Pope attacks mega-salaries and wealth gap in peace message

[ringil]

reuters.com/article/2013/12/12/us-pope-economy-idUSBRE9BB0EH20131212?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

(Reuters) - Pope Francis said in the first peace message of his pontificate that huge salaries and bonuses are symptoms of an economy based on greed and inequality and called again for nations to narrow the wealth gap.

In his message for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace, marked around the world on January 1, he also called for sharing of wealth and for nations to shrink the gap between rich and poor, more of whom are getting only “crumbs”.

 

[markomalley]

Here is the message, itself.

I did not see the words “salary”, “bonus”, “wage”, “pay”, etc. , discussed in it whatsoever.

In fact, the closest he came was here:

Globalization, as Benedict XVI pointed out, makes us neighbours, but does not make us brothers.[1] The many situations of inequality, poverty and injustice, are signs not only of a profound lack of fraternity, but also of the absence of a culture of solidarity. New ideologies, characterized by rampant individualism, egocentrism and materialistic consumerism, weaken social bonds, fuelling that “throw away” mentality which leads to contempt for, and the abandonment of, the weakest and those considered “useless”. In this way human coexistence increasingly tends to resemble a mere do ut des which is both pragmatic and selfish.

Maybe somebody smarter than me can point out, from his own words, where the Pope mentioned salaries.

 

[stinkcat_14]

I think the actual quote is a bit more nuanced than the article suggests. It says nothing about salaries and bonuses, but it talks about man’s pursuit of earnings. In our modern society there are many who put earning money above everything else, which is clearly disordered.

The grave financial and economic crises of the present time – which find their origin in the progressive distancing of man from God and from his neighbour, in the greedy pursuit of material goods on the one hand, and in the impoverishment of interpersonal and community relations on the other – have pushed man to seek satisfaction, happiness and security in consumption and earnings out of all proportion to the principles of a sound economy.

vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20131208_messaggio-xlvii-giornata-mondiale-pace-2014_en.html

 

[HappyCatholic01]

stinkcat_14:

I think the actual quote is a bit more nuanced than the article suggests. It says nothing about salaries and bonuses, but it talks about man’s pursuit of earnings. In our modern society there are many who put earning money above everything else, which is clearly disordered.

Quote:

The grave financial and economic crises of the present time – which find their origin in the progressive distancing of man from God and from his neighbour, in the greedy pursuit of material goods on the one hand, and in the impoverishment of interpersonal and community relations on the other – have pushed man to seek satisfaction, happiness and security in consumption and earnings out of all proportion to the principles of a sound economy.

vatican.va/holy_father/fr…e-2014_en.html

Much like his suppose it attack on capitalism, he appears to be directing his words at rampant greed, which every man on earth is at some point guilty of.

I’d say is message directed at people whose motives are making as much profit as possible and not considering the humans involved, and is directed at world leaders who are mass power for themselves well not really doing anything for the people they serve, as well as people who rely on charity and government welfare for support who in fact could do much more for themselves but used to take instead.

This notion it somehow every homily about greed is directed at a CEO is nonsense. Reed is an emotional vice and has nothing to do with how much money you have. It has everything to do with how much you desire in an inordinate way and anyone can be guilty of that. Just look at the stampedes at Walmart when there’s a sale on Black Friday. I don’t think those are a bunch of high salaried CEOs trampling one another.

Posted from Catholic.com App for Android

 

[seekerz]

.

Thanks for the quote. What stands out to me is the “contempt for” the “weakest” and those considered “useless”. In the last year or two, it has hit me like a ton of bricks - this contempt of which the Pope speaks. The uncharitable attitude and frank insults directed at the poor have really been disturbing to me; people, even in the public arena, discussing the poor like the objects of their attacks cannot hear the condescending, dismissive narrative being used to blame them for their own poverty or disadvantage. What makes it even more disturbing is the deafening silence from those who are in a position to say “stop, this isn’t right”. Thank you Papa Francisco.

 

[Jeanne_S]

Here is the message, itself.

I did not see the words “salary”, “bonus”, “wage”, “pay”, etc. , discussed in it whatsoever.

In fact, the closest he came was here:

Globalization, as Benedict XVI pointed out, makes us neighbours, but does not make us brothers.[1] The many situations of inequality, poverty and injustice, are signs not only of a profound lack of fraternity, but also of the absence of a culture of solidarity. New ideologies, characterized by rampant individualism, egocentrism and materialistic consumerism, weaken social bonds, fuelling that “throw away” mentality which leads to contempt for, and the abandonment of, the weakest and those considered “useless”. In this way human coexistence increasingly tends to resemble a mere do ut des which is both pragmatic and selfish.

Maybe somebody smarter than me can point out, from his own words, where the Pope mentioned salaries.

Appears the media is intent on misconstruing the Pope’s message(big suprise)to fit their impressin of what they hope he really means.

 

[LisaA]

Thanks for the quote. What stands out to me is the “contempt for” the “weakest” and those considered “useless”. In the last year or two, it has hit me like a ton of bricks - this contempt of which the Pope speaks. The uncharitable attitude and frank insults directed at the poor have really been disturbing to me; people, even in the public arena, discussing the poor like the objects of their attacks cannot hear the condescending, dismissive narrative being used to blame them for their own poverty or disadvantage. What makes it even more disturbing is the deafening silence from those who are in a position to say “stop, this isn’t right”. Thank you Papa Francisco.

What struck me is that in OUR culture the contempt for the weakest, the useless is manifested in the Democrat pro abortion platform. What is weaker than an unborn child? Even the poorest in our country CAN sustain life, get food, shelter, and medical care. They are ALIVE unlike the millions of “useless” unborn babies discarded because of the cruel and heartless attitudes of those in power.

Further we do no service to the poor by being dishonest and patronizing. In America the vast majority of the poor are there because of poor decision making by themselves, their parents, or sadly generations before. We have generational poverty borne of government programs intended to FIGHT poverty that have simply not addressed the underlying causes of these problems. Flinging money at chaotic and dysfunctional cultural “norms” does not help either those mired within them or prevent the next generation from following suit.

As to mega salaries for CEO’s, while I do not personally think they deserve them in many cases, we have to be equitable in our attitude. What about sports figures? Celebrities? Actors? Musicians? Do THEY deserve millions more than us great unwashed who pay to see them? Why don’t they say STOP!!! Why don’t they give their money to the poor? Our clinic office receives a number of pop culture magazines that show what mega million dollar home or mega thousand dollar handbag was purchased by some drug addled pop tart. It disgusts me to no end. I suspect the Holy Father also referred to that type of rampant greed and consumerism but somehow since the Hollywood elites are “in” with the Beltway elites, the media never points this out

Lisa

 

[seekerz]

Further we do no service to the poor by being dishonest and patronizing. In America the vast majority of the poor are there because of poor decision making by themselves, their parents, or sadly generations before.
Lisa

Have you met the “vast majority of the poor”? Do you have stats on how many of them make peanuts for a fair day’s work? Thanks for your enlightening response.

 

[J_Peterson]

It’s probably wise to assume that he is talking to us directly as individuals, regardless of our current situation. It’s always tempting to point out who he’s talking about while forgetting our own guilt.

 

[Cider]

Appears the media is intent on misconstruing the Pope’s message(big suprise)to fit their impressin of what they hope he really means.

It doesn’t seem limited to the media.

 

[LisaA]

Have you met the “vast majority of the poor”? Do you have stats on how many of them make peanuts for a fair day’s work? Thanks for your enlightening response.

Seekerz there are many many statistics, surveys, government and private that document the major sources of poverty in this country. I do not need to meet them all. That being said, in fact I’ve been a volunteer at homeless shelters, food pantries, soup kitchens, drug treatment facilities, domestic violence shelters, and other social services (government based rather than charity).

The vast majority of poverty in this country is the result of fractured or unformed families, lack of education and substance abuse.

I am also a volunteer for a group that serves in Third World Countries where the issues are not so much in the control of the poor but government corruption, lack of private property rights, and natural disasters.

Look I am with the Holy Father that those of whom much is given, much is asked. Those with huge salaries and massive assets SHOULD share with those less fortunate. But I’m also not so blind as not to see that poverty in this country is far different than in Bangladesh.

What is sad to me is that with all of the resources and charitable spirit in this country, the programs that are supposed to help the poor are often counterproductive and full of perverse incentives.

Lisa

 

[Havard]

Thanks for the quote. What stands out to me is the “contempt for” the “weakest” and those considered “useless”. In the last year or two, it has hit me like a ton of bricks - this contempt of which the Pope speaks. The uncharitable attitude and frank insults directed at the poor have really been disturbing to me; people, even in the public arena, discussing the poor like the objects of their attacks cannot hear the condescending, dismissive narrative being used to blame them for their own poverty or disadvantage. What makes it even more disturbing is the deafening silence from those who are in a position to say “stop, this isn’t right”. Thank you Papa Francisco.

You are right to condemn such actions. We all should!

I would submit to you though, that the true amount of this sort of talk is certainly exaggerated by some (again,hopefully a minority) on the left to fit a narrative to smear those on the right. There are smear wings on both sides that are exacerbating this, and we need to be able to separate their spin from the vast majority of both groups, who, I believe, are not this hateful at all.

@seekerz in particular (but for anyone else, too) - I recommend you watch the third video from the top on this page:

billoreilly.com/show?action=viewTVShow&showID=3542#3

No matter how you feel about Bill O, I think it’s important to see he and people like him are portrayed a lot worse than they really are.

Again, I’m not saying there aren’t people out there who demonize the poor. There are. But we should also be careful to look at what people are actually saying and discern this hateful speech from more pointed comments about abuse of the welfare system.

 

[TARRAT]

All forms of government and economic systems have “rampant greed” within them. Some have greed in the government and others have it elsewhere.

 

[SuperLuigi]

=seekerz;11489696]Thanks for the quote. What stands out to me is the “contempt for” the “weakest” and those considered “useless”. In the last year or two, it has hit me like a ton of bricks - this contempt of which the Pope speaks.

So what are you going to do about it?

The uncharitable attitude and frank insults directed at the poor have really been disturbing to me; people, even in the public arena, discussing the poor like the objects of their attacks cannot hear the condescending, dismissive narrative being used to blame them for their own poverty or disadvantage.

That’s exaggerated left-wing nonsense.

Sorry, but “poor” people in democracies who elect politicians based on racial grievances or some other selfish motive get the government they deserve just like anyone else.

Being poor does not mean a person cannot sin nor be selfish.

What makes it even more disturbing is the deafening silence from those who are in a position to say “stop, this isn’t right”.

You mean like all those rich liberal elites and elite wannabes who

Thank you Papa Francisco.

For what? Giving you another excuse to keep voting democrat?

Thank you, USA conservatives, for giving 4 times as much to charity than the liberal left, despite the fact that you make less money.

 

[SuperLuigi]

(Reuters) - Pope Francis said in the first peace message of his pontificate that huge salaries and bonuses are symptoms of an economy based on greed and inequality and called again for nations to narrow the wealth gap.

Where did the Pope say that? Is Reuters misinterpreting him yet again

Inequality increases under liberal polices.

In his message for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace, marked around the world on January 1, he also called for sharing of wealth and for nations to shrink the gap between rich and poor, more of whom are getting only “crumbs”.

People only get crumbs for two reasons:

First, in Western democracies, they are content with that, so long as they can harbor ill feelings based on race and blame someone else for their problems.

Second, in the developing world, because the money gets into the hands of dictators while the people who give it (unwilling mostly in the form of big government taxation which is hardly charitable) sit around feeling good inside like they’ve done some great deed not caring about the results.

 

[SuperLuigi]

=seekerz;11489761]Have you met the “vast majority of the poor”?

That’s a fallacy. You don’t have to meet “the vast majority” of a group to know what is going on.

Do you have stats on how many of them make peanuts for a fair day’s work?

If you’re talking about the USA, a lot of the “poor” have their bellies full daily and a VHS, DVD or videogame system to boot.

Also, employment on the West is usually based on at-will contracts.

 

[estesbob]

reuters.com/article/2013/12/12/us-pope-economy-idUSBRE9BB0EH20131212?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

(Reuters) - Pope Francis said in the first peace message of his pontificate that huge salaries and bonuses are symptoms of an economy based on greed and inequality and called again for nations to narrow the wealth gap.

In his message for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace, marked around the world on January 1, he also called for sharing of wealth and for nations to shrink the gap between rich and poor, more of whom are getting only “crumbs”.

Be nice if the Reuters headline actually matched what he said.

 

[SuperLuigi]

I think the actual quote is a bit more nuanced than the article suggests. It says nothing about salaries and bonuses, but it talks about man’s pursuit of earnings. In our modern society there are many who put earning money above everything else, which is clearly disordered.

vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20131208_messaggio-xlvii-giornata-mondiale-pace-2014_en.html

Should have known. Left-wing media takes Popes words out of context, and liberals looking for excuses to stay liberal are off to the races with it.

Seems the American main-stream media is achieving its goals yet again.

 

[_Abyssinia]

Appears the media is intent on misconstruing the Pope’s message(big suprise)to fit their impressin of what they hope he really means.

And anybody has to wonder why some of us question the mainstream media? Pope Francis did not specifically mention in words key things the Reuters article is claiming in their sypnosis

 

[seekerz]

That’s a fallacy. You don’t have to meet “the vast majority” of a group to know what is going on.

In the absence of stats to back up “the vast majority” you do - otherwise you’d be just pulling stuff out of the air regarding a whole lot of people.

If you’re talking about the USA, a lot of the “poor” have their bellies full daily and a VHS, DVD or videogame system to boot.

Again, where are the stats? Do people have to be starving and devoid of earthly possessions to be poor? Some of the most disadvantaged people in the Third World have cell phones and non-distended bellies. Are they not poor?

Also, employment on the West is usually based on at-will contracts.

The Church’s standards for fair wages has nothing to do with “at-will” contracts. Unfair is unfair even if the person agrees to be unfairly treated. Otherwise I could morally take a person’s kidney out because he really, really wants the money he’ll get for it.