Who knew Catholic's were such radicals. There here three interviews with christian leaders in the film. The above is the first. Couldn't find the second and third one's which quoted a MI Catholic Bishop and Priest. I did find this more "measured" Catholic response.
When there is question of defending the rights of individuals, the defenceless and the poor have a claim to special consideration. The richer class has many ways of shielding itself, and stands less in need of help from the State; whereas the mass of the poor have no resources of their own to fall back on, and must chiefly depend on the assistance of the State. It is for this reason that wage-earners, since they mostly belong to the latter class, should be specially cared for and protected by the Government.
Centesimus Annus by Pope John Paul II
4 comments:
I have thought about this many times and have come away with a different slant. I think those with the money give the working class and middle class and all other classes opportunities to get stuff via credit that they own and benefit from. From home ownership to buying new cars and underwear, the upper class owns it all and allows us to go into a kind of slavery, called debt, to get it.
Otherwise, we'd all be hermits. People want stuff. I just bought a new iPad and it will cost me over $500 when it arrives in April. I didn't need it. I have an iPad first addition and my wife uses it constantly. So I could have got along without it. But advertising makes us spend or work to pay for things we don't really need at all.
That is capitalism. A form of slavery that benefits all of us but in reality only benefits those at the top who own everything.
Abe,
this is pretty much what the Priest in the second video says. I still think it is an intriguing question. Certainly Capitalism gone wild has all the characteristics of what they describe as Sin. I think it also comes down to how you define it. Is it what most people think of as the "feee market." Or is it the wild west of excess we see in the current world of finance.
Even if you don't like Moore, I'd recommend the movie for the ideas it brings up for discussion.
The Church has been all over the place on this, primarily because it's not a matter of faith where they must speak authoritatively. When they speak of economics, they're more private citizens voicing an opinion than anything else.
"That is capitalism. A form of slavery that benefits all of us but in reality only benefits those at the top who own everything."
Wow. Is anything not slavery then? Fascism and socialism would be slavery to the State, right? I'm not sure what that leaves out.
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