Capitalism and global citizenship

By President Shirley H. Showalter


Goshen College has always maintained a close connection to business. The Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts (1894-1903), advertised business in its very name, and its catalog was very explicit about the practical educational philosophy: "Our courses of study furnish exactly what is needed in the daily business of every Merchant, Agent, Manufacturer, Banker, Teacher, Book-keeper, Clerk, Farmer – in short, of any man who wishes to lead a useful and successful life or to manage discreetly any property which may be placed in his hands."

While some things changed when the college moved to Goshen in 1904, the loss of enterprising spirit was not one of them. Goshen College has engaged in a variety of business ventures over the years – real estate, farming and shirt manufacturing just in its first four decades.

The late Carl Kreider, legendary academic dean, was an economist trained at Princeton University and the London School of Economics. He set the tone that still prevails on our campus with regard to the attitude toward business enterprises: he was a Christian first and an economist second. From this perspective, he criticized capitalism because it results in great disparities between rich and poor. However, even when it was academically fashionable to prefer socialism to capitalism, Kreider rejected that solution. Acknowledging the reality that all economic systems stand under the judgment of God, he chose capitalism as the best of all flawed systems. In The Rich and the Poor: A Christian Perspective on Global Economics, published in 1987, Kreider stated, "I believe that capitalist methods offer the most promise of increasing production. I think it is incumbent upon Christians to use the resources available to them from superior production methods to enhance the standard of living of the world's poor."

Kreider was ahead of his time in articulating his concern about global economics. He urged Christian international development and education as ways to share the benefits of capitalism while avoiding some of its most grievous shortcomings. Organizations such as the Mennonite Central Committee and the Mennonite Economic Development Association have adapted forms of capitalism all over the world. Micro-enterprises, businesses created by small loans given after borrowers receive training and ongoing support, have cropped up all over the world and often allow the poor to create their own wealth.

Entrepreneurs, who create new businesses, have a special opportunity to make a global difference through the capitalist system. Without entrepreneurs, Goshen College would not exist. A significant number of our major donors are either entrepreneurs themselves or stewards of businesses created by previous generations. The foundations that support us also sprang from energetic, imaginative people who sacrificed immediate pleasures in order to 'find a need and fill it' better than the competition.

I believe we may be entering a new age entrepreneurial spirit at Goshen College. Our faculty is discussing intellectual property issues. Students from many majors swell classes in entrepreneurship, and soon we will have an Entrepreneurship Learning Center on our campus. We will intensify our partnerships with local organizations, and our graduates will be equipped to start their own businesses as well as to enter church, service, corporate and professional worlds.

The world of business and the world of Christ-centered higher education can be brought together beautifully. Goshen's business department strives to do just that. The instruction and mentoring offered to our students goes beyond the stereotypical 'B-school' advice that focuses heavily on the bottom line. Our graduates take the core values of Goshen College into the marketplace and seek to be exemplars of integrity, ethics, fair treatment of employees, and generosity. They should not build bigger barns without having bigger dreams for ways to share their wealth and help others build wealth. To be an entrepreneur is to create something out of nothing, just as a painter or poet creates. But the true test of a business, like a great work of art, is to build it for the ages. One cannot do that when short-term profits and hoarding material goods are the goals.

New combinations of business and Christian values are arising on our campus. The philosophic base for them is as eternal as the Bible, as innovative as Adam Smith and as concerned with the poor as Karl Marx and an even better model: Jesus.