The American Spectator

Mr. Stein, please do not sell yourself short.

I have heard Walter Williams, the professor of economics from George Mason University and TownHall.com commentator, remark that our economic system is built upon service. I serve my employer by contributing to the successful completion of his business venture and he serves me by taking a portion of the revenue and paying me for the contribution. My grocer serves me by providing fresh, safe foods and I serve him by sharing the wealth provided by my employer so that he can improve his facilities, buy replacement products, and provide for the needs of his family. Similar transactions are repeated billions of times every day and are the basis of successful capitalism. Let us not forget that it is our service to others that is the investment that leads to our being served.

In early Christianity, the Apostle Paul defines the social order in the new church as one of many members each with different talents and skills contributing to total health of the new organization. The comparison used is to our physical bodies of numerous parts, each performing a function for which it was designed, and damaging the function of the organization if that part hurts or becomes corrupted. The parts may be powerful or weak, very visible or modestly covered, seemingly important or weak, but nonetheless each is required in its own way to fulfill the mission of the group.

The system fails in two ways: when we fail to prove the service that is our part to provide or we try to serve in a way that is not part of our design. Both are personal failures and not imperfections in the system.

As for you Mr. Stein, you serve me often in ways that only you can. Your insights serve to pick up my spirits when I do not feel like serving as I should. You remind me of the important things. You entertain with your talents. Your financial commentary is part of the vast amount of info I use to pick my own investments. My service to you is that I am a subscriber to TAS, and I buy products that are advertised so that your employers can compensate (serve) you.

The volunteers that you so rightly lionize in your commentary are neither more or less deserving of our praise than is anyone else that has accepted their particular call to service. Is some service more financially lucrative than others? Of course. Is it more important to the overall effectiveness of what society accomplishes? I do not think so. Without a doubt, the delicate balance tips and society moves incrementally toward chaos when folks accept service, i.e. get paid, without serving others and when we attempt to serve in ways in which it is not our destiny to serve.