GOD'S ECONOMY VS MAN'S
Which would you rather have?

Many people today despise the Bible, because they see God as imposing harsh punishments and rules that no man would tolerate. But was it really as bad as those people say? Or do they say that it is bad just because they want a "right" to sin?

Here is a comparison of God's economy and man's economy. See which one looks better:
GOD'S ECONOMY
MAN'S ECONOMY
REAL ESTATE
Each family gets its own land by law. (Numbers 26:52-56; 27:4-11) Land is bought, sold, and accumulated, usually by the rich.
  1. People don't have to work harder all their lives to pay for a place to live.
  2. The land can't be bought up in large amounts by rich men or large companies.
  3. Land is not normally rented or mortgaged.
  4. Government can not take land from its owner for any reason.
  5. If government needs land, it must buy the land on the market, and also replace it with other land.
  6. A mortgage can't last more than seven years. If it is not paid off by then, the debt is canceled.
  7. Debts cannot result in loss of land.
  1. Because rich men and large companies can buy up land, there is less for the rest of the people.
  2. Rich men and large companies buy up land, so they can make a profit charging rent to others.
  3. This buying up of land causes property values to increase to the point where the poor can't afford it.
  4. Government can take land for its own purposes.
  5. Government can take land because the owner failed to pay taxes.
  6. Banks can take the land and sell it to someone else for failure to pay a mortgage. Government helps them do this.
WORK AND SALARIES
Each person is paid for the work he does. Each person is paid for the work he does, subject to a tangle of laws.
  1. Payment for work must be made on the day the person does the work. (Leviticus 19:13)
  2. Each man who is able to work must work to be paid.
  3. If a man refuses to work, he shall not be given food. (II Thessalonians 3:10)
  4. A job is not necessary for life, because a man can life off the produce of his own land.
  5. Jobs are not long-term relationships. People work where they can find work.
  6. Government didn't have the power to disrupt the job market, because it could not take more than 10 percent.
  7. A day off is guaranteed every seven days. (Exodus 20:8-11)
  1. Payment for work is made on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly period.
  2. Each man must work because he woes taxes on his property.
  3. If a man refuses to work, he might be able to sponge off government.
  4. A job is necessary for life, because government and the mortgage company demand money.
  5. Tax laws require employment to be long term. Doing odd jobs is penalized.
  6. Government has the power to inadvertently disrupt the job market, throwing many people out of work.
  7. Overtime can be required by employers that prevents days of rest.
  8. Taxes take up to 3/4 of the work done.
LOANS AND DEBTS
Debts are cancelled every seven years. (Deuteronomy 15:1) Debts are not cancelled unless a person declares bankruptcy.
  1. Interest on a loan is forbidden. (Exodus 22:25)
  2. Land is not normally mortgaged.
  3. Moneylending was not a profitable profession.
  4. Canceling debts does not result in loss of real property.
  1. Interest is charged, and government does a great deal to control the interest rate.
  2. Mortgage interest takes up a large part of the average worker's income.
  3. Moneylending is one of the most profitable professions.
  4. Bankruptcy usually results in the loss of most property.
TAXES
Taxes are fixed at 10 percent of income by the Constitution (Bible). (Leviticus 27:30-33) The total tax rate varies with the laws passed. The current average total tax rate in the US is 72 percent.
  1. People may voluntarily give more, but they are not required to.
  2. The Constitution (Bible) can not be amended to change the tax.
  3. Government has other income from penalties for lawbreaking.
  4. Government officials also have other incomes.
  5. There is only one government, and so only one tax.
  6. Only individuals are taxed.
  7. Tax evasion was a minor infraction.
  8. Taxes are low enough that they do not affect business.
  9. Taxes are not used for poor relief.
  1. There is a voluntary system for giving to government, but it is not often used.
  2. There are no limits on taxation, and the various governments can set taxes as they please.
  3. Government has other income from fines. The fine for nonpayment of taxes can be all of your property.
  4. Government officials usually are prohibited from having other sources of income.
  5. Each person is under at least four governments, each with several taxes.
  6. Since both individuals and businesses are taxed, the individual is taxed twice, through product prices.
  7. Tax evasion is a high crime.
  8. Taxes are so high that they reduce business, eliminating jobs.
PROPERTY CRIMES
The penalty for property crimes and torts is restitution. (Exodus 22:1-15) The penalty for property crimes is usually jail time.
  1. A deliberate crime is penalized more than an accident due to carelessness.
  2. A crime that destroys the property is penalized more than a crime in which the property is returned intact.
  3. The criminal must work to pay the restitution.
  4. Restitution is to the owner, not the government.
  5. There are also fines for the crime.
  6. Acts of wild animals, acts of other animals, and unforeseeable accidents are not penalized.
  7. None of these has jail time. There are no jails.
  1. The penalty is often determined by the value of the property, rather than intent.
  2. The returned state of the property has no bearing on the penalty for the crime.
  3. The criminal is usually unable to work to pay restitution.
  4. Government gets any fine charged. The owner of the property has to sue the criminal to recover restitution.
  5. The government's fine has priority over restitution paid to the victim.
  6. Unforeseeable accidents and acts of owned animals are always penalized in civil court.
  7. The jail time is more important to government than restitution.
LAWSUITS
Suits in court are to be fair. (Exodus 23:1-9) Suits in court are often biased.
  1. The wrongdoing is the important part, not the ability to pay.
  2. It is a crime to favor either the rich man or the poor man in a lawsuit. (Leviticus 19:15)
  3. It is a crime to follow popular opinion in a lawsuit.
  4. Bribes and false charges are crimes.
  5. The person who caused the damage shall pay.
  6. The person at fault is required to work to pay off the restitution.
  1. Courts often wrongly look for someone with minor involvement and ability to pay when the wrongdoer is indigent.
  2. Too often, justice favors the poor even when the rich people sued have not done any wrong.
  3. The public often demonstrates outside a courthouse or writes letters to a court when it wants a certain verdict.
  4. Neighbors often file false charges to stop construction or other annoying activities.
  5. Too many times, the courts let insurance bear the burden, saddling everyone with the cost.
  6. Indigent people are often judgment-proof. Then nobody pays.
POOR RELIEF
Taxes are not used for poor relief. Voluntary donations and some special laws aid the poor. (Matthew 6:1-4) The government is in charge of poor relief, at the expense of everyone else.
  1. Poor relief does not raise taxes.
  2. Farmers are to leave the gleanings and any forgotten harvests in the fields for the poor. (Leviticus 19:9-10)
  3. The poor are allowed to take food from farmers' fields.
  4. There are no laws that keep a poor person from working and earning money.
  5. The rules are designed to keep people from being poor.
  6. Only when somebody sins does someone become poor.
  1. Taxes are used for poor relief. This causes tax rates to be high.
  2. There are no limits on taxation, and the various governments can set taxes as they please.
  3. Because of this, taxes are so high that they reduce business, eliminating jobs. This causes more people to be poor.
  4. Government always demands its due first when a poor man declares bankruptcy.
  5. Government tax rules make it hard for an unemployed person to make money.
  6. To qualify for poor relief, people must first divest most of their property.
  7. Government rules make the poor poorer, and keep them poor.
ALIENS AND BORDERS
The law says to not mistreat aliens, and to treat aliens fairly. (Leviticus 19:33) The government treats aliens as second-class people.
  1. The borders are open.
  2. There is no such thing as a passport. Nobody is required to have papers (the Romans came up with this idiocy).
  3. Aliens are considered to be useful workers, not people to be gotten rid of.
  1. Government sets up checkpoints to keep aliens out of the country.
  2. Governments require identity papers, and try to keep track of every person living in the country.
  3. Aliens are considered to be leeches sucking the economy away from the country and taking jobs away from citizens.
  4. People are wrongly divided into a privileged class (citizen) and a burdened class (alien).
PROFESSIONS
The government does not control professions, unless they are sinful. (Exodus 22) Government not only allows sinful businesses to exist, but it often sides with them.
  1. Government does not consider unsightliness, or whether others are bothered by professions, as reasons to act.
  2. There is no such thing as a license.
  3. Government doesn't care who you hire.
  1. Government enacts zoning laws, to keep someone from pursuing a profession on his own land if it bothers other people.
  2. Government often requires expensive licenses for certain professions.
  3. Government requires employers to hire sinners, and prohibits them from hiring aliens.
ECONOMICS
Work is the primary source of wealth. Government doesn't try to change the economy. Government thinks it runs the economy, and tries to control it.
  1. Giving to the poor increases the giver's prosperity.
  2. The government is prohibited from accumulating large wealth. (Deuteronomy 17:17)
  3. Government isn't big enough to damage the economy.
  4. Government can't control prices or wages.
  1. Giving to the poor is to be done by government. Private giving is discouraged, because it reduces government income.
  2. Government is taking 72 percent of the US economy.
  3. Government is damaging the economy with its high taxes.
  4. Government can't control prices or wages, but it tries to anyway, changing other parts of the economy.
Jesus Christ Man's government