Pope Benedict XVI has released his latest encyclical just in time for the Group Eight meeting in Italy this week. Both Benedict and his predecessor, John Paul II, have warned about the greed that has accompanied economic growth.
Although I agree with the Holy Father that citizens of richer nations constantly need to be reminded that the accumulation of wealth should to be tempered by ethics and charity, I'm not sure that he's going to get much coverage in today's political and economic climate.
I'm also confused about the role of a democratically elected government using the money it has taxed its citizens for specific purposes to provide aide for other countries. It's not that I'm opposed to charity - I believe everyone should give at least 10% to charity, but I'm pretty sure that there is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that gives our government authority to take care of the poor of the world.
To give an example closer to home, as director of a public library for twenty-four years I frequently received requests for the library to make contributions to many worthwhile charities. I refused those requests, because I could not use public tax money for anything that wasn't a library expense. Our unanticipated emergency fund wasn't to be used for charitable contributions, it was for true library emergencies.
Yes, I know this sounds heartless, but I believe that if every person and business in the U.S. and every economically developed country in the world practiced charity and ethical standards, then the poor would be cared for. I'm also not sure that we should turn over all responsibility for caring for the world's ills to big government. They tend to use our money rather poorly.
Greed and the accumulation of weath for its own sake is practiced throughout the world, even in Third World countries. I would like to see governments encouraging charitable contributions by increasing those deductions rather than eliminating them as our current administrations seems to want.
