Okay... I like these two articles, or at least most of each of them. Let's link to them and sum up their messages:
Of course, that over-simplifies both of them. The most striking claim in the second one is about the tenth commandment ("don't covet your neighbor's stuff").
Why would God, with just 10 things to tell Moses, include jealousy about livestock? Well, think about how important this commandment is to a community, to a nation, to a democracy. If you want a mule, if you want a pot roast, if you want a cleaning lady, don't whine about what the people across the street have. Get rich and get your own.
Very fascinating.
Just to clarify, I'm not sure how to synthesize these two articles. But I think we live off of debt WAY too much; this is driven primarily by consumerism (and is likely to be disastrous for the country, if not the world). I absolutely love the idea of working fewer hours and doing more non-work things in life. But I also believe that re-distribution of wealth makes, in general, very little sense (except in those edge cases where people really are incapable of working). Earning one's own "keep" is important.
I don't know the answer. I just liked these articles.