Posted on 12/31/2013 3:35:00 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
On progressive news sites, Pope Francis is all the rage. Not only has he taken on the bishops, now he is taking on the ruling elites of the world. In his first major statement to the world, his “Evangelii Gaudium” (The Joy of the Gospel), the Pope addresses issues of trickle-down economics, runaway inequality, and the idolatry of money. His statements pull no punches. He says that for the rich not to share their wealth with the poor is nothing less than theft. The entire document is devoted to an effort to reverse the horrors brought on the world by unrestrained capitalism. The one concern one might have with his statement is that he does not mention the sexual abuses of his own priests. But, let us not quibble. What he does is valuable enough that we can leave for another day the retribution that the bishops and priests so richly deserve.
I will leave it to the interested reader to pursue a closer examination of the Pope’s statement. My purpose is to follow up on articles I have written previously about the revolution in progress. The Pope is perhaps the most prominent of those who speak our language. Here is my take on how his words dovetail with our wishes for the revolution.
The Pope speaks to the wealthy of the world, admonishing them for their callousness and greed. But, at no point in history have the powerful readily given up their loot. In the past there has been much blood shed as the rich used every means at their disposal to protect themselves and their stolen goods. We are hopeful for a bloodless revolution. Very few people are willing to rush to the barricades with handguns to face the well-trained armies, the modern weaponry and the brutal, soulless mercenaries and militias that the wealthy will be able to marshall to protect them. This revolution must be different. It is not to be fought, but to be persuaded among those who have lost much and stand to lose a great deal more.
The problem that the revolution faces is that too many people have bought into the adulation of the rich and their riches. Even as the former marginal citizens have been left homeless and destitute, even as the former middle class citizens are now poor and working menial jobs for less than a living wage, even now the newly bottom rung rich are plotting how they can protect their gains by fawning over the next levels up. In the meantime, the super rich have morphed into cretins who believe that their riches are self-justifying. That is, the very fact that they are so rich means that they are super beings who have no need to acknowledge the existence of mere mortals. Those rich people who feel secure, like Bill Cosby, are filling the airwaves with their counsel for the poor to “clean themselves up, get an education, get a job and stop depending on handouts.” They ignore the abundant evidence that the college graduates who did all of those things are living with their parents or crashing with friends because the rich people are hoarding their loot in offshore accounts, hiring mercenaries and forming militias to protect their riches and defend themselves against the inevitable.
For the revolution to be bloodless, it has to build in the minds of those who are no longer mesmerized by the glitter of fool’s gold. The tragedy of broken lives and the carnage wrought by unfettered capitalism are open for all to see. The greatest tragedy is that US citizens no longer trust each other. In my lifetime, I have seen a society in which a gentleman’s word was as good as a contract. I have lived in a world in which loyalty, honesty and integrity were not just words, but visible characteristics of real people. As the US has grown to be the richest and most powerful country in the world, the seeds of its destruction were being sown in the slick deals of small time charlatans, in the small print of contract lies, in the get rich quick schemes of the real estate agents, and among the technological whiz kids and the mega-church preachers selling the gospel of greed while pounding bibles of gold. As a result of these culturally condoned practices, people began to realize that the trusting ones were victimized at will by criminals who laughed all the way to the bank. Most of all, this country has been sold by greedy politicians who openly sell their votes to the highest bidder. The politicians will tell any lie and authorize any criminal action as long as their despicable supporters help them to retain their cushy jobs at taxpayers’ expense. The highest bidders have bought a functioning democracy and transformed it into a cesspool of oligarchy. We have, as a nation, sold the land of the free and the home of the brave into penury and despair for less than the price of a lottery ticket.
The path we have been on as a nation has been a smoothly paved road. Concrete now covers the spaces where people used to congregate; the town halls, the open air markets, the village dance halls. They were the places where neighbors could discuss with each other how they were fairing in the society for which all were responsible. As the nation grew richer, the slick ones began to devise schemes to bilk their neighbors and move on to the real action. People, once neighbors, became strangers, enclosed in brand spanking new houses, in sterile subdivisions and all afraid of other strangers…who are now their so-called neighbors. Now, the concrete builds super highways leading to massive malls with acres of parking spaces where the only discourse is based on buying and selling. Most contact among people is now in cyberspace using technology only the marginally successful can afford. The people who have the most opportunity to interact with others are the homeless, the desperately poor and the few remaining caregivers who have retained perhaps the last vestiges of humanity. It is the caregivers, the most admirable of human beings, who willingly sacrifice their own chance at comfort to relieve the suffering of the victims of a society gone mad.
This world we have built cannot last. The only chance for a peaceful revolution has begun. It has to have begun because if it has not, the world will not be able to contain the fury that a violent revolution will unleash. A peaceful revolution depends on understanding what is happening right now. Capitalism, consumerism and the adulation of the rich and powerful have produced the world that we see. Undoubtedly there are rich people who have retained their humanity and their integrity. But, all too often for a peaceful world, unrestrained riches only leads to unrestrained inhumanity. The richest, most powerful country in the world has shown abundantly where such riches and power can lead. The horrors inflicted on the world’s people, including Americans, by this country’s rulers and their alliances with the ruling elites of the world must end. It is time for a peaceful revolution of knowledge, understanding and mutual support to bring us back from the brink of disaster.
Long live Pope Francis! Peace be with you, my good brother.
She actually said that Russia could be seen from Alaska. And she later provided proof that it could.
According to Sarah Palin, you really can see Russia from Alaska. Just maybe not from her house, as Tina Fey joked on Saturday Night Live in 2008.
On Sunday, Palin wrote a Facebook note titled “Alaska’s Position on the Globe (Yes, You Can See Russia!)” that stressed her endorsement of Republican Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller.
Palin, a possible 2012 presidential candidate, wrote that at a Miller rally last week, she said that change was needed in Washington so Alaska could “finally develop our natural resources to help secure the union.”
She wrote that she included a “riff” on the fact people can see Russia from Alaska. She said Alaskans have sent her numerous pictures that prove Russia can be seen from Alaska and that “put to rest the lamestream media’s mocking of that point.”...”
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/11/01/sarah-palin-you-really-can-see-russia-from-alaska/
The basis for the line was Governor Palin’s 11 September 2008 appearance on ABC News, her first major interview after being tapped as the vice-presidential nominee.
During that appearance, interviewer Charles Gibson asked her what insight she had gained from living so close to Russia, and she responded:
“They’re our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska”
I can’t remember having these problems with previous Popes.
Perhaps Francis talks too much.
It kind of seems like too many people think that taking care of the poor is not their job personally, but the job of governments. That is the easy way out. It requires nothing.
But God knows.
I’m sure the left is making the most of it, likely stretching the truth a bit along the way. But he apparently did knock Capitalism as basically being unfair and unjust. In any case, someone more knowledgeable on the subject Than I analyzes this and other statements of his at the link below.
“In this context, some people continue to defend trickle down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system”—Pope Francis
does this mean I can get part of the govt workers pension?....I mean they can “share” can’t they?
Mandating ME to pay for THEE may please some folks (including the pope) but it is anti capitalist and anti freedom. IF I chose to help others the reasons I do so should be of no interest to anyone else. Good works is not my salvation and never will be.
Really?
You are right. Many think if they vote others paychecks to pay for those that won’t contribute, they have done their job as a good person. They do please themselves that way. But, it is only for personal pleasure.
Greed comes in all economic levels. God knows that.
It’s a “traditionally black newspaper” I believe.
You might consider that any system where 1% win and 99% lose could use some suggestions for improvement in a voting democracy.
“I don’t like it. No sir, I don’t like it at all!”
blather…. this is the rich are getting rich routine. In the US (the closest thing to a place where there at least partially free markets… and I am excluding SIngapore since it is a small occurrence) I am free to put myself out there and work as hard as I want to accomplish whatever I want. The US is NOT a place where 1% ‘win’ and 99% ‘lose’. Those countries are dictatorships where they only winners are those in power
oh and I might add certain churches
That you would pollute this board with it makes you look like a jackass.
" Politics More: Inequality Taxes 95% Of Income Gains Since 2009 Went To The Top 1% — Here's What That Really Means Josh Barro Sep. 12, 2013, 1:20 PM 13,006 45 This month, Berkeley economics professor Emmanuel Saez put out an update to his estimates of income inequality, and the headline figure has everybody outraged: 95% of income gains since 2009 have accrued to the top 1%.
And that would be wrong but keep quoting the Berkeley economics commies every chance you get
And when that gets boring for you answer the phone because Alex Jones is calling
"In America, nearly 1 in 4 children go to bed hungry every night," her letter continued. "Due to neglect, our neighborhoods are crumbling and millions of individuals who are homeless seek but do not find shelter each day.
"In the U.S. Congress, the CBC continues to be a voice for the voiceless, and your compelling calls for economic and social justice reflect our own. You are prompting the world to see that if we do not act with urgency, we will all endure the consequences of an indelibly fractured world. We stand with you in your appeal against complacency, and we admire your courage in working to make sure the Catholic Church is deeply engaged in the most pressing issues of our time." In an interview, Fudge said she sent the letter because she believes it's important for the Pope to know "there are a lot of people who agree with and support what he's doing," as he continues to make his mark
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