Search This Blog

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Sounds like the Pope could use a few Econ classes....

The Pope today denounced both Marxism and Capitalism......

?

“I do not mean that nonbelievers cannot live a lofty and exemplary morality; I am only saying that a society in which God is absent will not find the necessary consensus on moral values or the strength to live according to the model of these values.”

Ok, so in my view the Pope doesn't seem to be denouncing either, but rather stating that God should be more prevelant in today's economic and political systems. This to me is actually a much different controversial statement in which the Pope seems to be saying that separation of Church and State is not a good idea to say the least.

His statement strikes me as utopian - he seems to imply that society would be better off if everyone believed in God (presumably the Catholic One) and that then everyone would have the same morals and beliefs and things would run smoother.

That is simply naive.

I know Catholics who have a wide range of belief systems - yet they all believe in the basic idea of God. Some support abortion, some don't. Some support gay marriage, some don't.... So frankly I fail to see how a political economic system where God is at the forefront would change anything other than perhaps by turning our society into an indoctrinated group of individuals ruled by one extremely large special interest group.

I think both Marx and Adam Smith would be appalled at such an idea.

One note about this post: I'm not trying to pull a Sinead O'Conner here. But please keep in mind the Pope is just a man - weather you believe he is influenced by the hand of God or not, and his opinions should be subject to scrutiny just like the rest of us.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Screw "God" --- 30,000+ children die of starvation every day on this planet, but you think some loving being has a hand in the universes workings? If there is a being in charge, its an evil being.

Get over it. Help each other create a great world here and now, its the only thing you can be certain of!

Unknown said...

i think this is the classic externality problem...people working in their own self interests are imposing a cost on people who are neither a buyer or a seller...thus, if people behaved in a manner that is consistent with "love" less people would be hurt...i think that's what the church is trying to do whether there's a God or not...flad