Vatican calls for global authority on economy, "central world bank."

[woo me with science]

Oh for fuck's sake.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/24/idUS264245887020111024

Vatican calls for global authority on economy, "central world bank."

By Philip Pullella
Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:08am EDT

The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment of a “global public authority” and a “central world bank” to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises. The document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should please the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.

“Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority,” was at times very specific, calling, for example, for taxation measures on financial transactions. “The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence,” it said.

It condemned what it called “the idolatry of the market” as well as a “neo-liberal thinking” that it said looked exclusively at technical solutions to economic problems. “In fact, the crisis has revealed behaviours like selfishness, collective greed and hoarding of goods on a great scale,” it said, adding that world economics needed an “ethic of solidarity” among rich and poor nations.

“If no solutions are found to the various forms of injustice, the negative effects that will follow on the social, political and economic level will be destined to create a climate of growing hostility and even violence, and ultimately undermine the very foundations of democratic institutions, even the ones considered most solid,” it said.....It called for the establishment of “a supranational authority” with worldwide scope and “universal jurisdiction” to guide economic policies and decisions.

(more at link)

[piratefish08]

1. how about the catholic church starts paying taxes worldwide?

and stops abusing children.

[meegbear]

4. In that order?

[eShirl]

7. simultaneously

[bighughdiehl]

2. The fundies...

will have a meltdown over this. "world gov, mark of the beast, antichrist" yada
yada yada. And to be fair, this is a little creepy.

[Duer 157099]

3. Yes; because if there's one thing the Vatican knows about

it's centralized wealth.

Sheesh.

Clean your own house first, I think.

[gratuitous]

5. It's not a bad idea

But if the global public authority doesn't have some real, live, actual human beings working the controls, instead of the faceless sociopaths who have wrecked the world economy in order to line their own pockets, we're doing little more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

"Justice," contrary to claims by our government is a concept that encompasses a little more than sudden violent death being inflicted on certain bad actors (identified as such either before or more likely after we have done so). It involves a fair distribution of the world's wealthy, its resources, and its bounty, rather than simply given over to whomever can grab the most in the shortest amount of time.

[Cali_Democrat]

13. It's a terrible idea

The sociopaths that wrecked the economy have almost full control of the central bank in Europe and the US. They also have enormous political influence in both Europe and the US. What makes you think they wouldn't take control of a World Central Bank if it is created?

[Igel]

17. Funny!

The problem is that the faceless sociopaths who have wrecked the world economy, if you asked them, would probably say they did what they thought best for the common good.

Whether events would make the "real, live human beings" into simulacra of the "faceless sociopaths" or if they would just be revealed to be identical in nature is an open question. But the power to alter things ex parte inevitably leads to isolation and ego, which results in major gaffes and screw ups. When we redesignate the former "real, live people" "faceless sociopaths" and condemn another group of people to an impossible yet tempting job.

The first thing such people need is an extreme reluctance to actually take the jobs. Then they need an incredible amount of humility so they can admit that they will screw up and one way to mitigate that is to not assume that they know everything.

[Worship Money]

6. Vatican bitches and moans about neo-liberalism

Yet it embraces and cheers on neo-liberal goons like Berlusconi and Chimpy Bush.

So I don't want to hear it.

[pampango]

8. "...should please the “Occupy Wall Street...” "calling for taxation measures on financial...

The document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should please the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.

“Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority,” was at times very specific, calling, for example, for taxation measures on financial transactions. “The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence,” it said.

It condemned what it called “the idolatry of the market” as well as a “neo-liberal thinking” that it said looked exclusively at technical solutions to economic problems. “In fact, the crisis has revealed behaviours like selfishness, collective greed and hoarding of goods on a great scale,” it said, adding that world economics needed an “ethic of solidarity” among rich and poor nations.

Asked at a news conference if the document could become a manifesto for the movement of the "indignant ones", who have criticised global economic policies, Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the Vatican's Justice and Peace department, said: "The people on Wall Street need to sit down and go through a process of discernment and see whether their role managing the finances of the world is actually serving the interests of humanity and the common good."

[stuntcat]

9. if the End Timers weren't already excited enough..

:eyes: and I thought I couldn't dread the next few decades any more

[Jack Rabbit]

10. Stick to praying for a sinner's soul, guys

This doesn't sound like an effective solution to me. What would keep a world central bank from being as corrupt as the Federal Reserve is now?

[demosincebirth]

11. Good idea, but it will never happen.

[Zen Democrat]

12. Talk about being Too Big To Fail, Good Lord!!!

[FarCenter]

14. Full Text: Note on financial reform from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

Please find, below, an unofficial translation of the Note on the reform of the international financial and monetary systems in the context of global public authority, released Monday by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

http://www.news.va/en/news/full-text-note-on-financial-reform-from-the-pontif

Conclusions

Under the current uncertainties, in a society capable of mobilizing immense means but whose cultural and moral reflection is still inadequate with regard to their use in achieving the appropriate ends, we are invited to not give in and to build above all a meaningful future for the generations to come. We should not be afraid to propose new ideas, even if they might destabilize pre-existing balances of power that prevail over the weakest. They are a seed thrown to the ground that will sprout and hurry towards bearing fruit.As Benedict XVI exhorts us, agents on all levels – social, political, economic, professional – are urgently needed who have the courage to serve and to promote the common good through an upright life. Only they will succeed in living and seeing beyond the appearances of things and perceiving the gap between existing reality and untried possibilities.

Paul VI emphasized the revolutionary power of “forward-looking imagination” that can perceive the possibilities inscribed in the present and guide people towards a new future. By freeing his imagination, man frees his existence. Through an effort of community imagination, it is possible to transform not only institutions but also lifestyles and encourage a better future for all peoples.Modern States became structured wholes over time and reinforced sovereignty within their own territory. But social, cultural and political conditions have gradually changed. Their interdependence has grown – so it has become natural to think of an international community that is integrated and increasingly ruled by a shared system – but a worse form of nationalism has lingered on, according to which the State feels it can achieve the good of its own citizens in a self-sufficient way.

Today all of this seems anachronistic and surreal, and all the nations, great or small, together with their governments, are called to go beyond the “state of nature” which would keep States in a never-ending struggle with one another. Globalization, despite some of its negative aspects, is unifying peoples more and prompting them to move towards a new “rule of law” on the supranational level, supported by a more intense and fruitful collaboration. With dynamics similar to those that put an end in the past to the “anarchical” struggle between rival clans and kingdoms with regard to the creation of national states, today humanity needs to be committed to the transition from a situation of archaic struggles between national entities, to a new model of a more cohesive, polyarchic international society that respects every people's identity within the multifaceted riches of a single humanity. Such a passage, which is already timidly under way, would ensure the citizens of all countries – regardless of their size or power – peace and security, development, and free, stable and transparent markets. As John Paul II warns us, “Just as the time has finally come when in individual States a system of private vendetta and reprisal has given way to the rule of law, so too a similar step forward is now urgently needed in the international community.”Time has come to conceive of institutions with universal competence, now that vital goods shared by the entire human family are at stake, goods which the individual States cannot promote and protect by themselves.

So conditions exist for definitively going beyond a ‘Westphalian’ international order in which the States feel the need for cooperation but do not seize the opportunity to integrate their respective sovereignties for the common good of peoples.It is the task of today’s generation to recognize and consciously to accept these new world dynamics for the achievement of a universal common good. Of course, this transformation will be made at the cost of a gradual, balanced transfer of a part of each nation’s powers to a world Authority and to regional Authorities, but this is necessary at a time when the dynamism of human society and the economy and the progress of technology are transcending borders, which are in fact already very eroded in a globalized world.

The birth of a new society and the building of new institutions with a universal vocation and competence are a prerogative and a duty for everyone, with no distinction. What is at stake is the common good of humanity and the future itself.In this context, for every Christian there is a special call of the Spirit to become committed decisively and generously so that the many dynamics under way will be channelled towards prospects of fraternity and the common good. An immense amount of work is to be done towards the integral development of peoples and of every person. As the Fathers said at the Second Vatican Council, this is a mission that is both social and spiritual, which “ to the extent that the former can contribute to the better ordering of human society, it is of vital concern to the Kingdom of God.”

In a world on its way to rapid globalization, the reference to a world Authority becomes the only horizon compatible with the new realities of our time and the needs of humankind. However, it should not be forgotten that this development, given wounded human nature, will not come about without anguish and suffering.Through the account of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), the Bible warns us how the “diversity” of peoples can turn into a vehicle for selfishness and an instrument of division. In humanity there is a real risk that peoples will end up not understanding each other and that cultural diversities will lead to irremediable oppositions. The image of the Tower of Babel also warns us that we must avoid a “unity” that is only apparent, where selfishness and divisions endure because the foundations of the society are not stable. In both cases, Babel is the image of what peoples and individuals can become when they do not recognize their intrinsic transcendent dignity and brotherhood.
The spirit of Babel is the antithesis of the Spirit of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-12), of God’s design for the whole of humanity: that is, unity in truth. Only a spirit of concord that rises above divisions and conflicts will allow humanity to be authentically one family and to conceive of a new world with the creation of a world public Authority at the service of the common good.

[Fire Walk With Me]

15. Vatican want their fingers in the pie again and another dark age with them in power.;

Damn NAZI allies! (Don't whine, instead google " Vatican Concordat" and decide for yourself.)

http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/hist/jpetropoulos/holocaust/reichconcordat.htm

"The Concordat allowed the papacy to impose the new laws on the German clergy, and gained special privileges for Catholic schools and organizations. Pacelli also hoped that the agreement would safeguard against Nazi encroachments on and persecution of the German Catholic minority. In exchange, the Vatican would ‘encourage’ the local Catholic clergy and faithful to ‘voluntarily’ withdraw from politics, going as far as disbanding its powerful Catholic Center Party. This effectually destroyed any political opposition against the Nazis. This guarantee of nonintervention left Hitler and the Nazis free to pursue their anti-Semitic policies."

=--=----

The Vatican owns amazing amounts of land and have untold treasure in their basements...at their root, they're only about power. Keep them as far from it as is possible!

[Warren DeMontague]

16. And, they want to borrow all your 7 year old boys.

Just for an hour or so.