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The Pope's attack on capitalism shows he knows nothing about how the world really works
telegraph.co.uk ^ | 6/22/2014 | Allister Heath

Posted on 06/22/2014 7:45:13 AM PDT by RoosterRedux

The Pope’s latest critique this week was equally unfounded, blaming speculators for high food prices. “The few derive immense wealth from financial speculation while the many are deeply burdened by the consequences,” he said, claiming that “speculation on food prices is a scandal which seriously compromises access to food on the part of the poorest members of our human family”.

*snip*

Those who buy and sell and seek to predict the future perform a crucial and legitimate social function; without them, the economy would lurch from over-supply to under-supply. Markets would be horrendously opaque and illiquid, with some consumers paying far more than others for identical products. When the price of food goes up, it means experts collectively feel demand will rise or supply will fall; thanks to such speculation, market prices are the best possible early warning signal. They allow farmers to plant more of the right kinds of crops, and futures markets allow them to insure themselves against price changes. Speculators who keep getting it wrong go bust.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


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1 posted on 06/22/2014 7:45:13 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

Hey Working American Catholics!

Cut all tithes with Rome.


2 posted on 06/22/2014 7:48:47 AM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (June IS "Republicans Freed the Slaves" Month.)
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To: RoosterRedux

Productive capitalism creates the wealth that makes social justice and charity possible.


3 posted on 06/22/2014 7:49:28 AM PDT by allendale
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To: allendale

THANK YOU!!!


4 posted on 06/22/2014 7:53:41 AM PDT by Argus
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To: RoosterRedux

Cue the WTPRM (What the Pope Really Meant) crowd in 3...2...1...


5 posted on 06/22/2014 7:54:20 AM PDT by ScottinVA (If it doesn't include border security, it isn't "reform." It's called "amnesty.")
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To: RoosterRedux
Cue Margaret Thatcher:

Mr. Speaker, people on all levels of income are better off than they were in 1979. The hon. Gentleman is saying that he would rather that the poor were poorer, provided that the rich were less rich. That way one will never create the wealth for better social services, as we have. What a policy. Yes, he would rather have the poor poorer, provided that the rich were less rich.

6 posted on 06/22/2014 7:57:07 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: RoosterRedux

Good post. Thanks!


7 posted on 06/22/2014 7:57:22 AM PDT by Mr Rogers (Left wing. Right wing. One buzzard.)
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To: ROCKLOBSTER

Nancy Pelosi is a pro-abortion “Catholic” who has cut all ties to Rome. Despite the Pope’s apparent ignorance on certain aspects of capitalism, someone must set the example on the more important things.


8 posted on 06/22/2014 7:57:56 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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To: RoosterRedux

I meet very few South Americans of any stripe who don’t accept the basic Marxist tenets, in some form, of class struggle, vague collectivism, statism and central planning. I see the Pope is no different, he’s probably never thought about it - so no surprises there.

Spanish history was always one of top-down rule, from kings and their viceroys to fascists, communists and their statism and central planning. This authoritative, classist system was transferred to their colonies and they have stewed in it for 500 years. Very few South or Central Americans I meet understand individual liberty, the rights of the individual and his property, and free-market capitalism. These countries’ low-information voters greatly outnumber even our own here in the USA.

Its why the American left wants to import the lowest levels of these societies into the USA as quickly as possible.


9 posted on 06/22/2014 7:59:15 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: Telepathic Intruder
who has cut all ties

Tithes, I said tithes.

10 posted on 06/22/2014 8:00:05 AM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (June IS "Republicans Freed the Slaves" Month.)
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To: RoosterRedux

A Catholic priest, bishop, or Pope....is only an expert at one thing...reading off the Bible scripture. Beyond that....they can’t tune carburetors,repair a leaking roof, lay bricks, herd cattle, run a flea market, or operate a pub. Any time they want to offer up advice on capitalism or the best time of year to plant corn, I wouldn’t waste much time with them.


11 posted on 06/22/2014 8:00:05 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: Mr Rogers
Yur welcome.

I know plenty of Protestant ministers who are just as fuzzy on business and free markets, but they don't have the same audience size.

12 posted on 06/22/2014 8:00:35 AM PDT by RoosterRedux (Obama: Race is his cover...jihad is his game.)
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To: ROCKLOBSTER

Oops :)


13 posted on 06/22/2014 8:00:55 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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To: RoosterRedux

Please give up the “my brand of Christianity is better than your brand” mantra that has become all too frequent here on FR. And don’t point fingers and claim one side started it or one side is worse than the other. You’re all equally guilty. We have bigger fish to fry right now, and quoting scripture to one another from the anonymous comfort of your keyboard is futile. This is a political site, and while religion and politics do intermingle, the religious arguments here turn it into something different.

If you want to bicker and argue over who is correct, please start your own site regrading Catholicism vs. Protestantism.


14 posted on 06/22/2014 8:01:44 AM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

And that hits directly at what liberalism — and its foundation, marxism — are all about.


15 posted on 06/22/2014 8:01:53 AM PDT by ScottinVA (If it doesn't include border security, it isn't "reform." It's called "amnesty.")
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To: goodwithagun

This article isn’t about religion. It is about the Pope and his efforts to push Marxism.


16 posted on 06/22/2014 8:04:55 AM PDT by RoosterRedux (Obama: Race is his cover...jihad is his game.)
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To: goodwithagun

Could NOT agree more. Well said “goodwithagun”.

This is the first, and only, religious discussion I have posted to but felt it important to echo your sentiment. Sometimes those who “freak out” when their beliefs are questioned and scream “tyranny” are among the first to question others’ beliefs.


17 posted on 06/22/2014 8:06:28 AM PDT by RIghtwardHo
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To: RoosterRedux

Which is intended to bash Catholics. Yes, we’re all aware of the purpose of posting this article, regardless of the article’s topic. The cooler heads prevailing are on to you.


18 posted on 06/22/2014 8:06:45 AM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: RoosterRedux
Capitalism is where the peasants are allowed to own the means of production.

There is a continuum from anarchy to capitalism to socialism to communism. Under anarchy nobody owns anything. Under capitalism people who use property to create things of value for other people own the property they use. Under communism, the state owns everything, and whether anything of any value to anyone is produced is irrelevant.

19 posted on 06/22/2014 8:08:29 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government." --Tacitus)
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To: goodwithagun
If Billy Graham or Franklin, or James Dobson were selling Marxism, I would be just as eager to get the news out there.

This is not about Catholicism. It is about the Pope's naivete when it comes to business.

And, BTW I am not anti-Catholic and I don't think the author of this article meant it as anti-Catholic.

From the article...

There can be no doubt that Pope Francis is a devoted and selfless man who has dedicated his life to serving others. A phenomenal theologian, he abhors war and poverty and is an inspiration to hundreds of millions of believers; he has gained widespread respect even among those who disagree with the Roman Catholic church’s teachings.

So it is with great sadness that I must take exception to the Pope’s views on economics and business. His hostility to capitalism, shared by the Church of England, is tragically misplaced.


20 posted on 06/22/2014 8:12:30 AM PDT by RoosterRedux (Obama: Race is his cover...jihad is his game.)
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