Voluntary vs. coerced

Reader comment on: Islam and Capitalism

Submitted by John Gillis (United States), Jun 29, 2023 17:55

The editorialist of the NYT is pretty clearly one who argues for "giving a percentage of income" as a coerced condition, *mandated* by religious morality or, perhaps by a government as well. The FoC editor converts that view into a discussion of voluntary charity, which the editor is quite right that such charity is perfectly compatible with capitalism. The editorialist's position should be attacked because his implicit morality (via Islam), mandating charity, is incompatible with freedom and individualism leading to a wealthy society. Additionally, the attempt by Islamists to adhere to their anti-interest position only leads to empty euphemisms for "interest". They have to fake the reality that everyone in a market economy makes use of the time-value of money in economic transactions.

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