His ideas and comments are certainly worthy of intelligent examination and discussion.
"In our time humanity is
experiencing a turning-point in its history, as we can see from the advances
being made in so many fields. We can only praise the steps being taken to
improve people’s welfare in areas such as health care, education and communications.
At the same time we have to remember that the majority of our contemporaries
are barely living from day to day, with dire consequences. A number of diseases
are spreading. The hearts of many people are gripped by fear and desperation,
even in the so-called rich countries. The joy of living frequently fades, lack
of respect for others and violence are on the rise, and inequality is
increasingly evident. It is a struggle to live and, often, to live with
precious little dignity. This epochal change has been set in motion by the
enormous qualitative, quantitative, rapid and cumulative advances occuring in
the sciences and in technology, and by their instant application in different
areas of nature and of life. We are in an age of knowledge and information, which
has led to new and often anonymous kinds of power.
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
“throw away” 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”.
"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. In the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity
seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.
One cause of this situation is
found in our relationship with money, since we calmly accept its dominion over
ourselves and our societies. The current financial crisis can make us overlook
the fact that it originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the
primacy of the human person! We have created new idols. The worship of the
ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35) 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; man is reduced to one of his needs alone:
consumption.
"While the earnings of a minority
are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the
prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies
which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial
speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with
vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny
is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly
imposes its own laws and rules. Debt and the accumulation of interest also make
it difficult for countries to realize the potential of their own economies and
keep citizens from enjoying their real purchasing power. To all this we can add
widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, which have taken on
worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits. In
this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased
profits, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the
interests of a deified market, which become the only rule.
Behind this attitude lurks a
rejection of ethics and a rejection of God. Ethics has come to be viewed with a
certain scornful derision. It is seen as counterproductive, too human, because
it makes money and power relative. It is felt to be a threat, since it condemns
the manipulation and debasement of the person. In effect, ethics leads to a God
who calls for a committed response which is outside the categories of the
marketplace. When these latter are absolutized, God can only be seen as
uncontrollable, unmanageable, even dangerous, since he calls human beings to
their full realization and to freedom from all forms of enslavement. Ethics – a
non-ideological ethics – would make it possible to bring about balance and a
more humane social order. With this in mind, I encourage financial experts and
political leaders to ponder the words of one of the sages of antiquity: “Not to
share one’s wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their
livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs.'
"A financial reform open to such
ethical considerations would require a vigorous change of approach on the part
of political leaders. I urge them to face this challenge with determination and
an eye to the future, while not ignoring, of course, the specifics of each
case. Money must serve, not rule! The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike,
but he is obliged in the name of Christ to remind all that the rich must help,
respect and promote the poor. I exhort you to generous solidarity and to the
return of economics and finance to an ethical approach which favours human
beings.
Today in many places we hear a
call for greater security. But until exclusion and inequality in society and
between peoples are reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence. The
poor and the poorer peoples are accused of violence, yet without equal opportunities
the different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for
growth and eventually explode. 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. Just as goodness tends
to spread, the toleration of evil, which is injustice, tends to expand its
baneful influence and quietly to undermine any political and social system, no
matter how solid it may appear. If every action has its consequences, an evil
embedded in the structures of a society has a constant potential for
disintegration and death. It is evil crystallized in unjust social structures,
which cannot be the basis of hope for a better future. We are far from the
so-called “end of history”, since the conditions for a sustainable and peaceful
development have not yet been adequately articulated and realized.
"Today’s economic mechanisms
promote inordinate consumption, yet it is evident that unbridled consumerism
combined with inequality proves doubly damaging to the social fabric.
Inequality eventually engenders a violence which recourse to arms cannot and
never will be able to resolve. It 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. Some simply content themselves with blaming the poor and the poorer
countries themselves for their troubles; indulging in unwarranted generalizations,
they claim that the solution is an “education” that would tranquilize them,
making them tame and harmless. All this becomes even more exasperating for the
marginalized in the light of the widespread and deeply rooted corruption found
in many countries – in their governments, businesses and institutions –
whatever the political ideology of their leaders."
