Obama meets the pope. They make their criticisms of the symptoms of the system here and there but where it counts both are unconditional supporters of capitalism and war.
This blog has exposed the corruption of the Catholic Church with its child abuse. We have exposed its undemocratic nature, shown by the fact that its members cannot elect its leaders. And we have also exposed its view that women are inferior. However throughout this we have always pointed out its class nature. That it is an organization dedicated to propping up capitalism and the capitalist class. Previously it was an organization of feudalism but it was flexible enough that when capitalism came to reign as a world system it made the turn to become a church of capitalism.
Its support for capitalism is evident in its continual propaganda for that system from its pulpits and in its statements; from its assault on the Liberation Theology priests in its own ranks, from its funding of right wing dictatorships in Latin America, to its organizing with the right wing capitalist agencies in the west to make sure that when Stalinism collapsed there would be no move to a democratic socialist society but rather that right wing capitalism would replace it. And of course part of its post Stalinist plan was that the Catholic Church would be placed in a powerful position once more.
Today's Wall Street Journal has a couple of articles which confirms our analysis of this organization. One article talks about the present pope's agenda. Remember the present pope is the ex Nazi youth member who for decades covered up the epidemic of child abuse. The Wall Street Journal says: "In these times the, the pope's agenda is the civilized world's agenda." Yes this pope represents the civilized world's agenda. him and his Nazi youth past and his cover up of child abuse. But to look at the other angle. What the Wall Street Journal, this propaganda sheet of capitalism means by the "civilized world" is of course world capitalism. It is like when they talk of the "international community," they are talking about world capitalism or to use another term imperialism. But the international community and the civilized world sounds so much better, nice and fuzzy -----we are all in this together----- terms which hide the class reality that a tiny group of corporations and individuals rule the world in a ruthless capitalist dictatorship.
The Wall Street Journal titles the other article on the Catholic Church: "Vatican will issue new rules for banks." Yes the Catholic Church not only has its own army and state but also has its own bank. It is called the Institute of Religious Works. (IOR) So why after centuries would the Vatican's bank need new rules? You would think they would have the rules figured out by now. But it becomes obvious even in the friendly Wall Street Journal article what is going on. The Vatican's bank has been breaking the rules of capitalism in relation to money laundering. It has been laundering money! This outfit, the IOR, is presently being prosecuted by the Italian government concerning money laundering. There is a long history of this in the Catholic Church.
The present two top men in the IOR have been placed under investigation by the Italian state because they have failed to comply with Italian laws against money laundering. Only when these top people were named did the Italian State get any kind of cooperation from the Catholic Church on its investigation. In other words the holy fathers were stalling. If it was ordinary people they would be sitting in jail by now. But not these bishops and cardinals and popes. It is never even considered. One law for some and another for others. And of course the big shots in the Catholic Church can hide inside the walls of the Vatican which is a sovereign state. This already happens. There are fugitive criminals hiding inside the Vatican with the full cooperation of the leadership of this outfit. Well so much for that for now.
On to a different topic. A book on the hyper inflation in Germany in the 1930's is beginning to find popularity again. It is called ominously: "When Money Dies," by Adam Fergusson. And it is relevant to what is happening now in the US where the federal reserve is moving to print money to try and deal with the economic crisis. But also very interesting is what the book says about wars fought on credit which is what the US is doing at present. The book talks about "the decision to fund the war on credit." It is talking about the first world war. And it speaks of the "inevitable consequences of paying for a war on credit." The inevitable consequence is hyper inflation. Sit back and think about the following facts. In 1914, 20 German Marks could buy a British pound, but by late 1923 it took 310 billion marks. Yes 310 billion. Unimaginable. And I do not want anybody to say such a thing cannot happen again, that it is not possible to imagine this happening in the US. Nothing can be ruled out in this world of instability, change and crisis.
Us capitalism is massively over borrowed. It is borrowing in all directions to fund wars it will not win and keep a war machine it cannot afford, and workers on living standards it cannot sustain. The book's reviewer does not say such things will happen again but warns that the author's words should be considered. The review ends:" Most haunting are the depictions of those broken on inflation's wheel, the workers without a union to protect them, the retired trying to live on pensions that have lost all meaning, the once proud bourgeois after the annihilation of their savings." The reviewer ends his review by saying: "Everybody ought to read this book. But baby boomers must." Hmmm.
We have said that the US capitalists are skiing downhill towards a precipice with their eyes shut. We believe this more than ever as each day goes by. As we said in a recent post to this blog the US capitalists have gone mad. The working class movement has to intervene and stop the coming catastrophe. The union and labor leaders are criminal in their passivity. We must build an alternative working class leadership and movement. We must put the democratic socialist alternative on the mass agenda once again.
Sean.
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