He stated that: "We do not live better when we flee, hide, refuse to share, stop giving and lock ourselves up in our own comforts," and further, "Such a life is nothing less than slow suicide." He said that history has proven that the “Trickle down Theory of Capitalism has not worked. This theory is based on the ideal that if the government support businesses by giving them tax cuts and other economic incentives, the incentives will eventually help the poor.
Pope Francis also denounced what he calls “crude and naïve trust” in the free market by pointing out that if the market is left to its own devices. It often fosters a “throw-away culture where people are seen as disposable. The Republicans and other anti-government theorist preach what is called pure capitalism. Pure capitalism or Laissez-faire capitalism, is based on the ideal that the markets are self-correcting, self-policing and self-regulating. This is a flawed theory because if Obama had not intervene and saved the banks, the country would have gone into depression. It also might be important to point out that Roosevelt set-up the Federal Reserve Bank to regulate the economic process to keep the country from going into another depression. Pope Francis said that if the income between the rich and the poor continue to widen, it will cause violence in society. We must ask ourselves if we want a banana republic kind of society. The violence and political instability which occurs in the Latin American States are based on the fact that the income levels between the rich and the poor were too wide.
Francis calls on the church to oppose those forces which are spreading income inequality and unemployment and to “advocate for stronger environmental protection and against arm conflict. In conclusion, Pope Francis prefers a church which is “bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security," If you would like to read the 84 page document, I have provided you with the link below:
Sources:
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
EVANGELII GAUDIUM
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY,
CONSECRATED PERSONS
AND THE LAY FAITHFUL
ON THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL
IN TODAY’S WORLD
Click the link to get the full 84 page document of The Apostolic Exhortation
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium_en.html
The Huffington Post: Reuters
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/pope-francis-evangelii-gaudium_n_4342964.html
National Catholic Reporter
http://ncronline.org/news/theology/evangelii-gaudium-amounts-francis-i-have-dream-speech
The Patheos
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/standingonmyhead/2013/11/the-bombshell-of-evangelii-gaudium-in-a-nutshell.html
Wikipedia
Trickle-down economics" and the "trickle-down theory" are terms in United States politics to refer to the idea that tax breaks or other economic benefits provided by government to businesses and upper income levels will benefit poorer members of society by improving the economy as a whole. The term has been attributed to humorist Will Rogers, who said during the Great Depression that "money was all appropriated for the top in hopes that it would trickle down to the needy." The term is mostly used ironically or as pejorative.
Pure Capitalism
Laissez-faire capitalism, also known as pure capitalism or market absolutism, is basically the belief that markets are self-correcting, self-policing, and self-regulating. Laissez-faire proponents also believe the state should be minimal in size and merely an arbiter and a mild regulator: this economic philosophy has failed abysmally.
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