 |
| A City on A Hill |
Released today, the Vatican's document on Global Financial Reform is an interesting and inadequate proposal for worldwide financial overhaul.
Phillip Pullella of the National Post summed up some key talking points of the paper:
“The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence,” it said.
It condemned what it called “the idolatry of the market” as well as a “neo-liberal thinking” that it said looked exclusively at technical solutions to economic problems.
“In fact, the crisis has revealed behaviors like selfishness, collective greed and hoarding of goods on a great scale,” it said, adding that world economics needed an “ethic of solidarity” among rich and poor nations.
In addition to this, the paper articulates a strong ethic of Christian involvement for the common good:
Every individual and every community shares in and is responsible for promoting the common good. Faithful to their ethical and religious vocation, communities of believers should take the lead in asking whether human family has adequate means at its disposal to achieve the global common good. The Church for her part is called to encourage in everyone without distinction, the desire to join in the “monumental amount of individual and collective effort” which men have made “throughout the course of the centuries ... to better the circumstances of their lives.... [T]his human activity accords with God’s will.”
The problem is aptly stated, the Church's conceptual involvement outlined.The solution?
...the establishment of a “global public authority” and a “central world bank” to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises.
Please read the full text at your leisure. There's a lot to think about here. But what to think?
The Right Things ... in the Wrong Ways
In my opinion, the Holy See is calling for the right things ... but in the wrong ways.
Though a global financial authority is an untried model that could well work to both ground and humanize the world's rapidly changing monetary dynamics, my concern is that the implementation of that body will inevitably be wholly influenced by current powerbrokers. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea. But it doesn't go far enough to put economic influence in the hands of the people.
Importing the structure of the Roman Catholic Church (a worldwide governing head, with many many local feet) to govern the global market is an intriguing concept that carries some merit. It really is worth exploring further. Let's not dismiss it.
Let's also not get too excited. It has some major downsides, with a lingering whiff of stale hypocrisy. As Nick Squires at The Telegraph comments, "The Vatican hardly has an exemplary record on financial transparency and propriety."
Lo, an understatement.
Most importantly, were the concept practically implemented, it would require a robust plan for guarding vibrant local industry and shielding community makers, builders, and storers from predatory global profiteers who would simply pay more taxes, and migrate to a new system. The pressing problem we face is that we need "undersight" as much or more as we need "oversight", and my support can only be given to a plan that acknowledges both dynamics. How is that to play out? It's difficult to say. But we need to think creatively, and continue the discussion that Rome's statement advances, in the direction of local involvement and responsibility.
The Vatican's statement is grounded in a strong theology of industry and human flourishing. This is needed. I like it. I'm interested to see how its unique proposal of financial reform will be welcomed.
I also am waiting for someone to practically ground that theology in a sense of place and diverse local economy that can root and water our desire for honest, shared profit in the people and neighborhoods that we see every day.
(Photo credit)
No comments:
Post a Comment