Perhaps this belongs in Milagre, but as far as I'm concerned Economics is a part of moral philosophy. And let's face it, the world's second most recognizable religious figure testing the economic-philosophy waters is of interest to me, at least.
I'm not really sure what it is he's talking about here; I realize that he's a layman when it comes to economics, and despite being, as the article described him, a "prolific theologian" it's quite painfully obvious that spending years in a commune-like religion has twisted and warped his view of economics, and of reality in general.Pope Benedict XVI offers a personal meditation on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ in his first book as pontiff, criticizing the "cruelty" of capitalism's exploitation of the poor but also decrying the absence of God in Marxism.
"Confronted with the abuse of economic power, with the cruelty of capitalism that degrades man into merchandise, we have begun to see more clearly the dangers of wealth and we understand in a new way what Jesus intended in warning us about wealth."
Benedict continues that message in another chapter on the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, and the need to love one's neighbor. In it, Benedict decries how the wealthy have "plundered" Africa and the Third World, both materially and spiritually, through colonialism.
He criticizes lifestyles of the wealthy, citing "victims of drugs, of human trafficking, of sexual tourism, people destroyed on the inside, who are empty despite the abundance of their material goods."
Rich countries continue to do harm to the Third World by giving aid that is purely technical in nature, he says. "This aid has set apart religious, moral and social structures that existed and introduced their technical mentality in the void," he writes.
People love to spout of generalities like "exploitation" and "plunder" in regards to the economics of capitalism, but rarely will you ever see anyone trying to show examples or historical fact - because, obviously, they don't exist. The only actual physical thing he points to is the colonialization of Africa, which is a valid point - if you're talking about imperialism. What it has to do with capitalism apparently only exists in the Pontiff's head.
All the other rhetorical bombast about the "wealthy" is pure tripe, when in fact the plunder and exploitation of the last century was brought about by governmental action, when governmental anything is in direct contrast with any reasonable definition of capitalism or laissez-faire. Since the Pope (and the Catholic Church) are hardly "moral" authorities, it doesn't serve anyone to get down and dirty with the Pope's anti-materialist message - it's the Church's job to decry wealth, money and any earthly good - how else can force people's concentration onto the afterlife if you can't make them think that this life can't be as good?
I don't blame Benedict for his unsubtle jabs at the rich; as Mises said, "Politically there is nothing more advantageous for a government (or in this case, a religion) than an attack on property rights (and the rich), for it is always an easy matter to incite the masses against the owners of land and capital." It makes sense for the Pope to use his influence and his status as someone who's words just get accepted blindy to sway people towards, at the very least, suspicion and contempt for the wealthy and the business leaders - doing so invokes sympathy for those allegedly being exploited, and points the finger far, far away from the Church itself (despite it's long and storied history of exploitation and plunder.)
So let's stick with the one example he's actually given - Africa, and the claim that it is wealthy industrialists, capitalists and entrepreneurs who have caused its dismal failure in economics, politics and social justice. Can anyone truly believe such hackneyed crap?
Crap: "Rich countries continue to do harm to the Third World by giving aid that is purely technical in nature, he says. "This aid has set apart religious, moral and social structures that existed and introduced their technical mentality in the void,"
Reason: "The poverty of the backward nations is due to the fact that their policies of expropriation, discriminatory taxation and foreign exchange control prevent the investment of foreign capital while their domestic policies preclude the accumulation of indigenous capital.
"What is called the American way of life is the result of the fact that the United States has put fewer obstacles in the way of saving and capital accumulation than in other nations.
"It is not a lack of the know how that prevents foreign countries from fully adopting American methods of manufacturing, but the insufficiency of capital available.
"Capitalists have the tendency to move towards those countries in which there is plenty of labor available and in which labor is reasonable. And by the fact that they bring capital into these countries, they bring about a trend toward higher wage rates."
On this subject, Bono (of U2 infamy) recently had a clothing line opened with some kind of vague social justice agenda, purportedly to bring about "fairer" work practices in the places where the items are manufactured. He makes claims that not only will percentages of profits be for charity (a legitimate philanthropic idea), but that the company will not engage in 'sweatshop' practices. "Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, have been traveling the globe endorsing their new clothing line, Edun. This clothing line promises to create Fair Trade–like principles which respect the workers who make the clothes and pass on the workers' story. Bono promises to have decent working conditions and to abstain from employing child labor. "
Freer trade would certainly be a tremendous benefit to Africa. What is forgotten, however, is that free trade is exactly what leftist anti-sweatshop activists like Bono are against!According to the factory manager in Lesotho, Thabang Kholumo, the wages paid are 600 rand (currently $87.68 ) a month. This is a little over 50 cents an hour assuming a 40-hour work week.
Surely these are twice that of other factories in the area? Not so. The country of Lesotho has minimum-wage laws by profession. According to a report highlighting current labor market conditions in Lesotho on the Global Policy Network website, the minimum wage for trained sewing machine operators is 650 maloti ($94.80) a month.
Unless there were specific fluctuations in the currency price at the time of Thabang Kholumo's information, Bono would have been paying below the minimum wage allotted for textile workers. In any event, he doesn't seem to be paying more than the required minimum.
Contrary to the ethos that Bono has been promoting, this is not a bad thing. To put a floor on wages is to enforce two conditions that would be unfortunate for workers: first, it means that the least skilled cannot be employed because their productive contribution to the firm falls beneath the minimum; second, it means that few people in general can be employed, which denies opportunities to people.
This further does not explain the fractional share of profits that workers receive. Thabang Kholumo reveals that 125 female employees make 3,000 items a day. These items retail for $50-$300! A pair of Edun jeans will cost you a pricey $275. You can do the math for yourself. One pair of jeans $275 and one month of work $87.68 in Bono's "sweatshop."
According to Bono's mistaken economic theories, he is no champion of the poor in his own factory. These wages are incompatible with the message Bono and Ali are trying to portray. Bono speaks about creating a new business model that can be emulated by other companies. In fact, he is doing what others are doing and have done for a very long time, and it is good for everyone.
Bono also boasts of not employing child labor. Well of course you wouldn't use child labor Bono, because Lesotho has minimum-age-for-employment laws setting the working age in the industrial sector at 15.
Further, the Labor Code sets regulations on working conditions. According to the US Department of State's 2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, the working conditions are not that onerous. They say, "The Labor Code requires employers to provide adequate light, ventilation, and sanitary facilities for employees and to install and maintain machinery in a manner to minimize risk of injury; employers generally followed these regulations." Further, "labor inspectors generally conducted unannounced inspections in factories four times a year."
Bono is simply following Lesotho laws, but no more. Big deal. But there is not much difference between Bono's "sweatshops" and others. The only thing revolutionary about Bono's business plan is not the way workers are treated but the way in which they are cleverly marketed to the public.
The truth is that Bono is doing something admirable just like Nike has been for a long time. Any factory that opens in an area with low employment benefits the population. Competition for labor eventually lifts wages as we have seen in Industrial Revolution Europe, South Korea, Taiwan, and many other places during many other times.
Capital investment and competition for labor by American multinational corporations has for decades caused wages and living standards to rise in underdeveloped countries like Lesotho. Indeed, the mere fact that people seek such jobs is proof that they believe that their living standard will improve by doing so.
In short, the Pope - and his similarly brain-dead musical version Bono - are economic retards.
