Quoting a fourth century bishop, he called the unfettered pursuit of money "the dung of the devil", and said poor countries should not be reduced to being providers of raw material and cheap labour for developed countries.
It doesn't seem like he even mentioned capitalism.
Well that last part certainly is the backbone of our almost-worldwide capitalist system, he didn't call out capitalism itself but the consequences it's had.
I think he's being a bit too reductive here, as well. Although, in a perfect society, there would be no poor countries, right now this is the only form of decent employment they can get. There are a few good analyses on both child labor and sweat shops in lesser developed countries. It sounds bad from our POV, but it's better than the alternative--which is starvation--for them. Let me know if you'd like me to link some sources. It's a pretty cool, yet sad, discussion.
Oh, of course things should be better, and I think we're getting there slowly. Even Marx said that we can't skip the cycle or we'll be swept to the banks.
Right now, government is too inefficient, in my opinion, to be trusted with the livelihoods of citizens dependent on the economy. To me, the solution for citizens who can't be trusted to make sound, economic choices is not to have a committee of citizens make those choices for everyone else. For example, look at the superfluous spending on defense (in the US at least). Couldn't that money be better used for infrastructure, healthcare, or even better, to be placed back into the pockets of our people?
Sure, there are ways to better spend our dollars, but because of politics, agency costs, and interest groups, government spending will eventually return to an archaic spending method that does not best meet the needs of the people.
Not only do I think things should be better but I think the world is rich enough now that it could be better. The problem is that the wealth of the world, not just the US, is owned by a minority. And it'll take a new way of thinking for people to realize there's actually enough to go around without the rich losing everything.
I agree, but I think there could be alternative ways it could go down. Bernie Sanders for one is changing the way we think of things forever. In some way even if Bernie doesn't get elected I feel like he's already won. He's successfully created a political revolution in the way people think about policy that will now outlive him.
It doesn't seem like he even mentioned capitalism.
Well that last part certainly is the backbone of our almost-worldwide capitalist system, he didn't call out capitalism itself but the consequences it's had.
I think he's being a bit too reductive here, as well. Although, in a perfect society, there would be no poor countries, right now this is the only form of decent employment they can get. There are a few good analyses on both child labor and sweat shops in lesser developed countries. It sounds bad from our POV, but it's better than the alternative--which is starvation--for them. Let me know if you'd like me to link some sources. It's a pretty cool, yet sad, discussion.
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