Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Travis Gettys — Pope Francis rips capitalism and trickle-down economics to shreds in new policy statement (via Raw Story )

Pope Francis rips capitalism and trickle-down economics to shreds in new policy statement (via Raw Story )
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…


6 comments:

Matt Franko said...

No push back from Paul Ryan this time????

Tom Hickey said...

I think that they are all stunned and still trying to figure out how to spin this, Matt. As you noted previously, the religious vote is split between neoliberal conservatives and social justice folks. The pope just tilted the scales massively.

Unknown said...

and puts him in sharp contrast to American conservative leaders who prize the unfettered free market Tom Hickey

What free market? How can we have a free market with a government-backed credit cartel?

ans: We can't.

Social justice? How is it justice that the rich and other so-called creditworthies are allowed to steal (by dilution) the purchasing power of the poor simply because they are likely able to return that stolen purchasing power plus interest to the thieves, the government backed credit cartel?

ans: It isn't.

Matt Franko said...

Tom,

Well before he (Ryan) seemed to have no problem taking on a cohort of US Bishops, but looks like he dare not take on the Pope this time...

Agree that the Pope just focused all eyeballs towards the 'socio-economic justice' swing voter within US Christerdom and hands down the Dems OWN the successful "framing" on those issues lock stock and barrel, no Frank Luntz required to know this ... so now the ball is in the GOPs court on how to respond to this...

I saw that Christie got GWB ('compassionate conservative') to show up and speak to the GOP governors conference he chaired a couple of weeks ago in Phoenix.... GWB has mostly stayed away till now (dont blame him with all the crazies running rampant in the GOP) ... looks like perhaps a GWB/Christie/Jeb/? coalition is forming. They will have to smooth some of Christie's personal edges over the next year he has a reputation in Jersey as a "bully" and I dont think that is optimal...

Ryan seems to have tempered his rhetoric but as you point out I think his head is spinning and he doesnt yet know what to say.... he is very young and is probably looking towards the future and at some level knows his Randianism is looking like a long term loser and a career ender for him after his VP defeat in 2012... this from the Pope here makes it even worse for the way he has been traditionally conducting himself.... I expect Ryan to try to pivot somehow as he does not want to be left out of the game at such a young age... I dont see how he can do it with his current level of understanding wrt the USD system, he is prety much "all in" on 'debt doomsday' .... if he cant there is always K Street for him so no tears required....

F,

You have fallen into some sort of Quantity Theory/ "gold standard mentality" falsehood and cant get up.... so has the Vatican ... you are both being very good disciples ('mathetai') in my view... ie always having to learn 'the hard way'.

Unknown said...

No Franko,

I don't have to prove that all or even most money creation causes price inflation just that some MAY cause price inflation. It's a matter of ethics, not probability.

Example: Suppose someone has a revolver with only 1 bullet in it, spins the chamber, points it at your head and pulls the trigger. There's a 5/6 chance you won't be hurt. Has he behaved ethically?

Example: Someone get's drunk before driving. He USUALLY drives OK when drunk but not not always. Has he behaved ethically?

The burden of proof is on you, buddy, to prove that money creation or money destruction harms no innocents. But you can't possibly do that which is why money MUST be created and destroyed ETHICALLY.

We have ethics not just to prevent inevitable harm but also merely possible harm.

QED

Tom Hickey said...

The pope has a moral pulpit, not an economic one. Telling the world how to do this is not in the purview of the portfolio of moral leaders. They should stick to values relative to contemporary conditions.

Some commentators have already observed that Francis is not saying anything really new wrt values as articulated in the long history of Roman Catholic social teaching since Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum ( 1891). It's how he is saying it much more pointedly than his more conservative predecessors did.

Also it is not the case that Francis is attacking "capitalism" as much as he is going after a particular contemporary form of capitalism very specifically — neoliberalism.