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Globalization and Human Solidarity by Tissa Balasuriya Fr. Tissa Balasuriya from Sri Lanka is a leading spokesperson of Third World Theologies. He is the Director of the Centre of Society and Religion in Sri Lanka. He is the author of numerous books, including Eucharist and Human Liberation, Planetory Theology, and Mary and the Human Liberation. Published by Christiava Sahitya Samithy, Tiruvalla 689 101, Kerala, S. India, November 2000. Used by permission of the publisher. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted & Winnie Brock.
Chapter 8: Globalization and Spirituality 1. The Teaching
of the Religions and Capitalistic Globalization In this context
of increasing injustices in the world, the religions could be a light to make
us all aware of the false values of capitalistic globalization that cannot
bring happiness and peace to persons or a lasting solution to our social and
economic problems. The teaching of the world religions is diametrically opposed
to the values of capitalistic globalization. The development of science and
technology can improve human life, but the capitalistic values that inspire the
social relationships are disastrous. While the
religions teach a detachment from the search for material wealth and that all
beings should be cared for and respected, maximization of private profit is the
supreme goal of capitalism that has now reached a global dimension. The
religions advocate that society ensures that each person is cared for as a
human being with rights to life and the means to contented living. All the
religions stress the spirit of sharing of material resources among all humans. The effort to
bring food to the hungry, house to the roofless, work for the unemployed,
freedom to captives, knowledge to the ignorant is a primary call of all the
major religions of the world. This is a demand of sisterhood and brotherhood
that all religions stress. It is also the way to honour the Supreme Being or
Transcendent Dhamma and spiritual values that all religions acknowledge. This
requires a change in human relationships and societal structures to accept all
persons as equal in dignity and rights. A Specific spiritual challenge for the
present and coming generation everywhere and for religions is to make these
values the guiding principles of day to day social life. In order to progress
towards the ideal proposed by the religions the renunciation of selfishness by
individuals at personal level should lead to a social concern for a positive
loving caring for all, especially the many in dire need in our globalized
society. This needs a collective rejection of the mechanism of the mere “free
market” as the guide of social policy. The inspiration of the life and teaching
of their founders and seers and sages can lead people towards a movement for
decent living and human dignity of all and peace among all communities. The
festivities and liturgical celebrations of the religions could be the means of
fostering a deeper personal and societal reflection on their deeper spiritual
message. 2. Christian
spirituality Christian spirituality is based on the
teaching of Jesus, as known through the Scriptures, and interpreted by the
Christian tradition, generally through the authority of the churches. Christian spirituality is foundationally
life affirming and life giving. God, the Father is the Creator of the universe
and of the human race. Creation is good: “God saw all that he (Sic) had made,
and it was very good” Gen. 1:31. God is life giving in and through the
abundance of nature. Jesus says: “I have come that you may have life; life in
all its fullness” John 10:10. The gift of the Spirit is the presence of divine
life in humans, inspiring us to be more arid more god-like, loving one another
and motivated towards love and social justice. Jesus
Spirituality The teaching of Jesus is that God is
love, and love is divine. This is the new and all encompassing commandment of
Jesus. Love of neighbour, including the enemy, is the good news of salvation.
Thus Jesus says: “This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved
you. There is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life
for his friends” John 15:13. Our call is to love one another as God
has loved us. God is the God of life. Genuine love for the other is the means
and the measure of our love for God. Such love must be concerned with the life
of the other in all its aspects. Each person shares in the divinity, being
created to the image and likeness of God and tending towards union with God.
Human relationship and the world are to be transformed so that God would be all
in all. We are called to be divinized by love and effective concern for one
another. An essential and indispensable aspect of
Jesus teaching is love and unselfish service to the poor, the disinherited, the
oppressed, the aged, the sick and the imprisoned. “For
when I was hungry you gave me
food; when
thirsty you
gave me drink; when
I was a stranger you took me
into your home; when
naked you
clothed me; when
I was ill you
came to my help; when
in prison you visited me... “I tell you this: anything you did for
one of my brothers here, however humble, you did for me anything you did not do for one of these,
however humble, you did not do for me” Matthew 25:31-45. This service is more than the mere
demands of justice, which is the fulfillment of a strict obligation towards
another. What Jesus demands is a self-giving towards others who are in need
because they are in need, not due to any strict right on us as a matter of
justice. This is a demand and obligation of love: of caring for the other as
for oneself. This is because God identifies with the other, especially the one
in need. It is also taught in the scriptures and by the Fathers of the early
Church that the goods of the earth belong to all humanity. Therefore no one
should waste what belongs to God and to all, nor accumulate too much to the
detriment of the needs of others. A specificity of the Jesus spirituality
is that we should love our enemies. “Love your
enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for
those who ill-treat you. If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other
too; If someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well. Jesus wanted love of neighbour to be
understood in a universal sense as the quality of divine love than the narrow
circle of natural affection and concern. The Jesus teaching is that we must
love because God loves all, the good and the bad alike. This is the goodness of
the Father. “Love your enemies, and pray for those
who persecute you, so that you may become sons of your Father in heaven. For he
makes his sun to shine on good and bad people alike, and gives rain to those
who do good and to those who do evil... You must be perfect, just as your
father in heaven is perfect!” (Matt. 5:44-48). To the teacher of the law who tried to
trap Jesus asking the question “who is my neighbour?”, Jesus responded with the
parable of the good Samaritan “where love to neighbour is, quite simply, doing
for him what needs to be done in the emergency, the good neighbour is both
alien and heretic.” Jesus teaches a new relationship among
humans that exceeds the demands of both justice and mere rationality. Such love
is more than the natural love of our friends. It is not necessarily according
to reason or human rationality. It is not a sort of philosophical or stoic
indifference towards others. It is not a keeping away from enemies to avoid
further trouble. It is not at all a right that the enemy has over us. It is new
relationship of love of the other that has to flow from a conversion of heart
and mind, of intellect and will inspired by the love of God. Forgiveness of the one who
hurts or sins against us is a specific aspect that Jesus stresses. It is a
constitutive element in the prayer he taught. “Forgive us the wrongs we have done, Jesus answered “No, not seven times, but
seventy times seven” (Mt. 18:21-22). His reference to seventy times seven or
490 times indicates without limitation. It is easy to discern how far these are
from the competitive spirit of present day global capitalism, that would crush
a competitor and marginalize the poor. The very knowledge of God is intimately
connected to the love of the neighbour, we know God through love of neighbour.
As St. John stresses, we cannot love the God whom we do not see if we do not
love the neighbour whom we see. “Dear friends,
let us love one another, because love is from God. Everyone who loves is a
child of God and knows God, but the unloving know nothing of God. For God is
love... Though God has never been seen by any man, God himself dwells in us if
we love one another; his love is brought to perfection within us.” 1 John
4:7-12. Aloysius Pieris develops the relationship
between such knowledge and love as an approximation between gnosis and agape: “loving one’s neighbour is the Christian
way of knowing God. In other words, love is Christian gnosis, because one who
does not love one’s fellows does not know God.” Jesus’ spirituality encourages meditation
on the divinity present in all humans and invokes love and respect from us. As
we enter into our deepest self through meditation, self purification and in
contemplation we meet the divine in us and others in God. Union with God, which
is the goal of spirituality, makes us habitually see God in the neighbour,
especially the poor and the despised of the earth. God is thus experienced more
deeply. He announced
his mission thus: Jesus preaches
the kingdom of God. This term appears 112 times in the gospels, 90 of them
attributed to Jesus. His kingdom means that the plan of God for humankind is to
be fulfilled in a radically profound way, here on earth. It is a reversal of
the usual conditions of society. The
poor become rich (Luke 6.20) This reversal of positions is contrary to
the values of Jewish society of the day, not to mention Roman imperialism. In the “Our Father” Jesus links the
honouring of the Father with the coming of the kingdom of God and the meeting
of human needs such as daily bread and genuine forgiveness of the other. Jesus’ teaching on prayer is very challenging.
He teaches that prayer should be sincere, authentic and transformative of human
relationships. In the circumstances of his times the coming of another kingdom
as a challenge to the kingdom of the Caesars was a subversive prayer. God’s love respects each persons’ freedom
and uniqueness. The love for the other must include a concern and care for the
rights of the other beginning with the right to life, to food, to housing, to
health, to work, to freedom and one’s identity as a person including the right
to be different, while being equal as humans. Jesus message, mission and
spirituality are thus intimately linked to socio-political action for
transformation in inter-personal relations and in society. The love of neighbour as oneself has
social implications such as concerning the use of material resources. Jesus was
not neutral towards the rich and the poor and the use of riches. Though Jesus
was gentle in his ways he did not mince his words when he had to speak to the
rich. Jesus was very critical of the accumulation of wealth and power that
comes through the exploitation of others: cf. Luke 6:20-26 the beatitudes “. . .But how
terrible for you who are rich now: you have had your easy life. . . The parable of the rich young man, (a
Jewish leader, of the ruling class, as Luke describes him) illustrates clearly
how Jesus wanted riches to be used for the benefit of the needy. The young man
had observed the commandments from his early days; “what else do I need to do”?
he enquired. Jesus told him ”there is still one more thing you need to do”. If you want, to be perfect, go and sell
all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in
heaven; then come and follow me. But when the young man heard this, he went
away sad, because he was very rich” Matthew: 19:21; Luke 18:18-24. It was at this stage that Jesus said that
it is harder for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to
go through the eye of a needle. This made Peter raise the question as to “who
could then be saved”. Thus the work “Quis dives salvetur?”, “What rich person
will be saved”, was the topic of reflection of the Fathers of the Church. This
shows the centrality of sharing in the teaching of Jesus, as well as the
difficulty of implementing it. This is a spiritual challenge for the present
day disciples of Jesus, to take this teaching seriously. Jesus is uncompromising in his criticism
of hypocrisy and the false values of the leadership “How terrible for you,
teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God a tenth even
of seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill and cumin; but you neglect to obey the
really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty.
These you should practice, without neglecting the others” (Matt. 23:23-24) In the parable of the sower Jesus warns
against the false values: “but worldly cares and the false glamour of wealth
and all kinds of evil desire come in and choke the world and it proves barren”
Mark 4:19. The disciple of Jesus has to make a clear
option between the values of mammon and the loving service of God through the
neighbour: “No servant can be slave of two masters.., you cannot serve both God
and mammon (money) Luke 16:13. Jesus, an
active socially committed mystic Jesus was
profoundly contemplative, intensely human in his personal relations and
authentically radical in his social options. He was a mystic given to quiet
contemplation, solitary prayer and silence. “He would steal away from them into
the desert and pray there” Luke 5:16. At the same
time he was a person of intense action and radical commitment. These two
aspects were intimately connected and inextricably intertwined. It was because
he was in close union with God that he could not accept the way in which men
and women, children of God, were treated in the society of his day. His “good news
to the poor” was the fruit both of his meditation as well as of his deep
awareness of the condition of his people. His was an
integrated. personality; a spirituality that was both authentic subjectively,
as well as objectively in keeping with the demands of the kingdom of God on
earth. It was not a mere flight from the world to be united to God. He did not
understand the spiritual life as an ascetical exercise of self-negation that
had no relation to justice in society and to love of the other even beyond the
demands of justice. He did not distinguish himself from others in anything
except his loving service and self-sacrifice. His asceticism
involved being suspect by others, both by those close to him and his opponents.
Even the members of his family doubted his wisdom, if not his sanity, in living
and teaching as he did. He had to face the threats of being killed by the
religious and social leaders of the day. He has also to escape the adulation of
his followers. He was open to those whom society despised and marginalized or
excluded from “respectable” society. His holiness took him to meeting with
public sinners or the unpopular such as tax collectors, rather than to shunning
them. A Jesus school of spirituality would inspire forms of asceticism and
mystical experience in the search for the kingdom of God within human society
that always has strong elements of sinfulness including social sin. Jesus’ spirituality inspires a vision of
a just world in which all humans have a chance of obtaining the means for a
decent life. Realizing the vision requires an effort to bring food to the
hungry, houses to the roofless, work for the unemployed, freedom to captives,
knowledge to the ignorant, and above all the loving acceptance of one another
irrespective of differences. These are the strange promises of Jesus
to be partly realized in this life by persons and by humanity over the ages. We
can discern it through faith, contribute towards it by struggling in hope. Love
is its fulfillment, joy its fruit. To live the values of this spiritual mastery
over our selves is to realize a new power, a peace and joy that surpasses all
other joys. It is a pure, selfless, active, creative, liberative joy. This is
the joy of the wedding feast to which liberated humanity is invited. It is for us to respond willingly by a
conversion of heart, a reversal of values and a fundamental option for life,
solidarity, friendship and effective sharing in love. Then heaven would begin
for us here on earth. This is redemption, salvation, human liberation and
fulfillment. Jesus died testifying to these values. “Jesus did not preach
himself, but the kingdom of God”. “Jesus did not talk simply about ‘God”’ but
the kingdom of God (Jon Sobrino, Karl Rahner). Jesus spirituality has to be
elaborated in terms of those teachings also. In Jesus there is a close
relationship between union with God and his ministry or mission which is the
realization of the kingdom of God, the liberation of the oppressed. Union with
God is in bringing about God’s vision for humanity. Jesus had to face
tremendous odds against his radical spirituality. This can be a source of
inspiration to the powerless victims in the struggle against the evils of
present globalization that seems inevitable and invincible. Fathers of the
Church That God is love, and love requires
social justice is a constant teaching of the Fathers of the Early Church such
as Clement of Alexandria, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Ambrose and
Augustine. That is how they understood the Jesus teaching and call of God in
the Old Testament. The Fathers of
the Church commented frequently on the social teaching of the Bible and of its
implications for their times. They saw clearly Jesus’ struggle against Mammon
and all forms of exploitation, and his vision of virtue as love leading to
effective sharing in community. An example from one of them, St. Basil the
Great (born in Cappadocia about 330, died in 379) Bishop of Caesarea who in his
sermons to the rich landowners, gives an indication of the tenor of their
thought: ‘Whom do I
injure,’ the rich persons says, ‘when I retain and conserve my own? Which
things, tell me, are yours? Whence have you brought them into being? You are
like one occupying a place in a theatre, who should prohibit others from
entering, treating that as one’s own which was designed for the common use of
all. Such are the
rich. Because they were first to occupy common goods, they take these goods as
their own. If each one would take that which is sufficient for one’s needs,
leaving what is in excess to those in distress, no one would be rich, no one
poor. ‘Did you not
come naked from the womb? Will you not return naked into the earth?’ (Job
1:21). Whence then did you have your present possessions? If you say, ‘by
chance’, you are godless, because you do not acknowledge the Creator, nor give
thanks to the Giver? If you admit they are from God, tell us why you have
received them. Is God unjust
to distribute the necessaries of life to us unequally. Why are you rich, why is
that one poor? Is it not that you may receive the reward of beneficence and
faithful distribution... Are you not
avaricious? Are you not as robber? You who make your own the things which you
have received to distribute? Will not one be called a thief who steals the
garment of one already clothed, and is one deserving of any other title who
will not clothe the naked if he is able to do so? The bread which you keep, belongs to the
hungry; that coat which you preserve in your wardrobe, belongs to the naked;...
Wherefore as often as you were able to help others, and refused, so often you
do them wrong”. . . Things of this kind are from God: the
fertile land, moderate winds, abundance of seeds, the work of the oxen, and
other things by which a farm is brought to productivity and abundance... But
the avaricious one has not remembered our common nature, and has not thought of
distribution...” Many references to the Church Fathers are
available in other publications. We give here a few main themes of their
teaching. Some of the concepts developed by the
Fathers in the first few centuries of Christianity may be presented as follows: Creation by
God. Hence
all wealth belongs to God as possessor. All persons are from God; God provides
for all generously. Hence it is idolatrous of the rich to usurp God’s absolute
dominion over things. Nature has brought
forth all things in common, sunshine and rain for all without discrimination.
See the birds of the air, the lilies of the field... we are born naked, with
death return to earth naked; so why be attached to things; we are all pilgrims,
sojourners on earth; no mine and thine. Property: Common
destination of all material good, stewardship of property, for use for all.
Private property: material goods are not bad in themselves. Virtue in the use
of wealth. We should not be possessed by wealth; not become its slaves. How was
wealth acquired?... by work, by exploitation? If by inheritance, how did parents
acquire wealth? Riches are theft, robbery, fraud, depriving the workers of just
dues. Private property causes divisions,
jealousy, pride, wars. Greed is the root of all evils, cupiditas radix
omnium malorum. The few who are wealthy cause the many to groan in misery.
Accumulated wealth is selfishness; “you strip men naked”, plunder, murder;
superfluous wealth belongs to needy. Liberation is
in non-attachment, in not taking more than one needs. The
few who are rich are accountable to all. Distribute the superfluous wealth
among the poor; in doing so the rich are not giving what is their own but
returning what belongs to the poor, the needy. Giving alms is meaningless, if
there is no sharing in superfluity. Warnings to the rich: store your wealth in
the hearts of the poor. The poor reveal
the demands of the gospel. The rich have to be evangelized by the poor. The
poor are a sacrament of salvation for the rich: “I was hungry”, Mt. 25. The
poor are the saviours of their benefactors. The poor are not slothful; the rich
may be worse. Unfortunately this period of Church
history and such concepts have not been accentuated in the formation of the
Christians including the priests and religious in the recent centuries. Over
the centuries the Church developed a spirituality based on another
fundamentally different paradigm. Gradually the Church became part of the
social establishment of the Roman empire, later of feudalism and the princely
rulers and medieval kingdoms. These brought about different understandings of
the message and mission of Jesus and of Christian spirituality. On the one hand Church could not teach a
radically egalitarian message as the Fathers of the Church following Jesus. On
the other hand the Church developed another view of God and human life in which
original sin was the all enveloping condition of human existence, and the
ministrations of the Church were essential for salvation and sanctification.
Thus a spirituality was evolved in which the accent was on the sacramental life
with their exopere operato effect. 3.
Contradiction between Christianity and Aparthideic Globalization. Reflecting on the teaching of Jesus and
the life of the early Church it is clear that there is an irreconcilable
contradiction between the spirituality of Jesus (and the early church) and the
neo-liberal globalization. Their assumptions, values, ways and means of
operation and the social consequences are diametrically opposed to each other. Jesus Neo-liberal
Globalization law
is for humans for all law
and system are for profit The ten commandments of God are against
idolatry, avarice, lust, stealing, killing and falsehood, Globalization makes a
god of the market (a form of idolatry), takes away of people’s property by fair
or foul means, fosters an
insatiable avarice, Jesus teaches us to love and respect
nature as God’s providence for all humanity; globalization abuses and pollutes
nature with grave harm to future generations. Whereas the Church should be a
prophetic voice for justice and peace and the integrity of creation, this
globalization invites the Church to neglect the core message of the Gospel, to
legitimize this social order based on greed and injustice to the majority of
humanity and is racist in defending the present European-made world order. Marian
Spirituality of the Magnificat can give an indication of the commonality of
struggles requiring radical changes in economic, political and social life,
beginning with personal humility, confident in God’s promises to humanity,
especially the poor. The values and rights treasured by Jesus
and Mary are endangered, especially for the poor, by the capitalistic globalization
process. The paradoxical and sad situation is that while Jesus’ teachings are
totally at variance with the assumptions and values of capitalistic
globalization, it is people and countries who call themselves Christians that
have built up this iniquitous, capitalistic global system and benefit from it.
The system gives respect and freedom to the Churches, so long as these do not
contest it seriously. How has this been possible? Is the ongoing secularization
of Western peoples due to the gap between the teaching of Jesus and the
practice of the Christian churches? In the face of capitalistic
globalization, disciples of Jesus may find a better inspiration in Jesus
himself and in the early Church rather than in subsequent period of Church history,
when the Church was compromised with political and socioeconomic power. Catholic
Church’s Response to Globalization The response of the Catholic Church to
capitalistic globalization can be studied at different levels and from
different perspectives. There is the level of the universal teaching of the
Church at the level of the Papacy and the entire College of Bishops, the
teaching of different conferences of Bishops, of theologians and the action of
the church related groups locally and perhaps globally. This subject can be
reflected in terms of the overall approach of the Church to human and social
life, and in relation to the specific phenomenon as it has developed during the
1990s, after the fall of the soviet Empire. Pope John Paul
II: In his Encyclical Letter: “Centesimus
Annus” of 1st May 1991, he deals ex professor on the free market and on
capitalism as it was seen in 1990, within an year of the fall of the Soviet
Union. At the time there was a general euphoria over the victory of capitalism
over Marxism and state socialism in Eastern Europe. The Pope’s position is that a) The fall of the Soviet Communist
empire is not necessarily an indication that capitalism is the only way out for
the development of the world. b)
He sees the right to private property as a primary right of human freedom, c)
but this right is limited by the “original common destination” of all earthly
goods for the common good of humanity, as willed by the Creator, as well as the
will of Jesus Christ as expressed in the Gospel. This is also the teaching of
the Popes since Leo XIII in 1891, and of Vatican II in “Gaudiumet Spes” Nos.
69, 71. d) The origin of individual property is
in work, with intelligence and freedom (no. 31); know how, technology and
skill, initiative and entrepreneurial ability (no. 32). e) The “business economy” has positive
aspects and risks and problems: such as inability to compete, inequality,
marginalization and exclusion of many of the Third World, and even in the
developed countries. Capitalism can be ruthless as in the dark first phase of
Western industrialization. Inhuman exploitation, even attempts at elimination
of some peoples from history. Exploitation of women (no. 33). f)
The free market is historically seen as “the most efficient instrument for
utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs. But all needs, such as
need for food, are not marketable or negotiable. (no.34). g)
In this sense, it is right to speak of a struggle against an economic system,
if the latter is understood as a method of upholding the absolute predominance
of capital, the possession of the means of production and of the land, in
contrast to the free and personal nature of human work. In the struggle against
such a system, what is being proposed as an alternative is not the socialist
system, which in fact turns out to be state capitalism, but rather a society of
free work, of enterprise and of participation. Such a society is not directed
against the market, but demands that the market be appropriately controlled by
the forces of society and the state, so as to guarantee that the basic needs of
the whole of society are satisfied”... (no.35). h)
“Profit is the regulator of the life of a business, but it is not the only one;
other human and moral factors must also be important for the life of a
business i)
“It is necessary to break down the barriers of monopolies which leave so many
countries on the margin of development, and to provide all individuals and
nations with the basic conditions which will enable them to share in
development. This goal calls for programmed and responsible action on the part
of the entire international community.” (No. 35). j)
“It cannot be expected that the debts which have been contracted should be paid
at the price of unbearable sacrifices. In such cases it is necessary to find-as
in fact is partly happening-ways to lighten, defer or even cancel the debt,
compatible with the fundamental right, of peoples to subsistence and progress.”
(no. 35) k)
He criticizes the phenomenon of consumerism, and of the creation of artificial
demand especially by the media. “Drugs, as well as pornography and other
forms of consumerism which exploit the frailty of the weak, tend to fill the
resulting spiritual void”. Duty to give of one’s abundance for those
in need. l)
the disastrous ecological question is due to present day human regarding
themselves as God and thinking they can use nature as they wish, without
concern for the future of nature and of humanity. m)
Need of an authentic “human ecology”, and a “Social ecology” of work. “The decisions which create a human
environment can give rise to specific structures of sin which impede the full
realization of those who are in any way oppressed by them. To destroy such
structures and replace them with more authentic forms of living in community is
a task which demands courage and patience.” (no. 38). n)
With the new capitalism too the State has to defend the common goods such as
the natural and human environments, which cannot be defended simply by market
forces. “Here we find a new limit on the market:
there are collective and qualitative needs which cannot be satisfied by market
mechanisms. There are important human needs which escape its logic. There are
goods which by their very nature cannot and must not be bought and sold...
Nevertheless these mechanisms carry the risk of an “idolatry” of the market.
(no. 40). o)
In the Western societies too there is an alienation in consumerism, in work
that neglects human values, in various forms of exploitation of humans,
manipulated by the means of mass communication. (no. 41). p) The Pope rejects a capitalism “in
which freedom in the economic sector is not circumscribed within a strong
juridicial framework in its totality, and which sees it as a particular aspect
of that freedom, the core of which is ethical and religious.” (no. 42) q)
The Pope stresses the needs of a workers ‘movement “directed towards the
liberation and promotion of the whole person. r)
“Ownership of the means of production, whether in industry or agriculture, is
just and legitimate if it serves useful work. It becomes illegitimate, however,
when it is not utilized or when it serves to impede the work of others, in an
effort to gain a profit which is not the result of the overall expansion of
work and the wealth of society, but rather in the result of curbing them or of
illicit exploitation, speculation or the breaking of solidarity among working
people. Ownership of this kind has no justification, and represents an abuse in
the sight of God and man.” (no. 43). s) The economic system must create
opportunities of work and human growth for all. (also cf: “Tertio Millennio Adveniente”
of 1994) |