Essay 3: My argument for the land speculation

    “Should be earning the monetary gain by the land speculation allowed to the christians?” This question may not be familiar to our daily lives, but it‘s still an important matter in the human history. The land ownership has always carried heated controversy such as inequality matters through the century and century. For example, in the middle age, establishment‘s land monopoly made chronic social problem. Still, minority rules upon the land ownership and earning a money from the speculation and it‘s causing income inequality.

  
    On this social facts that is related to the economical ethic, I argue that christians should not own the land as a personal property, purposing to speculate and gain the economical benefit, because the speculation has a character of gambling, and it’s against the idea of the biblical land definition and the relationship.

   
    First, it is inevitable to deny that the benefit from the speculation is not the normal output of labor. In the economic view, a gain by the speculation comes from the profit of market price’s fluctuation. This means that the benefit didn’t come from the functional relation, such as 10$ per a hour. For this reason, the speculation is more suitable to be called as a ‘gamble’ rather than a ‘labor’

   
    Gambling and the speculation is sharing the similar point because both’s benefit is not in direct proportion to the payment. Some might object to this point of view of gambling and say it’s kind of mental labor, organized with a calculation. But it seems obvious that gambling is too high risked and high addictive to be called as a labor.
Likewise, the land speculation is much high risked too, and it’s benefit can be made only by the market price’s fluctuations, not by the owners labor that includes time and efforts. Thus, the margin from the land speculation can be called as a stakes in a gamble, that is changing by many immeasurable factors, not just increased with owners labor.

   
    Second, the speculation is totally against the idea of bible’s land definition. Leviticus 25:23 says "'The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. (NIV) From this view point, the land should not be used as a individual’s property for the commercial reason.

Compared to this idea, back to the political philosopher John Locke who has influenced a number of the idea that is consisting the modern world, said it’s possible to own the land if someone labored to it. This is based on the idea that human has one’s own sovereignty and the price for the labor if completely belong to the person who have done it. The basis of these day’s capitalism that includes land private ownership system begins from this idea. On the whole, it seems evident that the essential ideas between Locke’s and bible is much different from the beginning.

   
    Some might object to this argument that Leviticus’s passage is only applied to the Israel’s cultural and social background and say that adapting it’s rule is committing the error of the re-interpretation. But this idea can’t be admitted for following objection. The land owner should force the resident to move their home to gain a profit from the speculation. However, this is an immoral behavior in the perspective of bible. For land is not ours but a rented one to share it as a kind of infra-structure, the idea that supports evicting the neighborhood for self’s monetary benefit is misguided belief, and thus ignoring the Leviticus 25:23 is obviously playing the ostrich man with the other passages of the new testament.

   
    To conclude with, the land speculation is not the normal form of the labor but it’s character is similar to the gamble, it should be far went from christian’s life. In addition, on the basis of idea that the land is God’s own and it’s given to share with neighborhoods, earning money with the land speculation is not right and even it’s sometimes immoral behavior for a christian living and spirit.

   
    The income from the rightful way leads to the biblical way of re-distribution. Without a biblical idea of the economical behavior, christians won’t find a way of real worship in a life.