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Pope Francis, who has made alleviating poverty a central pillar of his papacy, criticized the “idolatry of money” in the global economy and denounced the unfettered free market as the “new tyranny.”

“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 2 points?” Pope Francis asked in an anticipated 84-page report airing the views of the Vatican, known as the apostolic exhortation and released Tuesday.

No to an economy of exclusion

53. 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.

Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a “disposable” culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the “exploited” but the outcast, the “leftovers”.

54. In this context, 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.

D1B wrote:Yeah, this is great, but the church is thoroughly conk in its actions. They support conservative politicians who value Ayn Rand vs Jesus Christ and spend millions lobbying government on these same conk's social issues like gay marriage and abortion. The Catholic Church was criminally silent on ACA because it could hurt their health care empire and profits.

This is yet another example of the church loudly proclaiming noble ideals but secretly undermining them in their vigorous pursuit of profits and power. They're no different than the Koch brothers, Blackstone or Goldman Sachs.

D1B wrote:Yeah, this is great, but the church is thoroughly conk in its actions. They support conservative politicians who value Ayn Rand vs Jesus Christ and spend millions lobbying government on these same conk's social issues like gay marriage and abortion. The Catholic Church was criminally silent on ACA because it could hurt their health care empire and profits.

This is yet another example of the church loudly proclaiming noble ideals but secretly undermining them in their vigorous pursuit of profits and power. They're no different than the Koch brothers, Blackstone or Goldman Sachs.

kalm wrote:

D1B wrote:Yeah, this is great, but the church is thoroughly conk in its actions. They support conservative politicians who value Ayn Rand vs Jesus Christ and spend millions lobbying government on these same conk's social issues like gay marriage and abortion. The Catholic Church was criminally silent on ACA because it could hurt their health care empire and profits.

This is yet another example of the church loudly proclaiming noble ideals but secretly undermining them in their vigorous pursuit of profits and power. They're no different than the Koch brothers, Blackstone or Goldman Sachs.

Paul Ryan being the shining example of this. But isn't it more of an american phenomenon?

Baldy wrote:

D1B wrote:Yeah, this is great, but the church is thoroughly conk in its actions. They support conservative politicians who value Ayn Rand vs Jesus Christ and spend millions lobbying government on these same conk's social issues like gay marriage and abortion. The Catholic Church was criminally silent on ACA because it could hurt their health care empire and profits.

This is yet another example of the church loudly proclaiming noble ideals but secretly undermining them in their vigorous pursuit of profits and power. They're no different than the Koch brothers, Blackstone or Goldman Sachs.

Though Goldman Sachs is dyed in the wool Donk...as is Google, Microsoft, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon, Comcast, Viacom, etc, etc, etc......

D1B wrote:

Baldy wrote: Though Goldman Sachs is dyed in the wool Donk...as is Google, Microsoft, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon, Comcast, Viacom, etc, etc, etc......

Who cares? The church is donk, right? My point is, ultimately, based on their ACTIONS, they're thoroughly dyed in the wool conk.

Baldy wrote:

D1B wrote:
Who cares? The church is donk, right? My point is, ultimately, based on their ACTIONS, they're thoroughly dyed in the wool conk.

Sounds like you're beginning to learn a lesson about your Donk friends...

D1B wrote:

Baldy wrote: Sounds like you're beginning to learn a lesson about your Donk friends...

They're conks. Dyed in the wool-conks.

Baldy wrote:

D1B wrote:Yeah, this is great, but the church is thoroughly conk in its actions. They support conservative politicians who value Ayn Rand vs Jesus Christ and spend millions lobbying government on these same conk's social issues like gay marriage and abortion. The Catholic Church was criminally silent on ACA because it could hurt their health care empire and profits.

This is yet another example of the church loudly proclaiming noble ideals but secretly undermining them in their vigorous pursuit of profits and power. They're no different than the Koch brothers, Blackstone or Goldman Sachs.

Though Goldman Sachs is dyed in the wool Donk...

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary ... d000000085" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Goldman Sachs Top Recipients
Total From Indivs From Orgs
Republican National Cmte $1,182,160 $1,182,160
Romney, Mitt $1,041,454 $1,041,454
Restore Our Future $885,000 $885,000
National Republican Senatorial Cmte $812,500 $782,500 $30,000
DNC Services Corp $549,614 $549,614
National Republican Congressional Cmte $523,650 $493,650 $30,000
Obama, Barack $210,285 $210,285
League of Conservation Voters $125,000 $125,000
Brown, Scott $105,050 $98,050 $7,000
Gillibrand, Kirsten $89,700 $79,700 $10,000

Baldy wrote:

D1B wrote:
They're conks. Dyed in the wool-conks.

Sure, that's why they are idolized by you so-called Donk "progressives".

D1B wrote:Who cares? The church is donk, right?

89Hen wrote:

D1B wrote:Who cares? The church is donk, right?

The members of the Catholic Church are pretty much 50/50. You know that.

kalm wrote:

89Hen wrote: The members of the Catholic Church are pretty much 50/50. You know that.

And today's American donks are about 50-50 conk.

JoltinJoe wrote:

I am really pleased that these ideas, long brewing in the hearts of the faithful, have percolated to the top.

D1B wrote:

JoltinJoe wrote:

I am really pleased that these ideas, long brewing in the hearts of the faithful, have percolated to the top.

Agree with much of what you say, except this. "long brewing" my ass. The "Faithful" have been exactly that, faithful, to the wims of a morally corrupt cabal of gay men hell bent on protecting an opulent lifestyle. The catholic faithful are exactly what your leaders wanted you to be - clueless.

And "percolate to the top"!? Your previous pope, a tyrant of a criminal just like The Pedophile's Pope - JPII, resigned in disgrace because he failed to address the fact that your bishops, cardinals, priests, deacons, nuns and lay workers pretty much ran a child rape and abuse racket on a global scale. The gay cabal reluctantly chose Francis, because they HAD TO - he was the cleanest and most distant, not because any sense of right or wrong or justice "percolated to the top." You got to be kidding me, Joe.

JohnStOnge wrote:What an idiotic set of statements. You know, I've got two brothers who are both devout Catholics and I'd already told both of them that this guy is whacked.

kalm wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:What an idiotic set of statements. You know, I've got two brothers who are both devout Catholics and I'd already told both of them that this guy is whacked.

Do you think Jesus was whacked?

kalm wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:What an idiotic set of statements. You know, I've got two brothers who are both devout Catholics and I'd already told both of them that this guy is whacked.

Do you think Jesus was whacked?

JohnStOnge wrote:Here is the bottom line on the Jesus character in the Bible:

The Jesus character in the Bible wasn't about telling people to worry about the prevalent economic system and how that impacted the poor. He was about saying if YOU want to enter my Father's Kingdom YOU take care of the poor. YOU personally. He wasn't about telling people to worry about whether or not the rich guy down the street did stuff to help the poor. He wasn't about saying there was some problem with the economic system. He wasn't about saying there was some kind of big pile of wealth out there that you had to make sure was distributed equitably.

He was about what YOU personally do.