But like Marx, our concern should be for the least of these, for the poor, the disadvantaged, the marginalized and the weak of the world. Christians should not be about one system or another, we shouldn’t be advocating one political or economic system over others. He said always.Īnd this is where Pope Francis is calling us to turn our concern. Jesus didn’t say you will have the poor until you institute a capitalist, mixed-market, socialist, or communist economic system. “For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.” Jesus points out that there is no system that will work perfectly. Marxism suggests an alternative to capitalism: socialism, perhaps leading to communism.īut this where Marxism and Jesus diverge. That concern for the poor sounds a lot like that Jesus guy. Marx’s concern for society or community, was above his concern for the individual. And I am not saying that we should switch to communism.īut unlike Capitalism, which is a system that is designed to be concerned with and favour those on the top, Marxist thought turns towards the poor and marginalized. And the examples of Marxism or communism that our world has put into practice haven’t been any better than capitalism for making people’s lives better. We have all been told that Marxism is unequivocally bad. “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” “Society does not consist of individuals, but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individuals stand.” Sounds like the lie of trickle down economics. Karl Marx, on the other hand, said that the Capitalist promise, that what is good for the Capitalist (increased profits, lower taxes etc…) is also good for the average worker, is a big lie. Our blind support for capitalism is something that capitalists have convinced us is good for us… Christians included. This is system is unequal from the get go, and most of have drunk the cool-aid thinking that capitalism is fair and balanced system. That is how capitalist invest in and own things. In other words, we must be paid less than we make, produce or earn for our employers. Capitalism necessitates that the investors and owners take in the profit margins from the production of their workers. We are workers, the proletariat, the ones off whom the capitalists earn their riches. Capitalists have the capital (money) to invest in stock markets, to own means of production, to run the economy. So here is the thing about Capitalism – The majority of us are not capitalists in this economic system. I am only 31 years old, but even I remember a time when the ‘capitalists fat cats’ were more joke than revered social leaders.
Movements like Occupy Wall Street or the recent fast food workers strike show that the economic inequality created by capitalist policies is not really helping most people get ahead, but instead the majority (the middle class) is falling further and further behind the rich few.Įven here in Canada, I hear intelligent, well-meaning people tell me that capitalism is the best economic system for us. And I think Christians could benefit from a little Marxism. These two media storms highlight a bigger issue that we are facing and that is economic inequality. Pope Francis responded by saying he is not a Marxist and Marxist ideology is wrong, instead he is a Christian. And of course, once the public and social media outrage ( primarily on twitter) got to be too loud, Moore apologized (for being so foolish as to let his repugnant values show in public).Īlso, recently the conservative right in the US (Rush Limbaugh, in particular) have called pope Francis a Marxist for advocating for the poor and speaking out against capitalism.
Just a couple of days ago in Canada, Federal Industry Minister James Moore made this statement. “Is it my job to feed my neighbour’s child? I don’t think so.”
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