I haven’t read Pope Francis’ new encyclical on the environment. But if E.J. Dionne is to be believed, he flays free market capitalism. From Dionne’s column:
“We are not God,” the pope declares, and should not act as if we are “usurping the place of God, even to the point of claiming an unlimited right to trample his creation underfoot.”
Talk about a straw man! Who in the last one hundred years, ever claimed that we have “an unlimited right to trample creation underfoot”? No one of whom I am aware.
Is the pope not aware of all the environmental laws and regulations that exist in the free market economies of North America and Europe? Does he know that California water policy values snail darters more than thirsty farmers? Has he counted the billions of dollars that have gone into cleanups of toxic waste?
Some would argue that overly onerous environmental rules have too often become straight jackets stifling human thriving. In fact, it is getting to the point that the environmental movement has become so radical some greens declare that nature has human-style “rights.”
Good grief, we properly protect endangered species. We insist on clean air and water standards. Environmental laws and regulations could fill a Carnegie library.
It isn’t modern capitalism that has most terribly trampled God’s creation underfoot, but the system that rejected God altogether. Indeed, communism, various iterations of fascism, and other assorted tyrannies have been–and continue to be–the worst polluters.
Prosperity is good for the planet because it gives us the means to engage in proper practices. Free market economies drive prosperity. We are not the villains.