Pope Francis calls out 'greedy' bankers: 'Stop getting rich on financial speculation!'

Russia Today ^ | June 17, 2014

[Gamecock]

Did Jesus tell Matther what to colect?

[Graybeard58]

Where’s the, “the Pope was misinterpreted” crowd?

[Longbow1969]

This pope is a leftist and an economic idiot.

Is this really the best the Catholic church could do? Such a pity that this is the person who is supposed to be the Vicar of Christ.

[Salvation]

**colect?**

New word?

[Salvation]

**Once again, Jesus is talking to the individual**

Absolutely. Who works at these financial institutions?

Individuals!

Thanks for making my point.

[Longbow1969]

Where’s the, “the Pope was misinterpreted” crowd?

His endless attacks on the free market have been so frequent and so clearly stated that the "Pope Francis defense brigade" has even had to shut up and accept that their guy is a far leftist on economic policy. It was entirely predictable considering he is a South American Jesuit from a country (Argentina) whose church supported government social welfare spending has put that nation in default several times already.

[SoConPubbie]

Sadly, you have been blinded by your desire to keep from taking an objective and critical look at what your Pope is saying.

This is what he said:

This Pope called for an end to this “scandal” and said that finance institutions should serve the interests of all mankind, and not just wealthy and privileged individuals.

No where in that statement can it be inferred that your pope was speaking to the individual.

He directly stated it was the financial institution, and hence, by inference, he means government institutions as well.

He has crossed the line from the approach Jesus would take, speaking to the individual alone, and trying to get the individual to make a choice, into the Marxist zone where a financial institution, including Government Institution, will now use force to force people to comply with whatever version of "fairness" the pope dreams up.

[SoConPubbie]

Absolutely. Who works at these financial institutions?

Individuals!

Thanks for making my point.

Sadly, you have been blinded by your desire to keep from taking an objective and critical look at what your Pope is saying.

This is what he said:

This Pope called for an end to this “scandal” and said that finance institutions should serve the interests of all mankind, and not just wealthy and privileged individuals.

No where in that statement can it be inferred that your pope was speaking to the individual.

He directly stated it was the financial institution, and hence, by inference, he means government institutions as well.

He has crossed the line from the approach Jesus would take, speaking to the individual alone, and trying to get the individual to make a choice, into the Marxist zone where a financial institution, including Government Institution, will now use force to force people to comply with whatever version of "fairness" the pope dreams up.

[Pajamajan]

"Do not confuse Karl Marx for Jesus of Nazareth. "

Good tag line material there.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Most of them don't. I know this from personal acquaintance.

"The man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it." --Ayn Rand

[Vendome]

Let them eat cake...

Come on Pope.

The world is better off now than just 20 years ago, because of greedy people.

There are less people starving or living in squalid conditions because of greed.

More people are moving into the middle class because of greed.

Greed, for lack of a better word, is good...

[Armando Guerra]

I am a true believer in free markets and was an economics major in college. I cannot say whether I agree with the Pope because many of these "the Pope says..." articles deliberately twist and take his statements out of context. If he is against futures markets in general, I do not agree with him and think he is wrong on the subject and does not understand how they actually help keep prices down and stable. I will reserve judgment until I read his words and not just someone's interpretation.

However, while I studied economics many years ago I no longer comprehend some markets. When I see the Debt Clock showing the credit derivatives default swap market at $730 TRILLION I start to think something is not right and the relation to real economic activity and some of these markets are just not there. (If someone could please explain the relation, I would appreciate being able to understand).

I read "The Great American Bubble Machine" regarding Goldman Sachs and believe that there is a difference between free markets and the manipulated, not-so-free markets we have. If the Pope's intent was to point out the greed of financial market manipulators (usually the "too big to fail" bankers with the revolving door between Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue), then I would agree with him. If that was not his point then I don't agree with him. But, just saying that there are those in the financial markets who are in need of ethics does not make you a Marxist.

[righttackle44]

This is right up there with the Roman Catholic Church funding, hiding, and sneaking Nazi war criminals out of Europe.

[dadfly]

if he had talked about derivatives, subsidies and cheats, he would have been on solid ground. too bad he didn’t.

[CommerceComet]

If indeed someone has fallen into the error of presuming to affirm pertinaciously that the practice of usury is not sinful, we decree that he is to be punished as a heretic."

Were there no editors back then? Reminds me of Groucho Marx: "I cannot say that I do not disagree with you."

[Jeff Chandler]

The verses are about greed and storing up wealth. They don’t address comparative economic systems, which Pope Francis does.

Pope Francis is proposing a type of financial system which has only brought death and misery to the world.

A centrally controlled system will not alleviate hungry nor prevent greed. It will only crush the human spirit under the boots of the elite.

A recent example of the folly of Pope Francis’s misunderstanding is the mercurial rise in the price of corn which caused great hardship throughout the poor nations of the world. That was the direct result of the government elites interfering in the market—for our own good!—and mandating the inclusion of methanol in motor fuel.

It is easy to defame the people who have produced the unbelievable wealth and prosperity the world has experienced in the past century on the grounds that they did so for their own financial gain, but until you come up with a system that comes close to the success of capitalism, uncharitable calumny only exposes economic ignorance.

An analogy would be to criticize the inefficiencies of local ambulance services, and suggest that all dispatching of paramedics around the world be directed in Brussels.

[newfreep]

When will he call out leftism (under its various brand names) that was responsible for > 200 million deaths in the 20th century?

[Ann Archy]

Being a servant to the flock IS a REAL JOB!!! What are you, a HEATHEN??

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I meant out in the working world for a while. People who never had one have weird ideas about money and how easy it is to come by.

Feel free to get all huffy and self-righteous, though. You seem to be very practiced at it.

[Ann Archy]

You repeat yourself...over and over......sorry for you.