Guess What? Pope Francis Speaks to Congress Today...And...?

Pope Francis, an object of admiration and affection to some, befuddlement to others, and downright dislike to a growing vocal minority, speaks to the U.S. Congress today. It's a first. Why he chose to do it is anyone's guess. Maybe he thinks he'll be able to direct America's ubiquitous energy toward doing some good rather than just making money. Not that doing good and making money are really opposed to each other. It's just that, sometimes, the Pope sounds like he thinks so.

Rather than bore you with another take on His Holiness's comments regarding capitalism, why not take a look at this rather well-constructed piece by William McGurn of the Wall Street Journal, headlined thusly:

Pope Francis, Unfettered

But it's the sub-heading that conveys what McGurn argues in the article:

The opposite of market competition isn't cooperation - 

it's collusion.

The author grasps a fundamental slice of mistaken thinking lodged in the Pope's brain. I've read that the Pope, when he was a bishop in Argentina, disapproved of the corporatism, a/k/a "crony capitalism," practiced by the elites. This skews his assessment of capitalism. In crony capitalism, success depends more on you connections rather than the efficacy of free markets. But it seems Il Papa projects his experience with the Argentine system onto everyone claiming to be in some way "capitalist." McGurn states this case well, but we're still left with a remaining dilemma: If free markets encourage economic efficiency leading to prosperity, will they also allow for, even encourage, what is morally right? The solution proffered in the article falls short of a satisfying answer:

A gentle way of suggesting that perhaps the best fetters for an economy are not regulatory and interventionist but legal and moral: a functioning rule of law operating inside a healthy, humane culture.

Can you see the shortfall? It sits in the phrase "healthy, humane culture." While the U.S. still stands a beacon of hope for those who are the victims of both brutal and barbaric overlords, as well as those whose jealous defense of personal power and privilege stifles any hope of getting ahead, we might still question what passes for culture in the U.S. And no, it's not so much that fast food, hip-hop, pornography, and rapidly deteriorating language skills and public behavior makes us less than healthy - although it does. Rather, one wonders how a culture which permits, even endorses, the selling of fetal body components, obtained through legal abortions can be classified as "healthy" or "humane." For some reason, too many of us can't make this connection.

We look outside and see brutal dictators, plutocrats who keep others in poverty to protect their power and privilege. All of these deserve not just criticism, but frequently condemnation. Yet how can we allow the trafficking in human flesh and blood garnered at the cost of a life? And, yes, in case you've not realized that those not yet born are alive, and therefor a form of human life, please wake up and get this now. If you want to argue that a fetus is not a "person" in some legal sense, and therefore killing it is not murder, go ahead and argue. But don't even try to hide the fact that human lives are taken for this grisly form of commerce. They are. Now go and justify that, if you can.

While this example doesn't mean the Pope's views on economics or capitalism pass the test of reason or common sense, it does mean that the part of his critique that insists that morality takes precedence over profits must be taken seriously and addressed. Either that or we accept that profit trumps the Good all in the name of money. Do you really think this?

While we hope the Pope wakes up and smells the rose-scented fragrance of free markets efficiently setting prices, leading to an increase in general prosperity, we also hope that the rest of us wake up and take a hard look at what free market activity bereft of any moral compass really means.