Half of all Catholics on FR want to interpret the Pope for us, spinning the man's words and telling us what the Pope "really" meant. Given his repeated speeches on the same subject, it made sense for the Pope himself to come out and clarify his thoughts, in case the Pope believes that he is being misunderstood. And now this has happened. How will this direct quote, found on this thread, be spun by Catholics more conservative than this Pope?
“There is nothing in the Exhortation that cannot be found in the social Doctrine of the Church. I wasn’t speaking from a technical point of view, what I was trying to do was to give a picture of what is going on. The only specific quote I used was the one regarding the “trickle-down theories” which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and social inclusiveness in the world. The promise was that when the glass was full, it would overflow, benefitting the poor. But what happens instead, is that when the glass is full, it magically gets bigger nothing ever comes out for the poor. This was the only reference to a specific theory. I was not, I repeat, speaking from a technical point of view but according to the Church’s social doctrine. This does not mean being a Marxist.”So with the Pope making himself clearly understood, we give him this response:
"Since the origins of modern capitalism around 1780, more than two-thirds of the world’s population has moved out of poverty. In China and India alone, more than 500 million have been raised out of poverty just in the last forty years. In almost every nation the average age of mortality has risen dramatically, causing populations to expand accordingly. Health in almost every dimension has been improved, and literacy has been carried to remote places it never reached before.Whatever the motives of individuals, the system has improved the plight of the poor as none ever has before. The contemporary left systematically refuses to face these undeniable facts."
-- Robert Novak, from the thread Economic Heresies of the Left (Novak on Caritas in Veritate)
I’ve been waiting for this statement, frankly. It appears as though the Pontiff isn’t a Marxist because he says he’s not. Okay, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that’s true.
His repetition of his comments regarding trickle-down theory show that even if he isn’t a Marxist, he sounds a lot like Charlie Rangel. Is that a good thing? To suggest that trickle-down theory results in NOTHING EVER for the poor is demonstrably false, as your cite of Novak proves.
The free market has been vastly superior in raising people from poverty than any other system that has ever been tried.
That said, I would have liked to have seen the Pope refute the notion that governments should enact specific policies designed to promote equality. I know there will be posters who will claim he didn’t say that, but what he did say was that ‘policies should be enacted’ to achieve specific social ends which he named, and who enacts policies if not governments?
There is much that is admirable in what the Pope said otherwise (and yes, my Catholic brethren, I did read it). But economically speaking, perhaps it’s better if the Pontiff would simply let well enough alone and encourage everyone to aid the poor as Christ did in John 21 — through the Church of Christ, not through government.