More Confessions: these being of a failed communist

I am a sort of failed Christian commie. I rate myself “failed” because, while the demands of being a Christian are infiltrated with grace and forgiveness and a whole lot more second chances, the ideals of Karl Marx tend to have something of a one chance only flavour to them, and I fail (constantly) that one chance. In fact I think in the end Marx and his system – if I understand it at all – is bound to fail So too is the dry capitalist idealism of the “father of modern economics”, Adam Smith. Both stumble at the hurdle of human greed. Or perhaps at the hurdle of human sin. Full stop. Period. Whatever.

I digress. I am a fan of so-called “big government”, anathema to US Republicans and to the conservative wings – confusingly named “liberal” – parties, in Australia (I am yet to get a handle on NZ politics ... whatever happened to old Muldoon and Rowling?). I prefer to see state-owned assets, and hurt a little inside when governments carve off a little more of a phone company or a mail delivery service or a prison network or a rail system or an airline in which I once had a stake.
That’s not to say that I think the Communist nations were utopias: humanity is corrupt, and the Ceausescus and Stalins and Jong-ils are hardly walking advertisements of compassion and empowerment of the poor. 

Fascism, the political opposite of Communism, is an equally ugly and corrupt system, as Hitler, Mussolini and Franco demonstrated. Extremes of right and left have been visible around the world ever since three amoebae climbed out of the swamp and held a vote. As Christians we have to weave a complex path between the wings of politics; while I have been a member of both National-Liberal and Labo(u)r parties at different times I have long since eschewed involvement.

But I have long been fascinated by something called the “share-market” – of which I have no understanding. The fascination is of the “why?” kind.  I used to have a share in things like railways and airlines and so on, but then my government sold them. At least I still have the ABC and sort of SBS, the military and the police forces – so far. But I am confused by share markets. Admittedly when Phillip Lasker or Alan Kohler come on TV I usually head for the hills, which wouldn’t help (though I admit they each do their best to make the inexplicable interesting). But it seems to me that every time a privately owned company does something that I think is bad – lay off countless workers, buy shares in a Bangladeshi clothing factory – share prices climb, while every time they do something decent – sack an over-paid CEO, decide to buy from ethical suppliers, consider the environment  – prices crash.

So, simply, I don’t get it. But if someone could let me know what Jesus would do (which shares Jesus would buy?) please do.