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Poverty soars as virus exposes our collective frailty. Photo source: World Bank
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The coronavirus pandemic has the potential to lead to an
increase in inequality in almost every country at once, the first time this has
happened since records began. The virus has exposed, fed off and increased
existing inequalities of wealth, gender and race. Over two million people have
died, and hundreds of millions of people are being forced into poverty while
many of the richest – individuals and corporations – are thriving. Billionaire fortunes
returned to their pre-pandemic highs in just nine months, while recovery for
the world’s poorest people could take over a decade. The crisis has exposed our
collective frailty and the inability of our deeply unequal economy to work for
all. Yet it has also shown us the vital importance of government action to
protect our health and livelihoods. Trans-formative policies that seemed
unthinkable before the crisis have suddenly been shown to be possible. There
can be no return to where we were before. Instead, citizens and governments
must act on the urgency to create a more equal and sustainable world. – Oxfam
Briefing Paper, January 2021
Christian leaders have been making the same point as this British
aid organization. The overall message is that the global human society cannot
just go back to the way things were before the COVID-19 virus exploded in our
midst. These leaders are putting the world’s elite on the spot, just as much as
they are challenging ordinary people to grasp the opportunity to push for an
end to unjust systems in all societies, and especially accept changes that
ensure protection of the poor, and of the planet as well.
As recently as last Sunday, Pope Francis had this message
for all people of good will:
Now, while we are looking forward to a slow and arduous
recovery from the pandemic, there is a danger that we will forget those who are
left behind. The risk is that we may then be struck by an even worse virus,
that of selfish indifference. A virus spread by the thought that life is better
if it is better for me, and that everything will be fine if it is fine for me.
It begins there and ends up selecting one person over another, discarding the
poor, and sacrificing those left behind on the altar of progress.
The present pandemic, however, reminds us that there are no
differences or borders between those who suffer. We are all frail, all equal,
all precious. May we be profoundly shaken by what is happening all around us:
the time has come to eliminate inequalities, to heal the injustice that is
undermining the health of the entire human family! Let us learn from the early
Christian community described in the Acts of the Apostles. It received mercy
and lived with mercy: “All who believed were together and had all things in
common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all,
as any had need” (Acts 2:44-45). This is not some ideology: it is Christianity.
With that last sentence Francis is saying it is not
communism to share, that solidarity is at the heart of Christian life and our
relationship is as a family facing God, who we call “our Father” for good
reason. Francis dwells on this point:
[…] a small part of the human family has moved ahead, while
the majority has remained behind. Each of us could say: “These are complex
problems, it is not my job to take care of the needy, others have to be
concerned with it!”.
[…] To everyone: let us not think only of our interests, our
vested interests. Let us welcome this time of trial as an opportunity to
prepare for our collective future. Because without an all-embracing vision,
there will be no future for anyone.
His final plea is this: “Let us show mercy to those who are
most vulnerable; for only in this way will we build a new world.”
Such strong words about the need to act now to create a truly
human society, to have that “new world” arise from a global community that was
already ill even before the virus overwhelmed the lives of so many families,
are no flash in the pan for Francis. He has produced two encyclicals (letters)
that plead for attention to the global environment and the economic systems
that impact it – 2015’s Laudato
Si’ (Praise…); and 2020’s Fratelli
tutti (subtitled "on fraternity and social friendship").
Again recently, Pope Francis used his traditional Easter Urbi
et Orbi (City and World) message to declare his solidarity for those
who are the least in society, urging practical steps to bring the multitudes –
including many in the middle class in developed countries – back from the brink
of enslavement within a revived “normal”:
The Easter message [Jesus’ death but also resurrection] does
not offer us a mirage or reveal a magic formula. It does not point to an escape
from the difficult situation we are experiencing. The pandemic is still
spreading, while the social and economic crisis remains severe, especially for
the poor.
The crucified and risen Lord is comfort for those who have
lost their jobs or experience serious economic difficulties and lack adequate
social protection. May he inspire public authorities to act so that everyone,
especially families in greatest need, will be offered the assistance needed for
a decent standard of living. Sadly, the pandemic has dramatically increased the
number of the poor and the despair of thousands of people.
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| Photo source: World Bank |
Practical steps that the pope might have in mind are
offered
in a letter that the Vatican presented to the spring meeting of the World
Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, held online last week.
The pope told the members and advisers of these powerful
groups:
It is my hope that your discussions will contribute to a
model of “recovery” capable of generating new, more inclusive and sustainable
solutions to support the real economy, assisting individuals and communities to
achieve their deepest aspirations and the universal common good.
The notion of recovery cannot be content to a return to an
unequal and unsustainable model of economic and social life, where a tiny
minority of the world’s population owns half of its wealth.
For all our deeply-held convictions that all men and women
are created equal, many of our brothers and sisters in the human family,
especially those at the margins of society, are effectively excluded from the
financial world. The pandemic, however,
has reminded us once again that no one is saved alone. If we are to come out of this situation as a
better, more humane and solidary world, new and creative forms of social,
political and economic participation must be devised, sensitive to the voice of
the poor and committed to including them in the building of our common future
(cf. Fratelli Tutti, 169).
As experts in finance and economics, you know well that
trust, born of the interconnectedness between people, is the cornerstone of all
relationships, including financial relationships. Those relationships can only be built up
through the development of a “culture of encounter” in which every voice can be
heard and all can thrive, finding points of contact, building bridges, and envisioning
long-term inclusive projects (cf. ibid., 216).
A spirit of global solidarity also demands at the least a
significant reduction in the debt burden of the poorest nations, which has been
exacerbated by the pandemic. Relieving
the burden of debt of so many countries and communities today, is a profoundly
human gesture that can help people to develop, to have access to vaccines,
health, education and jobs.
The pope also raised the matter of “the ‘ecological debt’
that exists especially between the global north and south”, where, having despoiled
their own lands, rich nations suck resources from the developing nations, often
with catastrophic consequences for the local people. In effect, he says: “Experts,
use your brains to work out ways to right this injustice”. He suggests that it
was up to developed nations to pay this debt:
…not only by significantly limiting their consumption of
non-renewable energy or by assisting poorer countries to enact policies and
programmes of sustainable development, but also by covering the costs of the
innovation required for that purpose.
The importance of focusing on achieving the common good gets much of the
pope’s attention:
Central to a just and integrated development is a profound
appreciation of the essential objective and end of all economic life, namely
the universal common good. It follows
that public money may never be disjoined from the public good, and financial
markets should be underpinned by laws and regulations aimed at ensuring that
they truly work for the common good.
A commitment to
economic, financial and social solidarity thus entails much more than engaging
in sporadic acts of generosity. “It
means thinking and acting in terms of community. It means that the lives of all are prior to
the appropriation of goods by a few. It
also means combatting the structural causes of poverty, inequality, the lack of
work, land and housing, the denial of social and labour rights… Solidarity,
understood in its most profound meaning, is a way of making history” (Fratelli
Tutti, 116).
Also, in light of the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent
concern that the likes of banks and hedge funds are gambling with other people’s
money, it is not surprising that Francis highlights the need for thorough
reform in these fields:
It is time to acknowledge that markets – particularly the
financial ones – do not govern themselves. Markets need to be underpinned by
laws and regulations that ensure they work for the common good, guaranteeing
that finance – rather than being merely speculative or self-financing – works
for the societal goals so much needed during the present global healthcare
emergency.
Finally, Pope Francis expresses a heartfelt wish:
It is my hope that in these days your formal deliberations
and your personal encounters will bear much fruit for the discernment of wise
solutions for a more inclusive and sustainable future. [This is] a future where finance is at the
service of the common good, where the vulnerable and the marginalized are
placed at the centre, and where the earth, our common home, is well cared for.
In future posts, attention will be given to what other
religious leaders are considering as crucial as countries undertake the challenge
of reshaping their societies so that what was harmful though “normal” – such as
gross inequality – no longer takes pride of place, instead the starting point
being allocated to the common good.
