Nonetheless, environmentalists’ newfound enthusiasm for papal encyclicals is a little strange. After all, the Catholic Church isn’t too keen on abortion or contraception, which seems at odds with the green movement’s Malthusian concerns about overpopulation. The Church’s old-school attitude to homosexuality, and particularly gay marriage, flies directly in the face of the liberal leanings of many greens. Yet environmentalists have been happy to talk up the importance of the pope’s intervention, hoping that a bit of religious pressure will twist the arms of the world’s leaders into overcoming their silly worries about the effect that limits on carbon emissions might have on economic growth.
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Samizdata quote of the dayJune 19th, 2015 |
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It is an irony, is it not, that the pope, who has made it his business to advocate for the poor and needy, is advocating also for a policy that should it be brought into effect will be devastating to those same poor and needy.
At its most basic level, reducing the use of fossil fuels will increase the cost of gasoline, heating oil, electricity and food, things that have a far higher relative impact on the lifestyles of the poor than on the rich.
Well as said by Paul B. Farrell in Market Watch in his piece titled Pope is an anticapitalism socialist — thank God,
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/thank-god-the-pope-is-an-anticapitalism-socialist-2013-12-11
So…when freedom (you know, actual freedom) is deemed “conservative”, it makes you wonder what these “liberals” are up to, eh? Because Friedman subscribed to Monetarism and proposed a “negative income tax”, so he was himself a far cry from Ayn Rand who proposed complete market freedom and freedom of the individual, including private property aka laissez faire capitalism. But even Friedman is too “right wing” for them. (If one resides on the extreme left, everyone looks like a right-winger). Even Reagan, who doubled the size of government and increased regulations (despite the “deregulation” media hoopla) during his admins isn’t “Big Government” enough for these, uh…”liberals”. And Greenspan, who started out looking hopeful when contributing to Ms. Rand’s book Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal fell short of expectations when he became King of the Universe of market manipulation, mal-pricing and malincentives when he became Fed Chairman and remained Fed Chairman all through Clinton’s admin and George II’s as well. But even THAT isn’t Big Government and paternalistic enough for those who live, eat and crap in the same far left spot on the political spectrum. They will be happy with nothing less than complete neo-marxism run rampant, and their ultimate goal is to control lives at the expense of the quality of life and welfare of everyone on the planet. The truth is, recognized individual rights, incluing private property rights and truly free markets where comparative advantage can take place will lead to an increase in everyone’s standard of living and quality of life, isn’t a controversial theory, it’s FACT. Trade creates wealth is FACT. ‘Demonstrable FACT. These are not mere unproved theoretical constructs. They’re as blatant, straightforward and understandable as 2+2=4. Better yet it’s actual science (not marxist pseudo-science) in the sense that it’s demonstrable, repeatable and independently verifiable. Capitailism and free markets work, socialism fails. (And yes, it should be said that cronyism is the opposite of freemarket capitalism. It is in fact fascistic).
So, is it that these leftists can’t learn from history, won’t learn from history or fully know what they’re doing and are innately evil? The inquiring mind must ask. It’s obvious that they rely on sheeple (like kiddy science hero Bill Nye the pseudo-science guy) to push nonsense like global warming doomsday scenarios, but are they ALL sheeple or is there more than a few Dr. Evil’s in the mix?
He is most likely ignorant of these facts, Fraser.
PS
On a side note, I’m going to adopt a mantra; enemies of Ayn Rand are enemies of freedom, because this is ALL she proposed, freedom rights ( so-called “negative” individual rights) and the freedom to own what one has EARNED, and of course the necessary opposite side of the same coin implications, that one is not due what one has not earned and one does not own what one does not own and has never achieved. Amazing that this is considered controversial now and in the past 50yrs.
The environmental movement, and its parent, progressivism, is an offshoot of the Catholic Church, at least in their ultimate goal (mitigating, and ultimately eliminating, suffering) and in their strategy (inculcation of sufficient guilt to cause everyone to obey “the people who know better”). They are trying to co-opt the church for their own ends, which they consider to be superior because they are based on their own version of science, and do not come from a non-human deity. They are actively co-opting Islam and much of Protestantism (the Ur religion of progressivism) as well, and have gathered in a lot of Jews, so picking up the last of the judeo-Christian monotheist religions is a great step forward. Now, how do they deal with all those Eastern religions? Maybe an appeal to the people who worship the trees and rocks and critters. The Chinese are all on-board (sort of), as well as the pacifist Hindus and Bhuddists. Maybe we will give them the right to head up the new world government we will establish in Paris…
The pope is just one of their deep-cover moles, and he has worked his way to the top of the Church. Just like Obama worked his way to the top of the US govt. Interesting coincidence…
Alica wrote: “He is most likely ignorant of these facts, Fraser.”
‘Because historically popes don’t knowingly endorse evil and controlling the unwashed masses at their expense?
RXC, no “infidel” will co-opt Islam, nor sway them from their desired escatology of world domination under their own arbitrary dictatorial terms. Both Islam and Christianity wants and desires nothing more than for Jesus to return and for the world as we know it to be utterly destroyed. As they would describe it….”this is love”.
Environmentalism has now come full circle.
Anyone who doubts it is a religion please note that it is now celebrating Papal edicts.
Hilarious.
It’s like the Guardian and big business.
For that paper and its readers big business is evil and selfish.
Except when big business says it is in favour of EU membership.
Then it is suddenly talking common sense.
Rather than banging on at us, wouldn’t the Pope be better off having a word with the big fella upstairs, with whom he’s meant to entreat on our behalf to “turn the bloody heating down a bit?”
On the First of July the Greeks are going to fine the scope of Gubbmint limited i.e. Who pays the Ferryman?
“The rich are exploiting the poor – that is why I want regulations that will make electricity prices sky rocket, and will also throw the poor out of work”.
That is what the man is saying – whether the Argentine Jesuit knows it or not.
I do not want to be called a bigot so I will not go on in the same line.
It is so frustrating – people reason to X point so well – and then they suddenly go off the rails.
It always been thus – Thomas Aquinas presents (well presents) the arguments in favour of religious tolerance – and then rejects them.
Ditto with the arguments to allow the lending of money at interest – Thomas Aquinas presents the correct arguments, and then rejects them.
Just as Augustine presented the arguments in favour of toleration – and then rejects them.
And then we have the whole thing about compulsory charity (dry liquid) – and “positive rights” (even in the Middle Ages if Brian Tierney is to be believed).
I have no doubt that Pope Francis is a learned man who can read various languages and so on.
But his “Social Justice” way of thinking has ruined Latin America and threatens to ruin the world.
John Galt @ June 19, 2015 at 7:34 pm:
There’s a story about Old Joe, a devout Baptist who lived in a flood-prone area down South (U.S.). One year the Big Muddy overflowed, and all the land around his house was submerged. The sheriff came by in a motorboat, and said “Come on, Joe, river’s still rising.”
But Joe said “I trust in the Lord – the Lord will provide.” That night the river rose up and flooded the first floor of Joe’s house; Joe moved up to the second floor.
The sheriff came by in his boat again, but Joe said “I trust in the Lord – the Lord will provide.”
That night the river rose up even more and flooded the second floor, leaving Joe sitting on the roof. But when the boat came by, Joe still just said “I trust in the Lord – the Lord will provide.”
That night the river crested. Joe was washed off the roof and drowned. He was a good and pious man, and went to Heaven. When he got there, he said “I trusted in you, Lord – I thought you would provide.”
And the Lord said “I sent the boat three times, didn’t I?”
Which is to say that it’s not proper to ask God for miraculous provision of something that can be achieved by ordinary human effort.
If there is AGW (which I doubt) and if it must be remedied (which I doubt) it could be remedied by human effort. It would be absurd to ask God to fix a problem that men created and men could fix.
A RC priest will now be deputed to attend and anoint the vessel with holy water at every quayside departure of a Rainbow Warrior as it heads to the Arctic to save the world’s poor from the evils of electricity, decent buildings, education and all the evils of capitalism…
No, because despite being a Pope, this one is not an historic figure, but a real person, and what I wrote is my personal impression of him.
Alisa.
Judging by the actual record of the last 18 years, one could plausibly argue that the Big Fella Upstairs has “turned the heat down”. Unfortunately His representative here on earth hasn’t noticed.
Anyway, Pope Francis is an utter moron, not to be taken seriously about anything (outside of formal Catholic dogma). You can’t conclude anything else about a man who spent his entire life in Argentina, witnessing first-hand the destruction and misery wrought by socialism, yet who nonetheless continues to support and advocate for it. He is clearly incapable of learning from experience. (Paul M says he is “learned” because he speaks several languages. I say he is educated far beyond his capacity.)
Laird,
Withdraw your vile slur against morons.
They can’t help, they were born that way but the Pope a supposedly intelligent and well educated person proves himself to be a panjandrum and there’s a Commandment condemning making God in your image.
The environmentalist embracing of the Church is a weird one, isn’t it. It’s not as if the Church’s God gives a sweet fuck about the environment, is it? It’s in the book. Forty days & forty nights of rain. Drowned the whole bloody thing. Killed all the animals, except a couple of each. Just to prove a point.
Regional, my post was in no way a “slur against morons”, merely against this particular moron. I withdraw nothing.
I suppose it might be that we have the first Peronist Pope, a man who was raised in the Argentina dominated by Juan Perón, the flea market Mussolini of Latin America, of a father who left Mussolini’s Italy before it was unfashionable.
However, the full encyclical (English version) is a rich source of socio-political verbiage, a veritable open-cast mine of sinister drivel.
e.g.
WTF did I just read…
Alisa,
I did wonder if the second paragraph:
This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will.
was an oblique reference to paedo priests and abusive nuns having their wicked ways, but that would not be a permissible construction unless it said ‘brother’ in place of ‘sister’, mutatis mutandis.
However, all the scandals and crimes of those associated with Popery (and let’s not forget the Ustashe) count for nothing in the eyes of the Socialists, if the Useful Idiot in Rome comes up with something useful to the Cause, a bit like a pensioner going along to a riot with a bunch of anarchists, because he wants to be ‘cool’.
Who takes economic advice from an Argentinian? Next we’ll have the Greeks lecturing us on the value of fiscal probity.
The march through the institutions achieves another target and turns it into a laughing stock.
What little authority the Catholic church retains, is further diminished by this preposterous encyclical within which the pontiff renounces his belief in Jehovah and opts for Gaia. Nice one, Frannie, well done. You’ve just destroyed the catholic church.
Well, the modern “left” is actually on the extreme reactionary right. They’re secular clericists, crypto-monarchists[1], and wannabe-aristocrats. The “green” branch in particular is also anti-industrial-revolution and would like nothing better than to see us uppity peasants go back to grubbing in the lovely filth. All this makes the modern left simpatico with religious clericists like the Islamist imans and, now, the Pope. Certainly much more so than with us weirdly rationalist classical liberal and libertarian types.
[1]Of the old “first among equals” style of medieval monarchy rather than this new-fangled, post-medieval “absolute” monarchy.
Mr Ed’s citation of item 30 from the Encyclical suggests that perhaps the Pope should oppose environmentalist restrictions on water use, as detailed here for California, that have led to man-made drought. The poor in America will not die from such folly, but in the Third World, the story could be tragic. And the Church is now firmly implicated in what may unfold if this nonsense is acted on.
So, where’s the “Get your religion out of my climate science” cry from the Left?
Over and above the fact that arguments from authority aren’t arguments, it’s interesting to me that the leftists try to rub the pope’s opinion in our faces, when it is an authority that they themselves have no respect for! It’s logically *weird*.
Hazy reports of a case in the Netherlands resulting in an environmentalist coup in all but name:
It would be nice to attribute the Pope’s views to indulgence in certain South American herbal products, but I don’t think that it is accurate to do so, at least, not yet. Next year, all bets are off.
http://en.mercopress.com/2015/06/25/a-pie-made-of-coca-leaves-awaits-the-pope-when-he-visits-bolivia