This past Thursday, Pope Francis’ issued yet another scathing critique of capitalism.
It’s become one of the Pope’s common themes as he has railed against what he often refers to as “ the unfettered pursuit of money, the dung of the devil.”
In this latest assault (clearly aimed against the American economic system), the Pope’s document goes into surprising detail in its takedown of business, competition, deregulation and the shareholder system.
Pope Francis is to be commended for his concern for the poor, but his socialist views of economics and government are tragically misinformed.
What the Holy Father repeatedly and willfully fails to admit is the fact, the fact mind you, that capitalism has been the most dynamic force for economic progress in history.
Over the past century, it has delivered billions of people out of miserable poverty, raised living standards to once-unimaginable heights and enabled an unprecedented flourishing of productive creativity.
I apparently belong to the 49% of Americans who hold a favorable view of capitalism. It is bothersome to me, however, that approximately 45% of my fellow citizens share a positive view of socialism.
As a matter of fact, among young Hispanics, Asians, Blacks and others, socialism gets even higher percentages.
Politically, according to Pew Research Center statistics about 61% of Democrats and 25 % of Republicans favor socialism.
I can understand how the Pope, coming from economically besieged South America, takes a dim view of capitalism. But Americans holding the same point of view is disconcerting.
According to a survey conducted just after Bernie Sanders lost the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, it appears that 26 % of my baby-boomer peers would prefer to live in a socialist country, while among Millenials the figure is closer to 44 %.
Why the divergence?
In my opinion, not supported by any other data but my own experience and the anecdotes related to me by parents and grandparents of Millenials, it seems that young people these days are literally spoiled with the bounty which capitalism has bestowed upon them.
They are so used to the perks of living in America that they no longer appreciate the prosperity and innovation which capitalism has brought them.
Some will remind me and my confreres of the catastrophic recession of 2007-2009 which has not only taken a decade to begin to overcome but has fostered a sense of ill-ease with the present economic order.
Certainly, previous to the election of the Trump administration, Millenials reached adulthood in a miserable job market. Thus, many of them associate capitalism with crisis.
This explains for me how Bernie Sanders could have come so close to getting the Democratic nomination in 2016.
Also, I agree with those who hold that those who support capitalism are unapologeticaly at odds with Millennials on social issues — including gay rights, racial inequality, immigration, gun control and abortion rights.
What Millenials do not realize is that many of the distinctive burdens they face are caused at least as much by government involvement as by free markets. Federal loans and grants have pushed up college tuition. Medicare inflates demand for health care. High housing costs owe a lot to rent control and land-use restrictions.
When markets are allowed to work, they continue to generate innovations that expand options and reduce costs. Amazon, Apple, Uber, Starbucks and Walmart have made life better for consumers. Food and clothing take less of our disposable income than ever before. Cars, TVs and appliances are better and more reliable than they used to be.
Sadly, what they do not or willfully refuse to admit is also what Pope Francis does not understand or accept.
I agree with the Holy Father that economic systems have to retain their moral legitimacy if they are to last.
Capitalism is not perfect, I admit.
But the Pope and young people want to throw the baby out with the bath water.
What a terrible disaster that would be for the societies of the West, burgeoning developing nations and the future of freedom itself.
Pitiably, however, in this and other relevant topics of the day, I feel like the proverbial dinosaur whose time came and went, but who lingers on in a world unrecognizable and unfamiliar.
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