Many in Church Recognize Economic Unfairness

As people around the world, including tragically in the United States, continue to suffer economic deprivation leading to food insecurity or worse, plus poor housing and inadequate medical care, some in the church are questioning how the profit system is being run.  Others dodge the matter by saying they are not competent to pass judgment on the whole system.

Nevertheless there is disquietude among the ranks of believers as they see something other than Christian love and compassion at work.  Elsewhere on this blog I have dealt with the failings of the profit system and how the time has come to abandon the system, even as it sinks further into dysfunction.   This is not a time to waffle.  This is a time to be clear. It is a time for decision.  Either we will slump along with what we have always known, even if it no longer works, or we will respond and build a better mouse trap.

We can begin with the following from Christian Orthodoxy.  I won't get into Christian theology at the moment, though Christianity at its root is very compassionate, and not in favor of selfishness in any form, including its economic aspect.  Later, I hope to present more along this line, after I have a chance to research the matter a bit.

For now, listen to what Joseph Stiglitz has to say.  His comments are sharp and sharply critical of the current world order.

Many economists and institutions of global development agencies embrace economic globalization as indisputable reality and suggest that there is no alternative to this. They assume that Neoliberalism contributes to the prosperity and the equitable development of all nations. Unfortunately though, its economic practices have not been designed to meet the immediate needs of the world’s poor people. Global inequalities between nations and within nations are widening. Joseph Stiglitz, former World Bank Chief Economist (1997-2000) and Nobel Laureate in Economics notes that economic globalization in its current form risks exacerbating poverty and increasing violence if not checked, because it is impossible to separate economic issues from social and political issues.

                                                                           -- web site of the Greek Orthodox Church in America


One Christian Church on the Profit System