Pope Francis Criticizes Capitalism

“Pope Francis on Thursday urged the downtrodden to change the world economic order, denouncing a “new colonialism” by agencies that impose austerity programs and calling for the poor to have the “sacred rights” of labor, lodging and land.”

“‘Let us not be afraid to say it: we want change, real change, structural change,’ the pope said, decrying a system that ‘has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature.’”

– Reuters.com

Let us not be afraid to say it. But we are, aren’t we? We often hear people, even ourselves, say we can’t believe the price of food has gone up, that rents have gone up, that everything has gone up. Even McDonald’s prices have gone up! Yet the things we’d like to see go up are going down – paychecks, food stamps, Social Security.

What we don’t often hear is people criticizing the root of the problem – capitalism. The mentality of profit at any price, as the pope put it.

I am no communist. It’s clear from the past few decades that it doesn’t work. But what is also clear is that we need something different. I’m also no Catholic, but I praise Pope Francis for saying something in public that most of us are afraid to say, even in private. We are unhappy with the current system. Perhaps it’s time we speak up. Let’s start that conversation.