Post by webrunner on Jul 8, 2009 19:08:54 GMT -7
I was listening to a radio talk show and the host was talking about the Pope calling for wealth redistribution and other similar ideas. I got on-line to see what the host was referring to. It come's from an "encyclical" recently signed by the Pope. I haven't read the whole thing yet but here's the portion on "Economic Develoment".
Fraternity, economic Development and civil society
Reality shows that “the conviction that the economy must be autonomous, that it must be shielded from “influences” of a moral character, has led man to abuse the economic process in a thoroughly destructive way. In the long term, these convictions have led to economic, social and political systems that trample upon personal and social freedom, and are therefore unable to deliver the justice that they promise” (n. 34). Instead development, “if it is to be authentically human, needs to make room for the principle of gratuitousness as an expression of fraternity”. This is also true for the market place, “if the market is governed solely by the principle of the equivalence in value of exchanged goods, it cannot produce the social cohesion that it requires in order to function well” (n. 35). The “market logic”, Thus, “needs to be directed towards the pursuit of the common good, for which the political community in particular must also take responsibility. Therefore, it must be borne in mind that grave imbalances are produced when economic action, conceived merely as an engine for wealth creation, is detached from political action, conceived as a means for pursuing justice through redistribution.” (n. 36). The principle of gratuitousness and the logic of gift as an expression of fraternity “can and must find their place within normal economic activity” (n. 36).
www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=15716&size=A
Fraternity, economic Development and civil society
Reality shows that “the conviction that the economy must be autonomous, that it must be shielded from “influences” of a moral character, has led man to abuse the economic process in a thoroughly destructive way. In the long term, these convictions have led to economic, social and political systems that trample upon personal and social freedom, and are therefore unable to deliver the justice that they promise” (n. 34). Instead development, “if it is to be authentically human, needs to make room for the principle of gratuitousness as an expression of fraternity”. This is also true for the market place, “if the market is governed solely by the principle of the equivalence in value of exchanged goods, it cannot produce the social cohesion that it requires in order to function well” (n. 35). The “market logic”, Thus, “needs to be directed towards the pursuit of the common good, for which the political community in particular must also take responsibility. Therefore, it must be borne in mind that grave imbalances are produced when economic action, conceived merely as an engine for wealth creation, is detached from political action, conceived as a means for pursuing justice through redistribution.” (n. 36). The principle of gratuitousness and the logic of gift as an expression of fraternity “can and must find their place within normal economic activity” (n. 36).
www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=15716&size=A