Article May 10, 1947 Issue

Free Enterprise

H. PHELPS GATES

Around the world there is a lot of talk these days about free enterprise. Like the word "democracy," it is an expression that has many interpretations and shades of meaning for various groups and peoples. To the banker or industrialist, working for freedom of action and security for capital entrusted to him, it means one thing. To the farmer, dependent on the soil and on market conditions for his livelihood, it means another. To the labor union member, seeking security, freedom of opportunity, and a higher standard of living for his family, free enterprise means something different. And to those who live in countries where there are not even generally understood words for such things as democracy and free enterprise, their meaning must indeed be hazy and confused.

Yet more than nineteen centuries ago a humble carpenter on the shores of the Galilean sea challenged the tyranny and despotism of that day with a simple plan for human relationships that will, when fully accepted, revolutionize the whole world. The publicans and Pharisees of that day had only an inkling of how the teachings of Christ Jesus were striking at the heart of despotic and greedy special interests and exposing the pride and power of self-righteous and sensual creeds. In that day, and through the centuries, Jesus' teachings have been a foundation on which mankind has been building improved human relationships, a more intelligent economy, a better way of living.

In the New Testament there are frequent references to freedom which show that it was a fundamental of Christ Jesus' teachings. The sick were loosed from their infirmities, the sinning freed from their evil-doing, the imprisoned delivered from their bondage.

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