"I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done," opines the writer of Ecclesiastes, " is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor.  This too is vanity and striving after wind."
     Leave it to Ecclesiastes to remind us of the limits of our certainties.  Beginning with Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations, numerous apologists for capitalism have stressed its ability to generate jobs, income, and social well being for the people and nations who participate in it.  Generally speaking, they are correct:  done fairly and wisely, capitalism can produce innumerable economic and social benefits for humanity.

     If we look more closely at Ecclesiastes, however, we see words that, as we consider them today, point to a fundamental flaw in capitalism.  Foremost in capitalism is the idea that people are to pursue their own interests in the marketplace.  To be successful, people must develop their skills and self-interest in a way that, for better or worse, mitigates and even eliminates the skills and self-interest of others, others who are, to use Ecclesiastes' words, rivals.  Not everybody can win, and many people lose very badly.  And many people on the sidelines often fall between the cracks, forgotten by everyone.
     So yes, while capitalism has benefited humanity greatly, we should understand that at its heart it is pandering to and enabling one of the most tragic of human traits:  greed.  If we manage ourselves, that is, if we look out for each other along the way, we--as a human community--will survive.  If we do not, however, we fall apart, as Karl Marx pointed out, under the weight of our pursuits.
     Ecclesiastes reminds us that however certain we are of our certainties, we must understand that there are greater certainties still.  Finitude cannot see everything, and truth is always richer than we think.
     After all, there is God.