Quakers and Capitalism

In this third episode of our season-long exploration of Quakers and Money, Peterson Toscano and Diana Yañez turn toward one of the largest and most difficult questions of the series: How do Friends live with integrity inside capitalism?

Last month, we explored relational finance and asked whether taking responsibility for our money and institutional assets can lead to deeper integrity and more equitable power-sharing. This month, Peterson names the friction many Friends feel: the sense of being trapped in a massive economic system built on extraction, inequity, colonialism, and environmental harm.

Through conversations with Lisa Graustein, Nathan Kleban, David Watt, and Traci Hjelt Sullivan, this episode examines the spiritual dissonance between Quaker values and capitalist structures. We hear about stolen land, inherited wealth, paternalism in charitable giving, the legacy of slavery in Quaker history, and the denial made possible by class and racial privilege.

Rather than offering easy answers, Peterson and Diana ask what it means to stay on a journey with truth. If capitalism harms people and the planet, how might Friends move beyond individual purity or denial and toward mutual aid, community wealth-building, repair, and solidarity?

In This Episode

• The Dissonance: Peterson reflects on the gap between Quaker faith and a global economy built on extraction and inequity.
• Capitalism and White Supremacy: Lisa Graustein names capitalism and white supremacy as forces that keep the here and now from becoming the realm of God.
• Stolen Land and Reparative Responsibility: Lisa shares the story of New England Yearly Meeting selling property after repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery and raises questions about what should happen to profits from land acquired through colonization.
• From Charity to Right Relationship: Nathan Kleban of Right Sharing of World Resources challenges paternalistic models of giving and asks who the economy is actually for.
• Quaker Wealth and Enslavement: David Watt, professor of Quaker studies at Haverford College, reminds us that some early Quaker wealth in Philadelphia was tied to Barbados, sugar plantations, and the labor of enslaved people.
• The Wealth of Not Having Debt: Traci Hjelt Sullivan expands the definition of ancestral wealth, naming the opportunities that come from beginning adult life without student debt.
• The Inner Capitalist: Diana reminds us that the Quaker belief in “that of God in everyone” also extends to capitalists, and to the parts of ourselves that continue to benefit from extractive systems.

Our Guests

Lisa Graustein Lisa Graustein is a Quaker educator, activist, and writer whose work often explores money, power, race, and reparative justice. In this episode, she reflects on inherited wealth, stewardship, and the responsibility to repair harm caused through the accumulation of resources.

Nathan Kleban Nathan Kleban works with Right Sharing of World Resources, a Quaker organization that supports women-led economic projects in the Global South. Nathan brings a relational and community-centered lens to economics, asking how people get their needs met and how communities express their gifts outside extractive systems.

David Watt David Watt is the Douglas and Dorothy Steere Professor of Quaker Studies at Haverford College. In this episode, he offers historical context about Quaker wealth, including the connections between early Philadelphia Friends, Barbados, sugar plantations, and slavery.

Traci Hjelt Sullivan Traci Hjelt Sullivan is the executive director of Right Sharing of World Resources. She brings decades of nonprofit leadership and international experience to her work. In this episode, she reflects on truth, denial, race, class, debt, and the spiritual work of recognizing our own responsibility.

Resources and Recommendations

QuakerSpeak: “What If Wall Street Were Honest?” https://quakerspeak.com/video/what-if-wall-street-were-honest/

North Carolina Quaker Mark Hulbert has tracked investment advisors since the early 1980s. In this QuakerSpeak video, he talks about how his Quaker background and commitment to integrity led him to ask whether Wall Street advisors were telling the truth.

Spent https://playspent.org/

Diana recommends Spent, a free browser-based survival game that places players inside the poverty trap. You begin with $1,000 and try to survive for 30 days while making impossible choices: pay rent, fix the car, buy medicine, or keep the lights on. It offers one way to better understand how expensive it can be to be poor in the current economic system.

Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1575

Diana references Federici’s work while discussing the relationship between capitalism, labor control, gendered violence, and colonialism.

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374157357/thedawnofeverything/

Diana also points to this book while reflecting on European colonialism, the construction of human hierarchy, and the ideas that shaped the modern world.

Organizations Mentioned

• Right Sharing of World Resources: https://rswr.org/ A Quaker organization that supports women’s self-help groups in the Global South through seed grants and relationship-based partnerships.
• Earth Quaker Action Team: https://eqat.org/ A grassroots Quaker organization that uses nonviolent direct action to challenge systems of economic and environmental injustice.
• New England Yearly Meeting: https://neym.org/ A regional body of the Religious Society of Friends is mentioned in Lisa Graustein’s story about land, reparative responsibility, and the Doctrine of Discovery.
• Haverford College / David Harrington Watt: https://www.haverford.edu/users/dhwatt David Watt teaches Quaker studies at Haverford College and appears in this episode to discuss Quaker history, wealth, slavery, and capitalism.

Listener Voicemails

Thank you to John Choe for sharing his reflections and concerns about Quakers, financial discernment, and the role of institutions like Friends Fiduciary.

Thank you also to Richard Tindall for his faithful reminder to drink a glass of water first thing in the morning. As summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere, it is a timely invitation to stay hydrated and care for our bodies.

Question for Listeners

How do you navigate the tension between Quaker values and capitalism?

Where do you feel dissonance between your financial life and your spiritual commitments?

Share your thoughts: · Voicemail: Call 317-QUAKERS, 317-782-5377 · Email: podcast@friendsjournal.org · Social Media: Respond to us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok

Sponsors

Friends Fiduciary https://friendsfiduciary.org/

Friends Fiduciary unites Quaker values with expert investing. They serve Friends meetings, churches, schools, and organizations through ethical portfolios, shareholder advocacy, and a commitment to justice and sustainability.

American Friends Service Committee https://afsc.org/

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization working with communities worldwide to challenge injustice, meet urgent community needs, and build conditions for lasting peace.

AFSC and the Vanguard S.O.S. / Never Vanguard campaign AFSC announcement: https://afsc.org/newsroom/afsc-joins-vanguard-sos-campaign-fossil-fuel-divestment Never Vanguard pledge: https://eqat.org/never-vanguard/

AFSC has joined with Earth Quaker Action Team in the Vanguard S.O.S. campaign, asking Friends to boycott and divest from Vanguard until it stops funding fossil fuel projects and takes climate justice into account.

Disclaimers

Quakers Today is a project of Friends Publishing Corporation. This season is sponsored by Friends Fiduciary and the American Friends Service Committee.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice. Listening does not create an advisory relationship. Friends Fiduciary is a sponsor of this podcast. Sponsorship does not constitute an endorsement, and Quakers Today does not receive compensation based on listener investment decisions.

Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. Quakers Today and Friends Journal are not a registered entity and are not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See the Natural Investments Disclosures and Disclaimers and Form CRS: https://naturalinvestments.com/disclosures-disclaimers/