns the world’s economic resources and humans are stewards of the resources. 3. The wealth creation process is connected to the dominion GOD gave us and the fact that we are made in his image. 4. You should work as you work for GOD, because you and your work are ordained by the Lord. 5. If you work you are responsible for taking care of yourself and your family. 6. The working community is
This command is recorded in Deuteronomy, where it stated that “you should remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth” (Deut.8:18). This command predicts the consequences of prosperity—pride, which destroys a person from the inside and make him harsh toward other people. God predicted that not only other gods can be worshiped by people, but also their possessions as well. Therefore, God wanted His people of Israel to be humble before him and remember from where their prosperity comes from. Additionally, the reason prosperity can be dangerous is because people when they getting profit from their work they want to get more and more (James D. Gwartney, 2016). Thus, when people focused profit they are tend to forget about anything but making money. Consequently, God wanted His people to be humble and be thankful to God and take care about other people around
While business enterprise is the activity of providing goods and services, many companies lose sight or do not want to implement the aspect of Godliness into their company’s mission. It’s a struggle and balancing act for many high level executives. The conflict is high profit with the risk of ignoring biblical principles or low profits but more peace of mind in knowing you and your company are doing the right thing. Some executives are able to achieve both; high profit with peace of mind and doing the right thing but not many.
Men have a right to create and enjoy their property. Property belongs to own men and own men have a natural right to property and private ownership. According to Macpherson's interpretation, Locke has three restrictions on the accumulation of property.
According to conventional economic wisdom, the acquisition and accumulation of goods is mainly for the purpose of the consumption of those goods in order to serve the consumer physical wants or his higher wants (spiritual, aesthetic, intellectual, etc). Veblen argues that this is not the case that at the core of ownership is emulation. There is not a better explanation for the consumption of goods and especially there is not any incentive other than this for the accumulation of wealth. Once a person has achieve certain level of physical comfort and has passed the level of subsistence, the
The concept of ownership of property as a bundle of rights and types of property
Living a simple life is far greater than living a life full of extravagance. Simpler living can lead to a life of fulfillment and happiness, like that of my family’s, or to a life of greed and envy, such as Pahóm’s. Growing up in a small, rural area, excessive belongings are rare. Regardless of how much money my parents made, we were always happy because we had each other. I was raised in a strong Christian home which greatly influenced my views on Tolstoy’s short story. The Bible references greed and having a materialistic focus many times. In Exodus chapter 20, Moses was given the Ten Commandments in order for the people to live a life with a closer relationship to God. The second commandment reads: “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” (The Teen Study Bible: New Internation Version 92-93). God gave Moses this law so the people would keep God in their main focus. When Christ is the center of our lives, the focus of how we live our lives is upward to please God, rather than inward to please ourselves. The tenth commandment instructs followers of Christ not to covet a neighbor’s belongings. When living a fulfilling Christian life, God will provide in every circumstance so there is no need to be envious of another. Job exemplifies a