Pope Francis and the economists

Accuracy in Academia ^ | December 9, 2013 | Alejandro Antonio Chafuen

[Alex Murphy]

The recent economic statements by Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (EG) read as a call for a “Third Way” economic system ruled by experts and people of good will. Pope Francis writes, “Growth in justice requires more than economic growth, while presupposing such growth: it requires de­cisions, programs, mechanisms and process­es specifically geared to a better distribution of income, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality.”

Ping for later

[SC_Pete]

His heart is in the right place—but his head is another story.

[ZULU]

I know exactly where his head is and you would need a proctologist to remove it.

[Uri’el-2012]

The recent economic statements by Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (EG) read as a call for a “Third Way” economic system ruled by experts and people of good will.

The Third Way has always been a call by communists
to end Freedom and Liberty.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[circlecity]

"Pope Francis writes, “Growth in justice requires more than economic growth, while presupposing such growth: it requires de­cisions, programs, mechanisms and process­es specifically geared to a better distribution of income, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality.”

This is classic modernism. The trouble is there are no good, benevolent, wise, just humans to administer such a system. Only corrupt individuals whose evil hearts will swell with pride when given such power and the cure will always be worse than the disease. For all its faults, the amorality of the invisible hand is always more just than the political machinations of corrupted man.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Yep. He seems utterly blind to the fact that government officials NEVER really act out of altruism.

Makes little difference, as I concluded some time ago that “unfettered capitalism” (i.e. capitalism as we have known it since Reagan) is basically toast anyhow. At least for the remainder of my lifetime. Fewer and fewer people seem to support it, or are willing to stand-up for it.

Having a high-profile figure railing against it from the Vatican surely won’t help matters any.

[Uncle Miltie]

"requires de­cisions, programs, mechanisms and process­es specifically geared to a better distribution of income"

That does it. He's a SOCIALIST.

I don't care how you try to parse or justify that one. He's done in my book. A leftist socialist totalitarian centralizer.

WHO gets to decide his "better distribution of income?" Precisely who is the elevated superior omniscient decider of "better"?

G-d would not elevate decisions above individuals to superior individuals. That's slavery and antithetical to the prime message of Exodus.

I reject this Pope.

[pgkdan]

Those of us who are Roman Catholics and are convinced about the economic and moral superiority of the free economy have a duty to engage the Vatican in a fruitful and respectful dialogue.

Agreed.

[Vigilanteman]

Yep. He seems utterly blind to the fact that government officials NEVER really act out of altruism.

I have little patience with the Catholic haters who spew their vile on this forum, but one made an excellent point once like a blind squirrel finding an acorn.

That point was that the Protestant Reformation saved the church from itself, and perhaps Christianity along with it.

The church had grown so corrupt by the early 16th century that government power and the perks which went along with it had grown more important than propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Good men like Martin Luther and evil men like Henry VIII played the role of ending the government power monopoly and forced the church to refocus on it core spiritual mission. Prior to that time, many Popes has become as corrupt as the church itself and, in fact, led it down the wrong path. After that time, competition forced the church to refocus on spiritual matters just in time to allow it to save southeastern Europe from another invasion by the Muslim hordes in the late 1600s.

[BarnacleCenturion]

“He’s a SOCIALIST.”

And you are an idiot.

He never said that income should be taken from the rich and given to the poor.

He is only saying that the poor should have the opportunity to have a better income.

The Pope is not an anarchist. He believes in the rule of law.

[Uncle Miltie]

“requires de­cisions, programs, mechanisms and process­es specifically geared to a better distribution of income”

[BarnacleCenturion]

“unfettered capitalism” (i.e. capitalism as we have known it since Reagan)”

You are delusional. Unfettered capitalism is the free market operating without a government to regulate it. In the time since Reagan socialism has taken root in unprecedented ways.

And by the way, the Pope never used the expression “unfettered capitalism”. That came from a Huffington Post article describing what he wrote. He never used the word ‘capitalism’ at all.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Count me among the many, many Catholics who would agree with you that Martin Luther did the Catholic Church a HUGE favor.

Church leadership at that time was out of control, and certainly not acting Biblically.

FYI, at Christmastime you will often hear Away in a Manger played at Catholic Mass. Martin Luther is credited with being the author of that hymn. Perhaps a tacit admission by the Church that he had a point. Hearing that at Mass 50 or 60 years ago would have been unthinkable.

[showme_the_Glory]

He believes in the rule of law.

He's quacking like a socialist. Maybe he's not? The spiritual principal is help those who can't help them selves. Got it.

[dsc]

“Juan Domingo Peron was an early champion of the Third Way”

Juan Domingo Peron was a Nazi (literally) and a child molester. He married the mina (prostitute) Eva Duarte because the people who knew about his perverted lust for prepubescent girls were losing patience with him.

[Vigilanteman]

FWIW, Martin Luther considered himself a good Catholic until the day he died. It just took the church which bore his name an additional 400 plus years to go off the rails into the cult of political correctness.

I pray that Pope Francis doesn't take today's Catholic Church in a similar direction.

[dsc]

“Church leadership at that time was out of control, and certainly not acting Biblically.”

Sort of like the American clergy today, no?

[BarnacleCenturion]

Every Pope for over 2000 years have said that Christians should care for the poor.

Maybe you are out of the loop.

This Pope hasn’t said anything different from his predecessors. He is not calling for higher taxes or greater government control. He is only offering moral guidance. People will ultimately decide what they want to do.

The full text is here:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium_en.html#The_joy_of_the_gospel

You won’t find anything resembling socialism in there.

[tbpiper]

His heart is in the right place—but his head is another story.

I think this would describe the majority of liberals.