Pope Francis rips capitalism and trickle-down economics to shreds

[Alex_Spider]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/...-economics-to-shreds-in-new-policy-statement/

In case there was any doubt left, Pope Francis made it clear that he shares little in common with U.S. conservatives.


The pontiff released his Evangelii Gadium, or Joy of the Gospel, attacking capitalism as a form of tyranny and calling on church and political leaders to address the needs of the poor.


“As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world’s problems or, for that matter, to any problems,” the pope said in the 224-page document that essentially serves as his official platform.
Pope Francis said that inequality was the root of social ills, and prayed for world leaders with more empathy and sense of social justice.
“I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor!” Pope Francis wrote. “It is vital that government leaders and financial leaders take heed and broaden their horizons, working to ensure that all citizens have dignified work, education and healthcare.”
The pope has already drawn the ire of some conservative Catholics, particularly in the U.S., for his open-minded comments on social issues such as homosexuality, abortion and contraception, and he’s also previously criticized capitalism for promoting greed.
But his latest statements put those concerns into sharper focus – and puts him in sharp contrast to American conservative leaders who prize the unfettered free market and promote the Randian theory of objectivism, or rational self-interest.
“I am interested only in helping those who are in thrall to an individualistic, indifferent and self-centered mentality to be freed from those unworthy chains and to attain a way of living and thinking which is more humane, noble and fruitful, and which will bring dignity to their presence on this earth,” the pope wrote.
He also launched a broadside against former President Ronald Reagan’s signature economic theory, which continues to serve as conservative Republican dogma.
“Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world,” Pope Francis wrote. “This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.”
The pope lamented that people had “calmly accepted (the) dominion” of money over themselves and society, which he said was expressed in the recent financial crisis and the continuing promotion of consumer-based economies.

“We have created new idols,” the pope wrote. “The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to one of his needs alone: consumption.”
The pope decried the growing gap between rich and poor as a social and political problem.


“This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation,” Pope Francis wrote. “Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules.”


The pope noted that corporations and individuals were failing to pay taxes in nations around the world, depriving governments of funding needed to serve all their citizens, and banks and loan organizations had crippled emerging economies with staggering interest obligations.


“The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits,” Pope Francis wrote. “In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which become the only rule.”
Pope Francis said this political and economic system was inherently sinful because it violated the biblical prohibition against killing.

“Such an economy kills,” he wrote. “How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.”
The pope said that human beings themselves are used and discarded as mere consumer goods in this “disposable culture.”
“It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new,” Pope Francis wrote. “Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the ‘exploited’ but the outcast, the ‘leftovers.’”

Wow, I would never thought a Pope would speak so openly about real wolrd issues, that politicians and relegious groups are hiding and never admiting. I like this man.

 

[moviedoors]

I like this pope more and more.

 

[jmc]

I don't care for religion but it's nice to see a Pope actually calling things out for a change.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I wonder if the Vatican is regretting their choice yet.

I also wonder how long until the religious right starts openly trashing the Pope.

 

[Hyde]

I like this guy.

 

[Alex_Spider]

What's remarkable is that other popes or relegious groups, when mentioning the poor, they only scratch the surface of the problems, without dwelving further. And they say empty words like, we should give 'em a penny when we see them in the streets and pray for them daily.
This man spoke like an activist, exposing the real world issues and the root of the problems.

 

[Bim]

It's nice to see a Pope talking like this. About time.

 

[Breogan]

I get he's radically different pope, and it's nice to see a change of focus come from that enormous and influential power structure.
Now with the wealth of the vatican bank at his disposal, and his platform and followers, with this "theory" and system, I have one question-

How many jobs has he/is he creating?

If he's doing better actually creating more jobs and helping eliminate poverty.

Point to that!

Otherwise ****!

The catholic church has squelched off the poorest people on the planet for centuries. Those most humble most hard working and most giving, downtrodden and belittled for their menial labor and position in society, these are the most humble giving ones that the church has fed off like a parasite, with some promise of a better life "after".

It's easy to blame the system that has been set up, a system the catholic church has supported and gotten rich and fat off of, living in riches while promoting and "selling" better life after.

Now is an opportunity to show a difference, here on this earth, not just by saying and pointing fingers and criticizing but by actually doing.

LOL meaningless Rant! on the hype

 

[summerteeth]

I don't care for religion but it's nice to see a Pope actually calling things out for a change.

aka I don't like when people mix religion in politics except when I agree with them. Religion should stay out of politics and The Pope is not an economist, capitalism has done more to lift people out of poverty than any other system. Remember Pope: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's". Guess you forgot that little bit in your infinite wisdom.

 

[Duke]

Thankfully I don't subscribe to any of the Pope's thoughts & not Catholic.

 

[DarkSentinel]

This dude just gets it. Plain and simple.

 

[Alex_Spider]

aka I don't like when people mix religion in politics except when I agree with them. Religion should stay out of politics and The Pope is not an economist, capitalism has done more to lift people out of poverty than any other system. Remember Pope: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's". Guess you forgot that little bit in your infinite wisdom.

Nah, not really. That's the biggest myth around. Just take a look at the current state of the planet. There are more poor people than those who prosper. Capitalism is based on inequality, otherwise there wouldn't be extreme wealth for the few. Not to mention the biggest environmetal destroyer. Nearly all of our every day items we use, contain somekind of toxin and a forest, or wildlife is destroyed, while we enjoy the luxurious products.

Capitalism calls for infinite growth, in a planet with finite recources. This is madness.

In a world where 1 % of the population owns 40% of the planet's wealth, where 34,000 children die every single day from poverty and preventable diseases, and where 50% of the world's population lives on less than 2 and a half dollars a day, one thing is clear... Something is very wrong."

Nuff said.

 

[DarkSentinel]

aka I don't like when people mix religion in politics except when I agree with them. Religion should stay out of politics and The Pope is not an economist, capitalism has done more to lift people out of poverty than any other system. Remember Pope: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's". Guess you forgot that little bit in your infinite wisdom.

But what happens when Caesar starts claiming everything?

No intention of inciting anything, but it does pose an interesting politicophilosophical question.

To use the writings of another wise Catholic man:

...it may be the hard part of a friend to rebuke a friend's folly.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

sheez. never thought i'd agree with the pope.

 

[summerteeth]

Nah, not really. That's the biggest myth around. Just take a look at the current state of the planet. There are more poor people than those who prosper. Capitalism is base on inequality, otherwise there wouldn't be extreme wealth for the few. Not to mention the biggest environmetal killer. Nearly every every day item we use, contains somekind of toxin and a forest, or wildlife is destroyed, while we enjoy the luxurious products.

Capitalism calls for infinite growth, in a planet with finite recources. This is madness.

Nuff said.

Just look at China as an example we've seen both an increase in inequality and a decrease in the poverty rate since they have implemented more capitalistic reforms. These are not mutually exclusive things. Even in the U.S. where it has become more popular to rally against inequality, we see that at a local level inequality does not hinder anyone's upward mobility. From a recent and most detailed study on the issue:

SCOTT WINSHIP, FELLOW, ECONOMIC STUDIES, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: My immediate reaction to the results and I've been doodling around with them is that inequality, I guess I would disagree a little bit of Raj, was the dog that didn't bark.

I sort of looked across all of the local areas that are in the paper and I looked across the top 100, the biggest 100 ones, and the relationship between the amount of mobility that the people in the local area have and how much income is received by the top 1 percent.

There's essentially no relationship between those two measures ...

ZAKARIA: In other words, the fact that an area has high levels of income equality does not mean they have low levels of income mobility.

So, you can have highly unequal income distribution, but still the poor have chances to move ahead.

What did block upward mobility in this study seemed to be: racial segregation and access to quality education. The funny thing is that the place that did the best was Salt Lake City, Utah and this was attributed to LDS or Mormons because of the religious community there.

 

[summerteeth]

But what happens when Caesar starts claiming everything?

No intention of inciting anything, but it does pose an interesting politicophilosophical question.

To use the writings of another wise Catholic man:

Speak to the individual and about charity and greed, but not public policy. As a Christian I would imagine it would be wise to follow the words of Jesus Christ especially if you are the supposed leader of his followers.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

So now I gotta ask, to which ideal does the US cling to more dearly these days?

One nation under god? or containing the spread of communism?

 

[summerteeth]

So now I gotta ask, to which ideal does the US cling to more dearly these days?

One nation under god? or containing the spread of communism?

Seeing how the former, was created in part to contain the spread of communism. I would imagine it was always the later, but I do not understand the particular relevance of your question.

 

[Marvolo]

I get he's radically different pope, and it's nice to see a change of focus come from that enormous and influential power structure.
Now with the wealth of the vatican bank at his disposal, and his platform and followers, with this "theory" and system, I have one question-

How many jobs has he/is he creating?

If he's doing better actually creating more jobs and helping eliminate poverty.

Point to that!

Otherwise ****!

The catholic church has squelched off the poorest people on the planet for centuries. Those most humble most hard working and most giving, downtrodden and belittled for their menial labor and position in society, these are the most humble giving ones that the church has fed off like a parasite, with some promise of a better life "after".

It's easy to blame the system that has been set up, a system the catholic church has supported and gotten rich and fat off of, living in riches while promoting and "selling" better life after.

Now is an opportunity to show a difference, here on this earth, not just by saying and pointing fingers and criticizing but by actually doing.

LOL meaningless Rant! on the hype

Vatican state is a country. What you call the vatican bank (Institute for the Works of Religion) is a private organization within the country. It is not Francis' s own little piggy bank. Regardless of the money that institute brings in, Vatican City (the country) itself was in the red last year with a $12 million dollar deficit. They were in the red for the two years prio to that as well. The vatican released last years financial records to the public if you would like to confirm this for yourself. All this to say that, the vatican like many countries was hit by the economic crisis and the country itself is broke. It can't just start taking from a privately owned organization within its borders without consent to achieve its means. Yeah Francis could I guess rob the institute lol, but then the owners of the institute would pack up shop and then vatican city would be well and truly ****ed.

 

[NoLaNitE007]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/...-economics-to-shreds-in-new-policy-statement/

Wow, I would never thought a Pope would speak so openly about real wolrd issues, that politicians and relegious groups are hiding and never admiting. I like this man.

Wow. This Pope might actually "get it".

 

[DarkSentinel]

So now I gotta ask, to which ideal does the US cling to more dearly these days?

One nation under god? or containing the spread of communism?

Well seeing as the US's god is money, yeah, one nation under god.

 

[Alex_Spider]

Well seeing as the US's god is money, yeah, one nation under god.

Well, money is god in all countries. The US just has the balls to admit it t:

 

[DarkSentinel]

If by "balls" you mean "foolishness" then I agree t:

 

[BestGirl]

I hope Francis does away with the Church's opposition to contraception. One reason there's so much poverty around the world is the inability for poor people in third world countries to practice family planning, which fuels overpopulation and leads to strained natural resources.

 

[Alex_Spider]

I hope Francis does away with the Church's opposition to contraception. One reason there's so much poverty around the world is the inability for poor people in third world countries to practice family planning, which fuels overpopulation and leads to strained natural resources.

Yeah, good point.