Brooklyn's U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders(I-VT), left, Pope Francis, right
[From article]
Once the world’s breadbasket and fourth-richest nation per-capita — hence the saying “rich as an Argentine” — the Pope’s native land is now a basket case with economic well-being (gross domestic product per capita) only one-third America’s.
[. . .]
“In dealing with poverty,” rock star Bono stresses, “welfare and foreign aid are a Band-Aid. Free enterprise is a cure.”
[. . .]
In his new book, “The Conservative Heart,” American Enterprise Institute President Arthur Brooks calls the free-enterprise system “America’s gift to the world,” enabling more people to pursue their happiness through earned success derived from work.
“It was the free-enterprise system that not only attracted millions of the world’s poor to our shores and gave them lives of dignity but also empowered billions more worldwide to pull themselves out of poverty,” Brooks asserts.
[. . .]
it feels like we’re slouching toward Argentina.
While Wall Street and Silicon Valley have boomed, the richest and most generous nation on earth contains pockets of destitution and immiseration — like Baltimore — where millions are deprived of the dignity and fulfillment of work.
[. . .]
“People see corporate cronies getting rich because of their cozy relationship with the government. They see bailouts for huge banks but small businesses going bust.
[. . .]
Ranked among the world’s most economically free nations for decades, America has fallen to 16 in Fraser’s Index due to these unfair government policies. Consequently, U.S. annual growth is projected to be half its 3 percent historical average.
That His Holiness is unaware of the relationship between economic freedom and human flourishing is a sin, though not original. After all, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sins similarly, arguing for greater government control of our lives, even at the expense of economic growth.
[. . .]
The truth is that poverty is humanity’s natural state, and free enterprise is the most merciful economic system yet designed for moving people toward productive and dignified lives. No central planner exists who’s capable of improving on the endless autonomous decisions made efficiently, creatively and cooperatively in the free market, as if divinely guided. Think Again — as long as we enjoy the blessings of economic freedom, we have the choice not to attend the Pope Francis & Bernie Sanders School of Economics, where the tuition is free but extraordinarily costly,
http://www.aspentimes.com/opinion/18538554-113/sturm-the-pope-and-sanders-misguided-economic-missionaries
Sturm: The Pope and Sanders: Misguided economic missionaries
Melanie Sturm
Think Again
October 8, 2015
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Ralph Peters
