This post,  part of a series or “stream of consciousness” from Dan is some excellent and disturbing/jarring insight

in Part II of this series, I continued to stress the need for Christians to move beyond capitalism. However, if we are to make that move, I suggested that we need to recover our genuinely Christian imagination, which is rooted in the hope that is inspired by the biblical narrative (and not rooted in the “realism” or “necessity” inspired by the narrative of capitalism). However, I also suggested that we have lost the ability to imagine a true alternative to capitalism because we have lost the will to live outside of the comforts that capitalism provides for us. Therefore, I concluded that we will only be able to imagine a genuine alternative to capitalism when we begin to embody the alternative that we are pursuing.

Absolutely….we have indeed “lost the ability to imagine a true alternative to capitalism”,  because,  I think,  our “world” takes it as a given,  and the vast majority take it for granted that “this system” is really all there is,  so we may as well make due. Or else maybe recognizing the bankruptcy of it,  but accepting it as “the way things are”,  or a step beyond that,  feeling impotent as to our ability to make any sort of impact.

we often spend too much time trying to find the most exact or ideal alternative to capitalism instead of beginning, step by step, to embody an alternative.

So where are the communities making a serious go at this?  This is the next step,  as I see it.  We cannot hope to “embody” all by ourselves.  We need support.  We need radical relatedness and commitment to one another. 

Dan looks ahead in at the conclusion of this post to “to suggest what I believe to be are a few good steps in the development of a Christian alternative to capitalism”.   My RSS is anticipating reception of this next installment.

Source: On Journeying with those in Exile – April 21st, 2007