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Pope slams rampant inequality, 'Economy That Kills'
an article by Vancouver Observer
Pope Francis has issued a new document in which he
rails against growing inequality, trickle-down
economics and the current socioeconomic system that
"is unjust at its root."
image from Pope Francis on Twitter
click on photo to enlarge
Issued on Tuesday, his 224-page document, called an
apostolic exhortation, is titled The Joy of the
Gospel, and follows previous remarks the pontiff has
made against inequality.
From the document: "Just as the commandment “Thou
shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to
safeguard the value of human life, today we also
have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of
exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills.
How can it be that it is not a news item when an
elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it
is news when the stock market loses two points?
This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to
stand by when food is thrown away while people are
starving? This is a case of inequality. Today
everything comes under the laws of competition and
the survival of the fittest, where the powerful
feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses
of people find themselves excluded and
marginalized: without work, without possibilities,
without any means of escape."
Further, the Pope writes, "the socioeconomic system
is unjust at its root," and thus spawns violence.
"Until exclusion and inequality in society and
between peoples is reversed, it will be impossible
to eliminate violence," he wrote.
Security is impossible in a state with rampant
inequality, and cannot be provided through the
surveillance state or militarism, he continued:
"When a society – whether local, national or
global – is willing to leave a part of itself on
the fringes, no political programmes or resources
spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems
can indefinitely guarantee tranquility. This is
not the case simply because inequality provokes a
violent reaction from those excluded from the
system, but because the socioeconomic system is
unjust at its root. Inequality eventually
engenders a violence which recourse to arms cannot
and never will be able to resolve. This serves
only to offer false hopes to those clamouring for
heightened security, even though nowadays we know
that weapons and violence, rather than providing
solutions, create new and more serious conflicts."
As for adherents to so-called trickle-down
economics and austerity policies, he says: "...
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.
Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting. To
sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to
sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a
globalization of indifference has developed.
Almost without being aware of it, we end up being
incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of
the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and
feeling a need to help them, as though all this
were someone else’s responsibility and not our
own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are
thrilled if the market offers us something new to
purchase; and in the meantime all those lives
stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere
spectacle; they fail to move us."
While some have welcomed Pope Francis' comments
against inequality and war, he has been the target
of criticism as well, including accusations of ties
to Argentina's rightwing junta during the country's
military dictatorship.
[Note: Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter
for this article.]
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