Comments on: Poponomics: God Cribbing from Lenin?

By: Clark

Clark — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:41:46 +0000

Steve, how in the world would altruism be in any way related to socialism? There is nothing in it whatsoever about sharing control/ownership of capital or the means of production, nothing about increasing government control of anything, and nothing even approaching totalitarianism. Period.

By: Steve H.

Steve H. — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:03:04 +0000

It’s good to have the source in front of me. Troubling nuggets:
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“The processes of globalization, suitably understood and directed, open up the unprecedented possibility of large-scale redistribution of wealth on a world-wide scale; if badly directed, however, they can lead to an increase in poverty and inequality, and could even trigger a global crisis. It is necessary to correct the malfunctions, some of them serious, that cause new divisions between peoples and within peoples, and also to ensure that the redistribution of wealth does not come about through the redistribution or increase of poverty: a real danger if the present situation were to be badly managed
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Sounds a lot like, “Marxism didn’t work because the wrong people were in charge,” doesn’t it?
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More bad news:
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“The technologically advanced societies can and must lower their domestic energy consumption, either through an evolution in manufacturing methods or through greater ecological sensitivity among their citizens. It should be added that at present it is possible to achieve improved energy efficiency while at the same time encouraging research into alternative forms of energy. What is also needed, though, is a worldwide redistribution of energy resources, so that countries lacking those resources can have access to them. The fate of those countries cannot be left in the hands of whoever is first to claim the spoils, or whoever is able to prevail over the rest.”
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Who oversees this redistribution? Any power that can do this is effectively a one-world government. It will be able to issue commands no nation can resist. Call it what you wish.
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Uh oh:
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“In order not to produce a dangerous universal power of a tyrannical nature, the governance of globalization must be marked by subsidiarity, articulated into several layers and involving different levels that can work together. Globalization certainly requires authority, insofar as it poses the problem of a global common good that needs to be pursued. This authority, however, must be organized in a subsidiary and stratified way[138], if it is not to infringe upon freedom and if it is to yield effective results in practice.”
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That sure looks like central authority.
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Oh, boy. He wants labor unions to export their doctrine:
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“The global context in which work takes place also demands that national labour unions, which tend to limit themselves to defending the interests of their registered members, should turn their attention to those outside their membership, and in particular to workers in developing countries where social rights are often violated. The protection of these workers, partly achieved through appropriate initiatives aimed at their countries of origin, will enable trade unions to demonstrate the authentic ethical and cultural motivations that made it possible for them, in a different social and labour context, to play a decisive role in development.”
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Are you sure you read this thing? It’s basically a fairy tale that offers no concrete or discrete instructions. “We should all be better and stop having faults and make the world really good” sums it up. Here’s the bit about creating a central financial authority, which is tantamount to a central government:
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“In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth.”
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Here’s your smoking gun:
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“To manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority, as my predecessor Blessed John XXIII indicated some years ago.”
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If anything, the article was too mild.

By: Arcs

Arcs — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:50:46 +0000

Steve, until you read the encyclical, avail yourself of this one fact: whoever penned the email you received saying that the Church is calling for a one-world government did not read the encyclical either.

Or couldn’t understand the 8th grade level words, more likely.

By: km

km — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:18:18 +0000

Steve H. – Doctors are famous for this error of imagined omniscience. When I (briefly) worked at a firm that did stocker broker malpractice defense work, I was stunned at how totally dumb – yet utterly arrogant – so many doctors were (they were the ones often suing the brokers).

By: Steve H.

Steve H. — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:41:13 +0000

People tend to think that a person who is good at one thing is good at everything. This is why Albert Einstein’s backward and simplistic ideas about politics get respect.

By: Virgil

Virgil — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:05:51 +0000

Imagine in a few years Bill or sHrillary running the UN and using the current or a future pope to commandeer the Catholic Church and make it the “official” world religion…all the while explaining the consfication of our time and money in the name of divine charity services.

By: J.M. Heinrichs

J.M. Heinrichs — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:10:24 +0000

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html

And, as an encyclical, I don’t think papal infallibility is being invoked.

Cheers

By: gerry from valpo

gerry from valpo — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:19:47 +0000

Submit all you wish and don’t forget the pedophiles priests.
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I did not leave the church the church left me.

By: Ed Bonderenka

Ed Bonderenka — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:31:50 +0000

Gayle, click “permalink” on the post. This will show you a web page consisting of only that post. Copy the address of that page, heck here it is: http://toolsofrenewal.com/?p=4181 and reference it from your Facebook page.

By: Steve_in_CA

Steve_in_CA — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:25:43 +0000

Gerry, I submit Father Michael Pfleger as a priest who is politically active in Socialist matters. I also seem to recall quite a few Catholic Piests in Central America 20 years ago who were also very political with a socialist bent. Political activism and Catholic (as well as all other) clergy have been close partners since the time of Constantine.