Pope condemns idolatry of cash in capitalism
POSTED BY: Magonsdaughter
UPDATED: Wednesday, April 23, 2025 13:26
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/22/pope-francis-idol-money
Pope Francis has called for a global economic system that puts people and not "an idol called money" at its heart, drawing on the hardship of his immigrant family as he sympathised with unemployed workers in a part of Italy that has suffered greatly from the recession.
Addressing about 20,000 people in the Sardinian capital of Cagliari, the Argentinian pontiff said that his parents had "lost everything" after they emigrated from Italy and that he understood the suffering that came from joblessness.
"Where there is no work, there is no dignity," he said, in ad-libbed remarks after listening to three locals, including an unemployed worker who spoke of how joblessness "weakens the spirit". But the problem went far beyond the Italian island, said Francis, who has called for wholesale reform of the financial system.
"This is not just a problem of Sardinia; it is not just a problem of Italy or of some countries in Europe," he said. "It is the consequence of a global choice, an economic system which leads to this tragedy; an economic system which has at its centre an idol called money."
The 76-year-old said that God had wanted men and women to be at the heart of the world. "But now, in this ethics-less system, there is an idol at the centre and the world has become the idolater of this 'money-god'," he added.
Sardinia, one of Italy's autonomous regions with a population of 1.6 million, has suffered particularly badly during the economic crisis, with an unemployment rate of 20%, eight points higher than the national average, and youth unemployment of 51%.
Last summer the island's hardship became national news when Stefano Meletti, a 49-year-old miner, slashed his wrists on television during a protest aimed at keeping the Carbosulcis coal mine open.
Urging people not to give up hope even in the harsh economic climate, Francis also called on them to fight back against the "throwaway culture" he said was a by-product of a global economic system that cared only about profit. It was, he said, a culture that saw the most vulnerable society become marginalised.
"Grandparents are thrown away and young people are thrown away," he said. "And we must say no to this throwaway culture. We must say: 'We want a fair system; a system that allows everyone to move forward.' We must say: 'We do not want this globalised economic system that does so much harm.' At the centre has to be man and woman, as God wants – not money."
His own father, he recalled, had suffered great hardship after moving from northern Italy to Argentina in the 1920s. He went "a young man … full of illusions" of making it in the new world, but soon found there was no work to be had. "I didn't see it; I had not yet been born. But I heard of this hardship at home … I know it well," said Francis.
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I think he's right. But, I also think people have to be able to choose.
If anything if you can get multiple economic systems going at the same time, they support each other, and provide safety nets.
I've come to accept there are different kinds of people in the world, and that the sharks and wolves of the world need a system and lifestyle that works for them too. Just, their system can preferably be way over there maybe.
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I am skeptical whether more than one system would be able to peacefully coexist with another. we've seen how little tolerance there was for communism in the capitalist system, and how communism also had no tolerance for the existence of capitalism.
I note how we put up with dictatorships and human rights abuses from countries where market opportunities abound.
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Nationalistic xenophobia aside, various systems already do coexist. Out of necessity.
The thing is, if some people WANT to be ultra-competitive and cutthroat, and have the illusion of power over people, then maybe we should give them what they want, provided we can keep it separate from everything else.
Frankly I have no problem with tricking terrible people into fighting each other over something that doesn't matter and then pushing them into some corner where we never have to deal with them. Mostly because I'm pretty sure such a society would regress back to stones and pointy sticks surprisingly quickly. My references are historical precedence.
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Didn't the Pope hear Bono ? He said that Capitalism has raised more people around the world OUT of poverty than any other economic system.
It's better than charity.
Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen
Resident USA Freedom Fundie
" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall
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Well, it depends on how you look at it. Like if you define poverty in terms of a developing nation becoming a developed nation through capitalist incentives and progress - then yeah, over all poverty is lessened, though a lot of people during the transition period end up little better than slaves.
If you mean in terms of an already developed nation, there's two perspectives, the first is that of the successful entrepreneur, and the second is how corporatism affects various wage gaps over time. In many cases work in a developed nation is more steady and the living standard is obviously higher than in an undeveloped or developing nation, but by the average living standards of the developed nation many of those people might be considered poor and getting poorer. Also, lots of homeless wandering around lately.
First world problems, but... first world problems that kind of actually matter.
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Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Nationalistic xenophobia aside, various systems already do coexist. Out of necessity.
Examples?
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Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Didn't the Pope hear Bono ? He said that Capitalism has raised more people around the world OUT of poverty than any other economic system.
It's better than charity.
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There's also plenty of poverty created by the capitalist system, and plenty of people who continue to live in poverty despite the increase in GDP of their property,
I'm not sure if the Pope has a direct line to Bono. I think its supposed to be god.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Nationalistic xenophobia aside, various systems already do coexist. Out of necessity.
Examples?
Co-op groups and various unions exist in a number of capitalist economies. You really need specifics?
Not to mention China has a mix - though I grant they started off with state communism - and there are many mixed economies in European nations.
There is not one choice or one option for anyone. Nor should there be. If monopolies in business are bad, then logically a lack of competing options for economies is also bad.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:property,
I'm not sure if the Pope has a direct line to Bono. I think its supposed to be god.
God, Bono,tomato, tomatto.
One's real, one ain't.
Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen
Resident USA Freedom Fundie
" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall
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