Posted on 07/22/2013 1:45:22 PM PDT by Biggirl
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE—Widespread youth unemployment is creating a generation of the jobless, Pope Francis said Monday, setting the tone for a weeklong visit to Brazil that marks the first foreign trip of his papacy.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
In other words, Sloth is a Biblical sin. And the longer we allow generations to sit around on the dole and not working productively, we will reap the wages of that sin.
Get rid of Socialism first - jobs and economies improve after.
Previous Popes have condemned socialism in all its myriad forms. This particular Pope has condemned ‘the dole’.
Previous Popes have condemned socialism in all its myriad forms.
Not all Popes have condemned socialism.
"Social justice" does not.
Those Popes for whom socialism was a current phenomenon have condemned it, some more strongly than others. John Paul I didn't have a chance to comment on the topic ...
Social Justice provides the framework in which individual enterprise can lead to prosperity.
That’s right.
“In other words, Sloth is a Biblical sin. And the longer we allow generations to sit around on the dole and not working productively, we will reap the wages of that sin.”
Idle hands are the devils tools.
And when you look around at the under-thirties we are creating legions of idle hands.
Pope Francis is well acquainted with, and has condemned Liberation Theology. That is a good thing.
I think the jury is still out on what this Pope’s position is on Capitalism and Social Justice. One day he condemns Socialism and then the next he condemns “unfettered Capitalism.” What I do know is that the one period in human history that created more wealth and pulled more people out of poverty, and immensely increased standards of living across the world, was the period from the mid-to-late 1700s through the early-to-mid 1900s when “unfettered Capitalism” was at its height. God created Capitalism and it is an unqualified force for good in the world.
Capitalism as a system, is amoral, meaning it takes no position on moral issues.
Many people who worked during the Industrial Revolution and before unionization, suffered terrible work conditions. However, many people enjoyed a standard of living far greater than ever enjoyed before.
Individual capitalists have a duty to treat employees justly, pay them fairly, and pursue their business with morals. In other words, the ends don’t justify the means.
Socialism, on the other hand, is immoral, as it denies people the right to own property, live by the sweat of their brow, and to determine their own destiny.
Popes have spoken about both systems, but make clear the responsibilities of capitalists, and point out the tyranny of both socialism and communism.
Obama, please pick up the RED courtesy phone.
“Unfettered capitalism” - which included slavery - is not necessarily a good thing, and actually was the impetus for the union movement in the early 20th century.
Think if you’d like to have an arrogant jerk like Obama in charge of you, regarding you as his personal serf and assigning you work that you had to do 6 days a week with only a brief time off for church on Sundays (if even that, in the case of Obama!), monitoring your every purchase and usually profiting from it (many people had to buy from a company store or were indebted for housing), making you work in a place with no emergency exits so that you could burn to death at your sewing machine (Triangle Fire), etc. And of course, the boss was tied in with the politicians, because he’d bought them off long ago.
That’s unfettered capitalism, which you now see only in the Third World, and of which we have seen many demonstrations recently in India and China.
If you interpret capitalism as “to the victor belongs the spoils,” “only the strong survive,” etc., which seems to be the unfettered version, then you’re building a pathway for unions and socialism.
There have to be reasonable restraints on what wealthy individuals can do to others simply because the former have more money and power. Sadly, we’re fast moving into a society where there is no restraint as long as you’re the “right” type of person.
What you don’t realize is that “unfettered capitalism” and iron-hand socialism/fascism are where the supposed opposites meet.
Pope Francis is right. It’s really bad when economic systems don’t have jobs available for young adults who are ready form households and achieve independence from their parents.
My oldest daughter joined the military when she was 18, but her brothers are going to have a harder time navigating the education-to-employment trail.
“And when you look around at the under-thirties we are creating legions of idle hands.”
We are. The question in my mind is whether it’s a bug or a feature.
It’s not like unemployment caused World War 2 or anything...oh wait...
“It’s really bad when economic systems don’t have jobs available for young adults who are ready form households and achieve independence from their parents.”
It’s bad, but I do see some reasons to be optimistic. It will simply take a re-think of what it means to be employed and what is a realistic lifestyle and how to achieve it. The stereotypical “go to college, get an entry level job, and work your way up to the good life” model is largely extinct in my view. Those who survive and prosper will be those who can hustle a living and take care of themselves. And if you think about it, that may well be a better way to live.
Ask yourself, who has a more fulfilling life? The person who is essentially broke but live modestly, grows their own food, has no debt, and answers to few but God? Or the person who makes a significant salary, works 60 hour weeks, pays most of what they earn in taxes and a lot of the rest in debt payments, rarely has time for church, and never has time for their kids?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.