Monday, April 18, 2016

Bernie Sanders Speaks To Vatican Conference

On Friday, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders delivered an address in the Vatican to a conference of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences marking the 25th anniversary of Centesimus AnnusPope John Paul II's encyclical on social and economic justice. RNS has the full text of Sanders' speech. Sanders said in part:
Pope Francis has called on the world to say: “No to a financial system that rules rather than serves” in Evangeli Gaudium. And he called upon financial executives and political leaders to pursue financial reform that is informed by ethical considerations. He stated plainly and powerfully that the role of wealth and resources in a moral economy must be that of servant, not master.
The widening gaps between the rich and poor, the desperation of the marginalized, the power of corporations over politics, is not a phenomenon of the United States alone. The excesses of the unregulated global economy have caused even more damage in the developing countries. They suffer not only from the boom-bust cycles on Wall Street, but from a world economy that puts profits over pollution, oil companies over climate safety, and arms trade over peace.... The issue of wealth and income inequality is the great economic issue of our time, the great political issue of our time, and the great moral issue of our time....
(See prior related posting.)