How Did America Become So Successful?

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​Two words. Protestant ethic. Or, what’s better known today as “work ethic.”[1]

Believe it or not, it is Christian economics that has fueled the growth and success America has been known for all over the world. I have heard the argument, “Why are other countries so broke and poor, while we are so spoiled rich?” This comment may be generalized, but it gives a great idea into a typical daily dinner-table conversation. Let’s clarify this:

Nation’s grow with time. This includes economically, politically, and socially. You can look at a nation from it’s beginnings through to its ending, and its represented by what could resemble a tree that continues to branch outward. Law’s are the basis for any civilization and always start very basic. Over time, laws will continually be added too and expanded upon forming a culture.

Since law and culture is always created out of religion and religious function, there is only one logical conclusion. That is, a nation’s government which is based off of laws rooted in religion, is the key primary source to any nation’s ultimate success.
While America has recently abandoned some of the traditional principles that have produced our prosperity over the years, we are still the most prosperous and successful nation in the entire world. Historian David Wolfe writes that “the best way to compare the real wealth of the people of one country with the wealth of the people of another is how many hours of work it takes a factory worker to earn the money needed to buy the same basic commodities in retail stores in that country.”[2]

To buy a kilogram of bread, for example, a factory worker must work 18 minutes in Moscow (Russia), 12 minutes in London (UK), and 8 minutes in Washington (USA). To buy a car (Volga, Ford), that work time is 35 months in Moscow, 8.5 months in London, and 4.1 months in Washington.[3]

Work and Necessity
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Let’s say that you take an international trip to the Philippines, you will find that clothes are 1/3 to 1/4 the price of those in the United States. This might be great to the typical American traveler, this price reflects a larger amount that the average Filipino would spend on clothes than an American. An average American workers salary is ten times the pay that the average worker in the Philippines.

Ultimately, the average Filipino spends more of his paycheck on food and clothes than the average American—even though these necessity’s are much less in the Philippines than in the USA. The reason Filipino’s spend more of their money on other items in their country because appliances, cars, electronics, and other merchandise that is not made in their own country, cost more than they do in the United States.[4]

It is this economic reality that applies to every single nation around the entire globe. Those particular societies that are built on Christian principles will have a proper foundational view of natural resources, and will also carry the character to exert human energy, and be given access to the creativity of God leading to better tools, all of which cause man’s material assets to increase.

While any nation that adhering to this truth will see their material welfare increase, most people and nations are quite poor. Dr. Stephen K. McDowell of Providence Foundation mentions that, “46% of the world lives in poverty today.” [5] Why is this? Some claim lack of natural resources, yet some nations, like Japan, with very few natural resources are actually really prosperous. There are also many nations with abundant natural resources that are much less successful than other countries with less natural resources.

It’s More Than Resources

The primary reason that nations are in poverty is lack of spiritual resources and access to the truth. A secularist world-view keeps each element of the factors of production from growing and expanding, which suffocates man’s material well-being. India is a great example of how a people’s religion directly effects it’s economic success.

Today, India has widespread hunger issues. These problems are not due to a lack of food however, but are a direct result of peoples religious beliefs. The majority of Indians are Hindu. The Hindu religion teaches that people who die are reincarnated as animals; therefore, their laws and religion prohibit the people from killing rats, mice, cows, or other animals.

There are over 200 million “sacred cows” in India. Each cow eats enough food to feed seven people. The feed from these cows alone would feed 1.4 billion people, which is nearly ¼ the world’s entire population. The mice and rats, which they will not kill, eat much of their grain as well. This grain, not to mention the meat from the cows, would supply plenty of food for all the starving people of India.[6]

The economic state of a nation, including it’s success and prosperity, depends upon it’s religion.


Daniel L. Smith,
ComplexAmerica.org



Resources:
[1] Nunziata, Luca, and Lorenzo Rocco. 2018. “The Protestant Ethic and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Religious Minorities in the Former Holy Roman Empire.” European Journal of Political Economy 51 (January): 27–43. doi:10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2017.04.001.
[2] Wolfe, Charles H. "The Principle Approach to American Christian Economics." In A Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School, the Principle Approach, edited by James B. Rose, 403. Palo Cedro: American Christian History Institute, n.d.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Dr. Beliles, Mark A., and Dr. Stephen K. McDowell. "Principles of Christian Economics." In America's Providential History, 199. Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 1989.
[5] Ibid.
[6] How to Understand the Purpose behind Humanism, booklet published by Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts, 7. 1983.