Saturday, January 12, 2013

The Pope! A Democrat After All?

Sorry for the gap in entries.  I have been on the road a bit and also puzzled as how to post pictures on the blog because the posting mechanism has been changed.  I have a huge archive of photos—both my own and others’—and can’t seem to post from that archive any longer.  I am sure I will figure out a strategy but until then will have to depend on photos already used or available through the web. 
But as for content: In his New Year Day’s speech Pope Benedict deplored the increasing gap between rich and poor in our world.  He was speaking not only of rich nations and poor nations but also rich and poor within societies in the developed world.  This is a very pertinent issue considering the arguing about fiscal reforms in the United States and in particular about varying tax rates for rich and the middle class.  I can see the growing divide in the American economy as the middle class slowly slides downwards into (relative) poverty. 
The Holy Father deplored: "the increasing differences between those few who grow ever richer and the many who grow hopelessly poorer." The financial crisis took root, he said, "because profit was all too often made absolute, to the detriment of labor, and because of unrestrained ventures in the financial areas of the economy, rather than attending to the real economy." He urged people to resist the temptations for "short-term interests" at the expense of the common good.  Are you listening, Paul Ryan?  And you bishops who supported Ryan?  Damn! Who would have thought Benedict was a Democrat!

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