That an Argentinian bishop–a Jesuit who has taken a vow of poverty, no less– doesn’t have the same understanding of economics as an American Republican or Libertarian is hardly something about which to get so excited. Why do relatively few conservatives react with a reasoned statement disagreeing with some of Pope Francis’ characterizations but acknowledging that people can generally corrupt even the most benign things? Is our capitalist worldview so fragile that acknowledging that people often suck is enough to topple it? That’s not a strike against capitalism. It’s a strike against humanity.

Dr. J. agrees. There has been a lot of liberal projection on this Pope. And in those few paragraphs about economics in the context of the larger paper, he makes good points about worshiping at the altar of Mammon, however he overgeneralizes his thoughts to capitalism as a whole, at least that’s how Dr. J. reads it.

He doesn’t quite get free market principles which are universal. Honestly, the US has the richest poor people in the world. That being said, Anthropocon brings up, and I agree with him, that folks either chase that carrot too hard, at the expense of others, alternatively, folks cheat. People aren’t perfect, even in a free market. One could interpret Pope Francis’s comments in this vein, that any ideal system falls apart due to the bad apples. Our economy has moved away from capitalist towards ‘corporatist.’ That doesn’t help as many people.

Nevertheless it’s a great read, and overall, Dr. J.’s happy with Pope Francis. He’s a good, decent and holy man, even if he’s a little naive on macroeconomic principles.