authentic human development concerns the whole of the person in every single dimension. Without the perspective of eternal life, human progress in this world is denied breathing-space. Enclosed within history, it runs the risk of being reduced to the mere accumulation of wealth; humanity thus loses the courage to be at the service of higher goods, at the service of the great and disinterested initiatives called forth by universal charity.

For decades now the Catholic Church has expressed grave concern for an individualistic attitude that has permeated almost all of western civilization. This attitude can be seen quite clearly in the economic dimension of society where people, governments, organizations and private industries place greater value in productivity, profit and consumption. Corporations rate themeselves based on the profit margin, people judge themselves based on their material possessions and Governments are measured by their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The economic crisis has shown us all the shortcomings of these narrow values. A recent Financial Times article shared with us that an international panel, led by Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, is evaluating other measures of economic output that can guage human and ecological sustainability.

Financial Times Article: GDP branded a poor gauge of progress

Caritas in Veritate suggest to us that this individualist economic attitude is a perversion. It is a perversion that in this country strikes both political platforms because this attitude is endemic in our society. When the left generally advocate for abortion they advocate from the perspective of an individual’s right to privacy over the right to the potential life of another. When the right generally argue against public services and programs for the common good they do so from a perspective of individual’s economic right not to be taxed to pay for services for others. It is a falsehood to ascribe any moral superiority between one camp versus the other, because in the end both perspectives are blinded by a perverse attitude.

Pope Benedict XVI is challenging us to adopt a holistic attitude that can truly overcome these crippled political platforms. This is the attitude of an authentic human development.

The development of peoples depends, above all, on a recognition that the human race is a single family working together in true communion, not simply a group of subjects who happen to live side by side.

The Center of Concerns offered this Development Pyramid which they extracted from the encyclical.

In here you can identify the different strata of Human Development. The initial phase is purely natural survival, here the human is interested in their own individual necessity and sustenance. This grows to a more developed sense of community where the people balance off and compete with each other for basic advancements. A strong secular development occurs (outlined in black writing) where an ideology is formed that gives the people a sense of meaning within community. A generic sense of right and wrong help dictate good values and behavior rather than basic self interest. The top pier however demonstrates another level of development whereby one find a more meaningful sense of purpose based on our own relationship with God and recognition of God as the author of all creation. At this level the community that surrounds us is not given dignity and respect because it suits our own needs or because we believe in the concept of secular tolerance and democracy. Instead we begin to recognize the inherit dignity that we all share by virtue of being part of one family under one eternal Creator.

So with this in mind it becomes our objective as faithful members of the Catholic faith to pursue this authentic human development. As democratic citizens it is our obligation to participate in the political system. But as we do so we should not sacrifice any aspect of authentic human development for the idols of partisan politics. We are obliged to promote the dignity and respect of all humanity and indeed creation itself.

I would like to share one specific economic activity that the Pope suggest we should reexamine.  That is the unregulated market that is bent on a short term vision towards the unsustainable creation of wealth.

It should be remembered that the reduction of cultures to the technological dimension, even if it favours short-term profits, in the long term impedes reciprocal enrichment and the dynamics of cooperation. It is important to distinguish between short- and long- term economic or sociological considerations. Lowering the level of protection according to the rights of workers, or abandoning mechanisms of wealth redistribution in order to increase the country’s international competitiveness, hinder the achievement of lasting development. This requires further and deeper reflection on the meaning of the economy and its goal.

As I reflect on this invitation by the Pope to reevaluate the goals and purpose for the economy I am struck with great concern for our current economic situation. So far a number of economic indicators are telling us that there are signs of some financial stability. These indicators are trying to give us hope that we may be able to expect an economic upswing based on this current stability. I am understanding that much of this small economic Short-term gain may have been brought about by the massive economic stimulus that was used to pump the financial sector and certain industries with assets to help stabilize the downward trend. However it seems to me that for all the expenditure that is going on through the stimulus, nothing is really changing. Economically we seem to be moving with “business as usual.” And now we hear whispers of another economic stimulus.

Earlier in the year I personally favored the economic stimulus, in principle I still do. Based on my knowledge of the Great Depression I believe that there is a social benefit to maintaining the financial sector from falling apart. However it has also been my hope that a responsible stimulus would allow the market to purge itself of irresponsible and unsustainable market practices while stimulating new economic growth and innovation especially with regards to the energy industry and providing for a social safety net in the midst of this transition. Instead what I see happening is that the money is propping up the unsustainable market practices and focused on short-term economic growth while failing to correct the overall failures and providing for the needed social safety net. The outrageous return of Corporate bonuses and the debacle regarding the health care legislation is the latest indicator to me that nothing substantial is happening to our economy. This latest article by the Financial Times added to my fears by placing the activity of the economic stimulus within the violent cycle of financial  bubbles that are doomed to burst.  

FT.com / Comment / Opinion – America is for now still blowing bubbles.

Consolidation, as it is used by Richard Bernstein, is a gentle word to express the violent contraction of the market that is doomed to happen when these bubbles end up bursting. I believe that the comparison with what is called “the lost decade” in Japan is an analogy worth considering when we examine the current economic policy. When contractions happen the market is healing itself from unsustainable commercial activity. In paying heed to the wisdom of our Catholic social tradition I am hoping that the American People and our Government can truly reflect on our own goals for the national and global economy. Under the laws of capitalism the market will grow and contract. My own goal is not that we prop up a system that is economically and ecologically unsustainable and that we continue living with the same material and consumerist habits that has dengrated our own value system and sense of worth. Rather it is my goal that we can develop a deep sense of solidarity with the global environmental,  the economic community and to each other. And that based on this solidarity we can develop long-term policies to promote sustainable commercial activities, socially responsible mechanisms such as healtcare and cap and trade programs, and government sponsored research and innovation for competeive ecological industries.

• The market should be transparent and held to public accountability
• International laws governing trade and financial flows should be developed and enforced
• The International Financial Institutions should promote access to capital to developing nations
• Public regulations should be carefully developed so that they safeguard the public from market volatility but that they do not obstruct the flow of the market

Behind these ideas another basic premise seem to hold favor with these economist. The capitalist system should continue but it should be held to a more compassionate virtue other then self indulging profit making. One cannot of course look to the market alone to produce a virtues system since the market itself is value free. But this is where our political and social institutions come in, to nudge the market in a way that it can bring financial growth and prosperity while making sure that it does so in a way that can compassionately address the needs of all who are affected by the market.

Passionist spirituality offers us the opportunity to develop an ethic of compassion. Christ Crucified is a central image of God´s compassionate love for humanity. Like wise our spirituality calls us to integrate this universal ethic of compassion to all who continue to suffer in our world. When people suffer from human elements such as economic policies then we are called to be compassionate in a way that also addresses the issues that cause suffering. With this call to promote a compassionate model of capitalism we feel obliged to champion a perspective of what this model could look like. As we are a religious community we do not attempt to offer actual economic policies, but in this blog we would like to highlight an economist who offers some interesting insight into policies that some of us feel may bring about a compassionate form of capitalism.

Hernando De Soto is a famous Peruvian economist who promotes the cause of bringing capitalism to the poor by giving people in developing countries an actual opportunity to have access to capital (versus foreign aid and dependancy) and basic protection of rights to property as well as basic human services and needs. Below is an 8 minute program that he has done called “capitalism at the crossroads.”

For our part the U.S. administration will argue for four things:

• A robust global stimulus package that will commit all countries to financially shield the world economy from a dragged out global recession.
• Expanded regulations of financial institutions and other rules regarding the flow of capital
• A robust readjustment of the International Monetary Fund  to aid it in its mission of helping the developing world. This would triple the financial resources to the fund and offer emerging powers a stronger participation with the IMF.
• A concrete pledge against protectionism.

Certainly I will not argue the issues of global economic policies here. The onus will be on the people siting at the table in London to do this monumental task of redesigning the future of capitalism. There has already been a call to have a “group of experts” exist which can assess the efforts that may come out of this talk and I for one believe this is very appropriate since in many ways these national economies are walking through terra incognita and whatever comes out of these talks ought to be continuously evaluated and tweaked in order to adjust for unforeseen development.

My contribution with this post  is to do two things. First I would like to raise the moral position from our Catholic social tradition regarding the unsustainable global economy. Catholic social teaching has warned us against the unregulated free market time and time again as an instrument that is incapable of serving the global human community. This is because its narrow focus on quick short term profitability and the limited measurement of GDP produces an unsustainable system that does not assess long term repercussions.

But it is unfortunate that on these new conditions of society a system has been constructed which considers profit as the key motive for economic progress, competition as the supreme law of economics, and private ownership of the means of production as an absolute right that has no limits and carries no corresponding social obligation. This unchecked liberalism leads to dictatorship rightly denounced by Pius XI as producing “the international imperialism of money”. One cannot condemn such abuses too strongly by solemnly recalling once again that the economy is at the service of man. – Populorum Progression #26 (Pope Paul VI, 1967)

When the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops offered the document “Economic Justice for All” they offered an economic vision for collaborative capitalism that at the time (1986) could have help steer the American economy in a more sustainable global direction.

Completing the unfinished business of the American experiment will call for new forms of cooperation and partnership among those whose daily work is the source of the prosperity and justice of the nation. The United States prides itself on both its competitive sense of initiative and its spirit of teamwork. Today a greater spirit of partnership and teamwork is needed; competition alone will not do the job. It has too many negative consequences for family life, the economically vulnerable, and the environment. Only a renewed commitment by all to the common good can deal creatively with the realities of international interdependence and economic dislocations in the domestic economy. The virtues of good citizenship require a lively sense of participation in the commonwealth and of having obligations as well as rights within it. The nation’s economic health depends on strengthening these virtues among all its people, and on the development of institutional arrangements supportive of these virtues. #296

This vision unfortunately went undeveloped and today we are now living with the crisis that this moral vision tried to avoid.

The second purpose for this post is to offer the general public resources and a forum that could help move the community ahead in assessing and, at some level, to participate in a constructive exchange regarding this economic crisis. This is not to time to offer punitive legislation to punish those we feel are culpable for this situation. There is certainly enough blame to spread around. This is also not the time to produce unnecessary fear and promote isolationism. The solution, whatever it may be, exist with the global economy. To argue against some unqualified fear of either socialism or fascism and to prop up a retrenchment into isolated nationalism will destabilize of global society in such a way that we would be led down the same path that economic isolationist policies led to prior to World War II.

I offer the following resources for your consideration:

• The Carnegie Endowment for Peace is a good think tank monitoring the G-20 here is a link to that site.
• The Brookings Institute offers a recommendation for global policy coordination. Here is a link to that site.
• The Financial Times offers an interesting dialogue on the future of capitalism. I offer this link below for further study and engagement of this critical issue of our times. In depth coverage of The Future of Capitalism from the Financial Times.

• Your view will usually tend to a conservative approach 
• social problems are usually the fault of Democrats or Liberals
• Solutions will come from less government regulations, tax cuts and military projects (Republican ideals)

If you are an avid watcher of MSNBC on the other hand:

• Your views will usually tend to a liberal approach
• Social problems are usually the fault of Republicans or Conservatives
• Solutions will come from more government regulations, social programs, and diplomatic projects (Democratic ideals)

Overall I have longed held the belief that our American media is highly opinionated, very simple and hardly objective and thoughtful. This perspective is reinforced when people come from other western countries and are appalled by the low quality of our media (I have refrained from using some of the prominant adjectives that are used to make this point.) Nevertheless the media is an essential part of our lives. Catholic Social Teaching tells us that:

The Media must be used to build up and sustain the human community in its different sectors: economic, political, cultural, educational and religious. “The information provided by the media is at the service of the common good. Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, justice and solidarity. - Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, #415

I personally rely on the media to provide social information from which I can apply theological information and social analysis for the Passionist community and ministries. Yet at present our American media lets us down and leaves us with what I call highly opinionated shock and awe which aims at stoking our own partisan belligerence.

In my opinion CNN and the networks still fulfill their function in that at least they provide the basic headlines and information. I take all their opinions and analysis with a grain of salt however. After all many of these media corporations are beholden to their profitable pursuits and money will almost always trump the truth. The following 2001 media ownership chart is helpful in providing us a perspective of the private media family and the ultimate interest that they serve. For me this is helpful tool to help me discriminate between business interest and the actual story.   

MediaChannel.org — Media Ownership 2001.

As for the media sources that I recommend. Ironically, in my pursuit for the best news source and analysis. I have found that the two main financial newspapers to be an excellent source in giving the reader not only good detailed information but also excellent and academic analysis, especially on the economy. They are:

• Wall Street Journal: which tends towards a domestic financial focus that leans slightly conservative
• Financial Times: which tends towards an international/european financial focus that leans slightly progressive (my personal favorite.)

And finally I also recommed National Public Radio. I personally find NPR to be a very good source of information and global analysis. NPR is a champion at promoting global solidarity unlike any other media. But my other reason to champion NPR is because the issue of public media is also a Catholic Social Issue:

In the world of the media the intrinsic difficulties of communications are often exacerbated by ideology, the desire for profit and political control, rivalry and conflicts between groups and other social evils…

“In all three areas – the message, the process and structural issues – one fundamental moral principle always applies: the human person and the human community are the end and measure of the use of the media. A second principle is complementary to the first: the good of human beings cannot be attained independently of the common good of the community to which they belong.” It is necessary that citizens participate in the decision-making process concerning media policies. This participation, which is to be public, has to be genuinely representative and not skewed in favor of special interest groups when the media are a money-making venture. – Compendium of the Catholic Social Doctrine of the Church, #416

Christian leaders urge world to intervene in Gaza | Reuters.

For our part the North American Passionist JPIC Office deplores the tragic loss of life due to the escalating violence in Gaza and Southern Israel. January 8, Financial Times report offers this report:

The Israeli assult has claimed at least 700 Palestinian lives since the outbreak of hostilities, including 300 civilians, according to reports from Gaza. Israel has lost seven soldiers and four civilians, mainly to “friendly fire” incidents and to Palestinian rocket and morter attacks.

The Passionist JPIC office advocates with Churches for Middle East Peace and Catholic Relief Services to support for strong U.S. diplomatic leadership, together with international partners, to achieve an immediate, comprehensive cease-fire that:

• ends the escalating violence between Israel and Hamas;
• addresses the humanitarian situation – including an opening of the border crossings that provides relief for the people of Gaza and meets Israel’s security needsl and
• leads to concrete steps towards a two-state peace agreement – the best hope for long-term stability and security for Israel and the Palestinians.

To advocate for these same principles please go to the follwoing advocacy link by Catholic Relief Services.

Peace,

John

FT.com / UK – Israel’s self-defeating Gaza offensive.

I found this article insightful insofar as it describes in detail the spiral of violence that the current Israeli offensive is setting off. In the article the author describes the perspective that was shared to him by an educated Palestinian man who voted for Hamas:

“Because every day, the Israelis find a different way to say ‘fuck you’,” he told me. “By voting for Hamas, I’m saying ‘fuck you back’,” I laughed at the time. But – stripped of all diplomatic and strategic rationales – that seems like a good summery of the tragic and self-defeating logic that lies behind the fighting in Gaza.

The scenario that this conflict is developing into was described as the Spiral of Violence by Archbishop Helder Camara. The Spiral of Violence became the title of a book written by Archbishop Camara of Brazil in 1971. In this book, Archbishop Camara describes the attraction of violence in this way:

Now the egoism of some privileged groups drives countless human beings into this sub-human conditions, where they suffer restrictions, humiliations, injustices; without prospect, without hope, their condition is that of slaves.

This established violence, this violence No. 1, attracts violence No 2, revolt, either of the oppressed themselves or of youth, firmly resolved to battle for a more just and human world.

Scripture is a testament to an alternative logic. In the letter to the Romans Paul discusses this alternative wisdom to the early Christian community of Rome who is struggling with the established violence of the Roman Empire:

Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. – Romans 12: 17-21

In direct observance of this Gospel call to “live peaceably with all,” the Passionist JPIC Office of North America is working with Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) to urge the U.S. Congress to support a ceasefire. Please help us overcome this evil with good by adding your voice to the CMEP action alert.

Peace,

John

May the many people who continue to dwell in darkness and the shadow of death (cf. Lk 1:79) come to know the power of God’s saving grace! May the divine Light of Bethlehem radiate throughout the Holy Land, where the horizon seems once again bleak for Israelis and Palestinians. May it spread throughout Lebanon, Iraq and the whole Middle East. May it bring forth rich fruit from the efforts of all those who, rather than resigning themselves to the twisted logic of conflict and violence, prefer instead the path of dialogue and negotiation as the means of resolving tensions within each country and finding just and lasting solutions to the conflicts troubling the region.

To the horror of many of us who desire peace, this message was almost immediately followed by a renewed war between Israel and Palestine (more specifically, Hamas and the Gaza community.) Our newspapers offer us the basic details of how this recent conflict began and how it is developing.

For those of us who follow the Passionists spirituality we recognize and promote a social ethic based on compassion. This ethic is based on our commitment to be with those who are now in the midst of suffering and who are being crucified in our midst. The article I would like to share with you is from the Financial Times and is written by someone who is living in the midst of these attacks.

FT.com / Middle East / Arab-Israel conflict – ‘Even our homes are not safe. There’s nowhere safe in Gaza’.

With this article I would like to make two request to the readers:

1. The violence is happening now. Please offer your prayer intentions to all those who are currently suffering. By the news of the morning of December 30, Two Israelis and 325 Palestinians are confirmed killed by these attacks. 62 of the Palestinians killed are confirmed civillians. God hears the prayers of his people and for our part prayer helps us form a deeper sensitivity to the suffering.
2. Request the your congressional representative prioritize working with his or her collegues to bring this conflict to an end. You can find your congressional representative using congress.org.

Peace,

John