Thursday, August 19, 2010

Sorry about not posting much

OK, not posting at all.

Life has been really busy lately.

Apropos nothing, I thought this short clip was pretty spot on:

4 comments:

Frank Hope said...

Hi AG - I liked the video. In keeping with my change in beliefs that the problems we are seeing go well beyond the political and are fundamentally a result of our society rejecting Christianity, I offer the following quotes from Pope Paul VI in his encyclical "POPULORUM PROGRESSIO - ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLES (1967)":
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_26031967_populorum_en.html

As St. Ambrose [4th century] put it: "You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich."

The introduction of industrialization, which is necessary for economic growth and human progress, is both a sign of development and a spur to it.
[...]
However, certain concepts have somehow arisen out of these new conditions and insinuated themselves into the fabric of human society. These concepts present profit as the chief spur to economic progress, free competition as the guiding norm of economics, and private ownership of the means of production as an absolute right, having no limits nor concomitant social obligations.

This unbridled liberalism paves the way for a particular type of tyranny, rightly condemned by Our predecessor Pius XI, for it results in the "international imperialism of money."

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And finally there is this famous quote from Pope Paul VI which I'm sure you will recognize:

"IF YOU WANT PEACE, WORK FOR JUSTICE"
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/messages/peace/documents/hf_p-vi_mes_19711208_v-world-day-for-peace_en.html

Every man today knows he is a person; and he feels he is a person: that is, an inviolable being, equal to others, free and responsible - let us use the term: a sacred being. Since a different and better perception - that is, one which is fuller and more demanding - of the inward and outward flow of his personality, in other words, of his twofold moral movement of rights and duties, fills the consciousness of man, it is a dynamic Justice, and no longer a static Justice that is born of this heart. This is not simply an individual phenomenon, nor one reserved for select and restricted groups; it is now a collective and universal phenomenon. The developing countries shout it out with a loud voice. It is the voice of peoples, the voice of mankind. It demands a new expression of Justice, a new foundation for Peace.

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I hope I'm not too far off base with these comments. If you have time, I would encourage you to take a look at the documents that these quotes came from.

Frank Hope said...

I found another (better) quote from Pope Paul VI in his 1972 Peace Day message which I think you will appreciate:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/messages/peace/documents/hf_p-vi_mes_19711208_v-world-day-for-peace_en.html

Is not an integral part of justice the duty of enabling every country to promote its own development in the framework of cooperation free from any intention or calculated aim of domination, whether economic or political?
[...]
...the invitation we give to celebrate Peace resounds as an invitation to practise Justice: "Justice will bring about Peace" (Cf: Is 32:17). We repeat this today in a more incisive and dynamic formula: "If you want Peace, work for Justice".

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These words of Pope Paul VI at the height of the cold war and in the midst of the emergence of a "new world order" after WWII are still fresh and vibrant. He clearly saw the dangers of creating a new kind of colonialism or imperialism even as many countries around the world were gaining their "independence". Still, he ends on a triumphal and optimistic note:

We have such trust in the power of the associated ideals of Justice and Peace to generate in modern man the moral energy to actuate them, that we are confident of their gradual victory.

global articles said...

thanks

Anonymous said...

Goy- Hi. Love your stuff. I'm always visiting your blog to see what you'll say next. If you have not yet settled on a topic for a new story, I had an idea. I was reading an essay of the CounterPunch page and Mike Whitney wrote a bit about (http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney08192010.html) how we should be looking at 30 Year Bond Yields. I think I understood it a little bit, but I'm not sure. I think what he was saying (and you'll have to excuse me because when it comes to Business matters I just a friggen caveman) was that as investors lose faith in the market these rich people and funds will scramble to find a safe spot for their money and so they'll put it in Bonds. As they do that -I think- the Bond yields go do. If the yields go down enough we'll become Japan with deflation. It seems to me that economic forecasts boil down to two schools of thought: if you're a liberal like Paul Krugman you warn about deflation, but if you're a conservative like Peter Schiff you'll warn about inflation. Now me, I'm just a regular guy worried about his job and the future. Will there be a depression like the kind we see in old black and white movies like Grapes of Wrath of Sullivan's Travels? Will a crashing economy lead to a Road Warrior styled breakdown in civilization? So, perhaps you could talk a little about bond yields and how they work? Thanks.

-MisterKeitel
Dayton, OH