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The Pope Just Published One Of The Most Powerful Critiques Of Modern Capitalism That You Will Ever Read
Joe Weisenthal
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Joe Weisenthal — The Pope Just Published One Of The Most Powerful Critiques Of Modern Capitalism That You Will Ever Read
Business Insider
The Pope Just Published One Of The Most Powerful Critiques Of Modern Capitalism That You Will Ever Read
Joe Weisenthal
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20 comments:
Nice imagery! All we have to do is wash somebody's feet and everything will be just fine! LOL!
This is naive... AT BEST!
Francis along with a large cohort of Christendom in the US is probably reading Bill O'Reilly's NYT best seller as truth for his revelations on economic systems...
"We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35) has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money."
Ah, no oh great enlightened one, these morons today are STILL IN the 'gold standard mentality' and it has NOT "returned", these morons HAVE NEVER LEFT IT... this is THE WHOLE F-ING PROBLEM...
If you would STICK to the scriptural terms, you wouldnt bring this metonymy in here with your word "money" and then maybe you would learn something "the easy way".
“Not to share one’s wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs”
Well, yes, Mr. Pope, but where in Christendom is there a concept (enshrined in law) of a birthright in the form, say, of a piece of land? In Judaism words like "redemption" and "justice" mean pretty specific things. "The land (birthright) shall not be sold forever, etc." In Christianity it always seems nebulous: "People should share."
And I'm really quite tired of the cliches about "rampant consumerism" and "worshipping the golden calf." Most of the people I know spend all their money on food, housing, and gas. We're sick and tired of living this way. The corrupters of finance, politics, culture etc. need to be brought to book. How shall it be done? How many divisions does the Pope command? Can we borrow a few?
Nice imagery! All we have to do is wash somebody's feet and everything will be just fine! LOL!
This is naive... AT BEST!
Not really. Can you see Jamie Dimon or Lloyd Blankfein doing this? Actually, I would not be surprised if their PR people are advising this today.
Right David, Who is he even talking to in "the church"?
Look at the polls, EVERYBODY is pissed off...
This is how they look at the scripture:
"Let every soul be subject to the metal's authority, for there is no other authority under God..." Romans 13:1
"For it IS ours to wrestle with blood and flesh, and NOT with the sovereignty of the metals, NOT with the authority of the metals..." Eph 6:12
"All is allowed me but not all is expedient. All is allowed me but instead I will be put under the authority of the metals..." 1 Cor 6:12
"And you are complete in Him, Who is the head of every sovereignty and authority except for the metals..." Col 2:10
"The centurion averred, for I also am a man set under authority, having soldiers under me... And he said to those following, "Verily, I am saying to you, with no one in Israel so much faith did I find, except for the people who subjected themselves to the metals..." Mat 8:8
etc.....
"We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35) 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."
You're taking out of context his overall message against capitalism. He was focused on much more than the medium of modern money here. I might be an agnostic, but sorry, Matt, like it or not, he's right and you're wrong, dead wrong, on this score. You don't need a degree in Biblical Exegesis to realize what he's driving at, and it's much more than a fixation on mediums of exchange.
The St. Peter of capitalism is the triune God of Capital, Price, and unfettered Free Markets. Capitalism is a religion, a false God to those who worship at its or any part of its shrine. I'd prefer the God at The Mount over it, had I to choose. You?
The St. Peter of capitalism is the triune God of Capital, Price, and unfettered Free Markets. Malmo's Ghost
If only! Then at least we'd have a more level playing field.
Instead, we have a government-backed counterfeiting cartel for the sake of the banks and the rich and other so-called credit-worthies.
The RCC once opposed (correctly) usury but losts its nerve in the face of the Calvinists.
Like a trampled spring and a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. Proverbs 25:26
Not that I claim the RCC was ever righteous though it may have been.
"it's much more than a fixation on mediums of exchange."
You may be an agnostic but you are exactly right... its about A-U-T-H-O-R-I-T-Y.
rsp,
David,
Mercy, kindness, and sharing are desired from men but justice is REQUIRED.
The Pope should attack government backing for the banks head-on since that is OBVIOUSLY unjust. Usury from one's fellow countrymen is forbidden (Deuteronomy 23:19-20). How much more so a system that DRIVES people into debt and which especially victimizes the poor since they are less so-called creditworthy?
"And I'm really quite tired of the cliches about "rampant consumerism" and "worshipping the golden calf." Most of the people I know spend all their money on food, housing, and gas..."
Most of the people I know spend money on cell phones with expensive monthly plans, multiple late model vehicles, food at Whole Foods or Marianos, expensive homes far larger than needed, cable TV, several vacations a year, stylish clothes, eating out a lot, ipads, pc's, club sports for their kids, expensive colleges as opposed to community colleges in the first two years. I'm middle class too.
You may be an agnostic but you are exactly right... its about A-U-T-H-O-R-I-T-Y.
Sorry, Matt, but you've lost me.
F,
"The Pope should attack government "
Now you're getting somewhere!
Mal,
How man people out there (in Christendom) probably think we should let these "capitalists" as you term them keep all of this "money" because:
"we better be nice to them or they wont lend the govt money"
or "they need the money because they are the 'job creators' after all and they need the money to create all the jobs..."
etc... this is all absurd...
Without a correct popular perception of the authority inherent in our institution of civil govt... which is imo GONE from the scene today (even with the Pope here!), we can get nowhere as there is no enforcement mechanism... no "law"... just think of what we are doing with the metals as a metaphor if you must, leave it at that, this subjection in my view to the metals and blatant disrespect for our institution of civil govt is the manifestation of a blindness to our own human authority to fully conduct our economic affairs AS WE SEE FIT.
A policy of "redistribution" misses this view also imo... its still all a 'dog eat dog' mentality... fighting it out over a fixed pot of scarce "money"... this is ABSURD.
Most people out there are thinking "we're out of money!" INCLUDING THE POPE! Check my post downthread...
We can only get past this by obtaining the correct view of the authority of our institution of civil govt imo... without that it will all remain a bunch of inane arguments back and forth... a bunch of dogs arguing over a bone...
No thanks!
rsp,
"We can only get past this by obtaining the correct view of the authority of our institution of civil govt"
What's the correct view? That government is the dog and people are the tail.
I understand that civil government is part of "God's plan" according to most Christians. I don't have a problem with government per se. I do have a problem with the twisted and corrupt forms it manifests itself into. Our corptocracy is particularly galling. Also the size and scope thereof for optimal responsive government is debatable. There could well be a wide range downward in what works best in eliminating concentrated corrupting power too--decentralization. One does not need to be anti-authoritarian in despising a bureaucratic super-state. If MMT requires that form of government (not sure that it does), then count me out even if I'm far from being a metal lover.
...and the US is far more divided along race, ethnicity and religion than it is on monetary matters. Not sure how MMT can get legs given that backdrop, metal lovers aside.
. fighting it out over a fixed pot of scarce "money"... this is ABSURD. Franko
People get that, Franko. But since guys like you scoff at the idea of ETHICAL money creation they'd rather pretend that money is a limited resource rather than let folks like you spew it about, destroying its value because of a lack of ethical checks and balances.
Most of the people I know spend money on cell phones with expensive monthly plans, multiple late model vehicles, food at Whole Foods or Marianos, expensive homes far larger than needed, cable TV, several vacations a year, stylish clothes, eating out a lot, ipads, pc's, club sports for their kids, expensive colleges as opposed to community colleges in the first two years. I'm middle class too.
Well, MG,
I wouldn't claim my experience is more "universal" than yours or anything, but I've heard the exact same sort of diatribe for the last 25 years. The facts are that the "American standard of living" has been deteriorating (on average), people are working harder for the same or less money (if employed). That's not news to you or me. Most people (of whatever "class") seem focussed on the relatively trivial. Unfortunately moral exhortations usually aren't worth much more than a bucket of warm spit.
"Most of the people I know spend money on cell phones with expensive monthly plans, multiple late model vehicles, food at Whole Foods or Marianos, expensive homes far larger than needed, cable TV, several vacations a year, stylish clothes, eating out a lot, ipads, pc's, club sports for their kids, expensive colleges as opposed to community colleges in the first two years. I'm middle class too."
I'd be honored to be adopted me into your middle class family...
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