More On Pope Francis' Indirect Indictment of the GOP Agenda

While Pope Francis' newly released “apostolic exhortation" is not addressed specifically at the economic agenda of the Republican Party - i.e., a regulation free, unrestrained capitalism with the social safety net eliminated so that taxes can be lowered for the wealthy - the things and mindset that Francis condemns certainly encompasses the GOP agenda.  While Francis calls for selflessness and care for the unfortunate, the GOP as exemplified by the Koch brothers advances greed and disdain for the poor.  The Raw Story looks at more of Francis' exhortation which seems only too appropriate on so-called Black Friday.  Here are highlights:

Pope Francis is a pontiff who has constructively broken all the rules of popery – so far to widespread acclaim. He’s faulted the Catholic church for its negative obsession with gays and birth control, and now he has expanded his mandate to economics with a groundbreaking screed denouncing “the new idolatry of money“.

As the Pope wrote in his “apostolic exhortation“:

The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings.

His thoughts on income inequality are searing:

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.

The pope’s screed on “the economy of exclusion and inequality” will disappoint those who considers themselves free-market capitalists, but they would do well to listen to the message. Francis gives form to the emotion and injustice of post-financial-crisis outrage in a way that has been rare since Occupy Wall Street disbanded. There has been a growing chorus of financial insiders – from the late Merrill Lynch executive Herb Allison to organizations like Better Markets – it’s time for a change in how we approach capitalism. It’s not about discarding capitalism, or hating money or profit; it’s about pursuing profits ethically, and rejecting the premise that exploitation is at the center of profit. When 53% of financial executives say they can’t get ahead without some cheating, even though they want to work for ethical organizations, there’s a real problem.

Nearly all of us are likely to experience it. Inequality has been growing in the US since the 1970s. Economist Emmanuel Saez found that the incomes of the top 1% grew by 31.4% in the three years after the financial crisis, while the majority of people struggled with a disappointing economy. The other 99% of the population grew their incomes 0.4% during the same period.

As a result, federal and state spending on social welfare programs has been forced to grow to $1tn just to handle the volume of US households in trouble. Yet income inequality has been locked out of of the mainstream economic conversation, where it is seen largely as a sideshow for progressive bleeding hearts.

One-fifth of Americans, or 47 million people, are on food stamps; 50% of children born to single mothers live in poverty; and over 13 million people are out of work. Children are now not likely to do as well as their parents did as downward mobility takes hold for the first time in generations. 

The bottom line, which Pope Francis correctly identifies, is that inequality is the biggest economic issue of our time – for everyone, not just the poor. Nearly any major economic metric – unemployment, growth, consumer confidence – comes down to the fact that the vast majority of Americans are struggling in some way. You don’t have to begrudge the rich their fortunes or ask for redistribution. It’s just hard to justify ignoring the financial problems of 47 million people who don’t have enough to eat.

Into this morass of economic confusion steps Francis with clarifying force:

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.

Despite all these hard facts, I received a comment on a post that blasted the hypocrisy of the Christofascists and the GOP for their indifference to the poor.  The author who was apparently affiliated with a fundamentalist church whined that Christ never directed followers to push for government help for the poor.  While technically this might be true, Christ certainly advocated supporting political figures who sought to cast the poor aside like disposable garbage (especially if they are of a different race).  And I don't see the Koch brothers and other advocates of unfettered capitalism stepping up and giving billions to charities that serve the less fortunate.  And don't get me started on the "godly folk" who tithe to their churches so that pastors and televangelists can live the good life while others go hungry right in the towns and cities where their so-called "ministries" are based.  Locally, Pat Robertson is a prime example of such hypocrisy.  Oh, and yes, the Vatican could stand to shed much of its wealth to help the poor if Francis is honest in his statements.