{"id":43327,"date":"2014-01-09T07:30:06","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T13:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=43327"},"modified":"2014-01-08T23:54:06","modified_gmt":"2014-01-09T05:54:06","slug":"popenomics-201","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/01\/popenomics-201\/","title":{"rendered":"Popenomics 201"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pope2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pope Francis’ Apolstolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium has received a lot of harsh criticism from pundits both outside and inside the church. In truth that criticism maybe a blessing. The Pope has opened up a dialogue that we have often avoided, to our detriment, for many years. Now at least the church is getting its differences out into the open and we are discussing these important economic issues in light of the gospel. By Christ there is hope this light will lead the way forward.<\/p>\n

In my last post<\/a> I started to make my contribution to the Evangelii Gaudium dialogue. But do to length constraints I was only able to begin to cover some of the moral suppositions proposed by Pope Francis. What I didn’t address very well was implementation. And lets be honest until we talk about how<\/b> we will apply these principles, we really haven’t said much at all. The point where principle meets practice is the point where a few easily countered objections become a thousand more pointed academic ones. This is the point were many Catholics find themselves \u201c…loving the Pope…\u201d while justifying economic solutions no different than Ayn Rand.<\/p>\n

In short the point where principle meets practice is the point where the real dialogue begins. I will not have time in one post to fully respond to 1000 controversies about how a moral economy can be implemented. But in the spirit of dialogue, and with prayer for holy spiritual guidance, let me share some starting points for discussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 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 na\u00efve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. EG-54\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There it is probably the most controversial paragraph in Pope Francis entire Exhortation. It has become the hardened position of many Catholic pundits that they are in fact no different from Pope Francis in their spirit of love for the poor but they have long sense rationally concluded there are better ways to implement his goal. Or put simply \u201cI agree with the Pope morally but hes wrong about the economics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ok then, lets take this quote apart. First of all let please note that Francis’ stated goal is not just \u201cgrowth\u201d it is \u201cjustice and inclusiveness\u201d. It isn’t enough to prove a purified free-market will make someone rich. The question is if individuals work to promote their own benefit alone, and if the governments work for the benefit of those already wealthy, can we know this will benefit the least of these?<\/p>\n

The next part of the statement has to do with the facts. Any real discussion of economics has to encounter some hard facts. It is a fact that 46.2 million Americans depend on <\/a><\/span>Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> . It is a fact that 17 million children (and 32 millions adults) in this country still suffer from food insecurity<\/a>. It is a fact that all the food distributed by charity in America today amounts to 6% of the food distributed by federal food programs<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>With those facts in mind how does one reason that if eliminated all government intervention a booming market and charities would suddenly fill the in the 46.2 million man gap, just needed to break even? Wouldn’t that assumption be a little… crude and na\u00efve?<\/span><\/p>\n

Here some more facts. Although poverty rates have fallen (mostly in China) in 2010 1.2 Billion people live on of less than $1.25 a day<\/a> [$456.25 a year]. In 2011 a tax subsidized AIDs cocktail cost about $200 per person per year. But before the subsidies took effect the free-market price of the cocktail could be upwards of $12000 a year.<\/a>\u00a0If there was no foreign aid could the free-market really fill this gap of 24 times the income of the extremely poor. Wouldn’t counting on<\/span>\u00a0such a boom be crude and na\u00efve?<\/span><\/p>\n

It is true poverty has dropped dramatically over the last 3 decades.\u00a0<\/span>Many pundits point to this fact in isolation as proof that the\u00a0<\/span>free-market will cure all ills. But this change has happened almost entirely in China.<\/a> First off if you think China has an economic model to be copied may I suggest you sense of justice already a little crude.\u00a0<\/span>But more importantly this just a false dichotomy. By the same logic since going from 140 degrees to 120 degrees feel “cool” the ideal temperature would be zero degrees Kelvin. \u00a0Just because Communism is unjust, that doesn’t \u00a0prove the opposite is perfectly just. That logic is crude and naive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI take for granted the different analyses which other documents of the universal magisterium have offered, as well as those proposed by the regional and national conferences of bishops. EG-51\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One common criticism of Evangelii Gaudium is the general vagueness of it. Pope Francis laid out in a very broad way some of the social ills that plague our society today. \u00a0That left a lot of people scratching their heads saying \u201cOk, so what do you want us to do<\/b> about it?\u201d In fairness,\u00a0Pope Francis stated up front that Evangelii Gaudium would not cover the subject of just economic theory in full detail. He even gave two entirely sufficient reasons for it. First Evangelii Gaudium was simply too short to cover the depth the beauty of Catholic Social Teaching. For that Pope Francis referenced the \u00a0existing documents specifically the COMPENDIUM OF THE SOCIAL DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But second and equally important Pope Francis acknowledged it is not the place of Vatican to provide a universal answer to all the regional economic issues faced everywhere in the church. This would have violated subsidiarity a core principle of Catholic Social Teaching. This isn’t to say the church provides no specific policy answers. The church in fact has and does make specific policy recommendations but it does so through\u00a0regional organizations.<\/p>\n

For Catholics in central Texas this means the Texas Conference of Catholic Bishops<\/a> and the Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops<\/a>. And I would be re-missed if I didn’t give a shout out to some\u00a0of \u00a0my favorite nuns<\/a>\u00a0for helping to propose specific policy on these issues. \u00a0If you are really interested in understanding and applying Catholic Social Teaching to our government (and \u00a0you really should be) then you first step is to educate yourself. I hope the links provided have given you a good place to start. If you are interested enough in the topic the best advice I can give you is to inquire at your parish about the justFaith<\/a> or Good News People<\/a> program. If these are not available at your parish, they are available at the diocese email me and I’ll tell you who to contact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not simply talking about ensuring nourishment or a \u201cdignified sustenance\u201d for all people, but also their \u201cgeneral temporal welfare and prosperity\u201d. This means education, access to health care, and above all employment, …EG-192\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But changing a economic system is such a huge task, you might ask, “where should we begin?” I don’t believe there is one right answer for that, but Pope Francis repeatedly gave a three part litany he seemed pretty fired up about \u201ceducation, access to health care, and above all employment\u201d. So if I may lets take a closer look at these areas.<\/p>\n

Education:<\/b> Without access to a quality education system the poor would never truly have a chance to realize their full potential. This would be a prerequisite for the just society we aspire to. To this end our bishops at the TCCB recommends<\/a>–<\/p>\n