None of these give the whole picture, but are worth their place on the board.

“The whole of the emotional case against capitalism turns on the unequal distribution of wealth. But is it peculiar to the nature of capitalism to concentrate wealth in a few hands? Here the first aspect truth is a little hard. It begins with the human disparities; and for these, God is responsible, not capitalism. Much more, perhaps, than we wish to believe, economic inequalities answer to human inequalities.

Again and again, wealth has been socially divided and then, in a little while, it has been again as it was before, that a few were rich and many were not. Lycurgus, who did it for the Spartans, heaping all their wealth in one pile and then, dividing it equally, thought of measures to make this pleasing equality permanent. He banished gold and silver money and put in place of it iron money so heavy and so nearly worthless that to hoard or save it would be absurd. All the same, it was not long until again there were debtors and creditors and a concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.

– American Journalist, Garet Garret, 1934

God is like a master who gives differently to different people and will call them into account for what they’ve each done with what they’ve been given.

– Summation of Jesus of Nazareth’s “Parable of the Talents” – Matthew 25:14-30

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights – that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

– Declaration of Independence of the United States.  This is a claim that on a surface reading seems to conflict with Garret’s and Jesus’ claim above that people are inherently and naturally unequal in many ways, and God is primarily responsible.  However, it is actually a claim that all people, despite their differences in abilities, possessions, or position, are all equal in the sense that everyone has innate and natural human rights.  This is a view of humanity based on the Judeo-Christian belief that every human being is created in the image of God, and additionally for Christians, someone who Jesus gave up his life for.

“The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”

– Old Jewish saying found in Ezekiel 18:2.  Nathan Translation = For better and for worse, the actions and choices of parents powerfully effect the experiences and life-outcomes of their children.

“Every time I look around the world and back through history I am further convinced that we in America and the West today live in the most peaceful, prosperous, free, and equal opportunity society the world has ever known.  In what other time or place would you rather live and raise your children? We have so much to be grateful for!”

– Nathan Dean