The Bad Economy From Gods Perspective

[domNoah]

I just finished putting up the short Catholic Homily this week from the 1800s on my site on the Value of Time

The priest said something very intesting that got me thinking about the economy
"Some part of it (time) indeed we are generally obliged to employ, and fortunate we are that it is so, in some occupation of profit to ourselves or to others. Yes, fortunate ; for that man must earn his bread by the toil of, his body or mind, is hardly after the fall a curse, but rather a blessing. Place fallen human nature in the paradise of our first parents, and its final loss could hardly be averted "
Source Transcript

With the economy causing some Elderly continuing to work instead of retiring, making existing employees work longer and harder because of a fear of hiring new people, and as a general rule of thumb less income perhaps these new hardships will cause some type of return to virtue.

Without labor how much does the chance of losing our souls must increase. Do you think that God is removing the occasion of sin to some degree by making the economy tougher? Has anyone here been badly effected by the economy but they feel like it has made them grow in virtue or become a better Christian?

 

[SaintPatrick333]

I don’t see anything positive when I look out in the world outside of the Church. Less money means harder living. Harder living means more suicide, more mental illness, more drug abuse. None of that leads to virtue. Especially in america with our government that loves entitlements and loves to keep everyone on welfare. Keeps those suffering in a state of suffering they can’t get out of. And to “pay” for this system makes others who “are” working suffer more than they would already.

 

[domNoah]

I don’t see anything positive when I look out in the world outside of the Church. Less money means harder living. Harder living means more suicide, more mental illness, more drug abuse. None of that leads to virtue. Especially in america with our government that loves entitlements and loves to keep everyone on welfare. Keeps those suffering in a state of suffering they can’t get out of. And to “pay” for this system makes others who “are” working suffer more than they would already.

Hard living can lead to virtue, that is way Monastics live such hard lives and last time I checked the Our Lord and many of the Saints lived in poverty. Poverty can help a man become a Saint like St Francis

 

[MidnightSun12]

To quote St. John Cassian:

The fathers … say that as a rule someone who works is attacked and afflicted by but one single demon, while someone who does not work is taken prisoner by a thousand evil spirits.

It’s no doubt that the amount of idle time and vain pursuits of our youth today are contributing to the crime, sexual promiscuity, depression and suicide that we see plaguing our society. Having to make do with less should not be seen as an occaison of sadness since God has given us the promise that He will never give us more then we can handle… Rather, we should look at it as being as a purifying fire that would be much better to confront in this life then in the next!

 

[Pondero]

Hard living can lead to virtue, that is way Monastics live such hard lives and last time I checked the Our Lord and many of the Saints lived in poverty. Poverty can help a man become a Saint like St Francis

The difference is that monks chose their vocation,their poverty was voluntary. It is no fun for ordinary Americans or Canadians (I am Canadian) to be unemployed as it leads to depression. I know I have been there in the distant past.One does not choose to be unemployed and it doesn’t lead to increased virtue, but can lead to bitterness.
If you read encyclicals such as Rerum Novarum, or Centissimus Annus, you will learn how Pope Leo XIII and John Paul II, proposed to solve the unemployment problem, but more particularly with relations between Capital and Labour.
One must fight for fairness between classes.One should not accept the status quo,thinking nothing can be done about it.