Pope Francis, would you say a little prayer for…?

The Pope is coming to the States soon, I believe. Wherever he visits, he spends time with the poor and unfortunate. It makes for good television. That is the point. He wants to remind us to remember the poor. And to care for them. Surely a noble thought and effort.

Meanwhile the Pope has sic’d encyclicals on capitalists. And capitalism. He blames them and their free markets for a good many of the world’s ills. Some of his closest advisors on economics are devout Marxists.

I admire the Pope for washing the feet of the wretched, literally and figuratively. But I also wish he would spare a few prayers for capitalism. And for entrepreneurs. Including the hairdressers and plumbers and fishermen. They are the best bet the wretched have.

Socialists and Marxists do look after the poor. They spend oodles of money on them as well as on the elite. (There is always an elite.) The problem is that they give away more than comes in. At some point they run out of money. When they do, they hit up the wealthy for more. That always slows down their economies. So less money comes in. In many cases they then extort more from the wealthy.

This drives investors and entrepreneurs away. Or underground. Or out of business. Which shrinks their economies further. Or hampers their growth. So that they throw off less to spend on the poor.

I wish the Pope would remember that for centuries most people were wretched. They died young. Mostly it was the clergy, landed gentry and nobility who lived in much comfort. Then those filthy capitalists arrived. They ushered in the industrial age. Only at that point did the lot of the wretched even begin to improve.

I wish the Pope would remember it was capitalism and free markets that performed a miracle in his lifetime. They lifted a billion Chinese and Indians and others from misery. Marxism and socialism did not. Those systems failed to feed their numbers. No matter how much they cut down those numbers with butchery, disease and starvation.

The Pope says the developed countries have ravaged the environment. And neglected the third world. Seems to me that encouraging China and India away from socialist economics is hardly neglect. And the most foul water and air are in the third world. Not in the developed. I wish he would pray for third world countries to embrace capitalism. Capitalism would improve their lot.

I wish he would recall this: It was the East Germanies of this world that sinned the most against the environment. Under Marxism.

I wish the Pope would imagine this: His own church giving away a lot more of its riches to the poor than it does now. And when it runs low on money doubling up its demands on Roman Catholics. As the demands for their money increase, the numbers of Catholics would fall. And he would find it difficult to recruit more.

That is what happens when you only embrace the poor. While you squeeze and belittle those who pay in.

It warms the heart to see the Pope embrace the wretched. How glorious that he speaks for those who have no voice.

It would be even more gratifying if he prayed aloud for the entrepreneurs and capitalists of this world. Their efforts are usually self-serving, yes. But by serving themselves they have to serve others. And they expand economies. The do-good socialists and Marxists don’t. History screams that lesson. Check out Venezuela these days.

An expanding economy is similar to an expanding church. Each gathers members who are prosperous. The prosperous will give more money. More money for the care of the wretched the Pope embraces.

Capitalism is surely not loaves and fishes. But it sure beats the half-a-loaf that Marxism offers. In reality, Marxism hasn’t got a prayer. While capitalism and entrepreneurs can usually use one.

From Tom...as in Morgan.