Pope Francis: America’s Saviour

The ideals of the Pope are as American as apple pie

I’m not Catholic, but man, do I like Pope Francis. It’s not because I’m some bleeding heart liberal, though compared to some I could be just that. It’s because he, more than any other leader right now, espouses the values that have made America great. Not only is he the best thing to happen to America, I would argue that he’s the best thing that could happen to capitalism.

Saving Capitalism

Economic models require balance to work effectively. Balance does not mean equality. It means the “right” amount of elements to function smoothly. The world’s largest capitalistic Western economies are stagnating because the distribution of wealth is out of balance. When wealth accumulates in one area and stops flowing, the model starts to break down. We’ve been experiencing this for years now. Pick your metaphor: water, blood, whatever. When they stop flowing, bad things happen.

The Pope is not promoting the creation of welfare states or Marxism, a simple-minded assertion that demonstrates a lack of understanding of his message and, well, Marxism. Instead, the Pope’s message defends a core tenant of capitalism by insisting that those who horde the flow of wealth release it. His message is exactly what capitalism needs to work. The outcome of following his advice is the restoration of healthy capitalistic economies that benefit everyone involved, rich and poor alike.

Restoring America’s Promise

It’s an enduring American belief that anyone can apply themselves and rise above their circumstance to be successful. It does happen. It’s also increasingly harder to do. Access to success has become increasingly and structurally harder for those born outside of privilege. It’s the structural nature of this change that is grinding that classic American belief into a myth.

As a people, we have allowed the richest among us to effectively employ our politicians and set rules that favor themselves. The removal of government as a fair arbitrageur, a body committed to all the people, a sentinel for equality that stands above purchase and threat, has left in its wake a system that financially cripples anyone outside of privilege.

Gone are the days of high quality, low cost college education in states like California. Gone are the days of quality, public education on any level in almost every state. They’ve all been gutted by the policies of people who were most likely alumni of those very same institutions, but are now more concerned with keeping taxes at historically low levels for their electoral benefactors. It has become not just challenging, but impossible for many outside of privilege to get the basic education they need to rise above their current state.

The Pope speaks for the value system that made America great. He champions for the less fortunate to be given access to education, opportunity and the basic necessities for survival. He argues for an economic model that pays employees a fair wage so they can be self-sufficient, positive contributors to society and the economy. In short, he’s fighting for people to have a fair chance at life, to make their dreams a reality, to live free from undue need and oppression. Sound familiar?

These are classic American values that have been in our “brochure” for years. These are the values that drove millions of people to sail, fly and walk here throughout our history. For more than 40 years, our economy had far higher taxes on the privileged, far greater access to quality education, and far stronger regulation of political behavior. During these times, despite what others may proclaim, we were the envy of the world and more of our people — our fellow Americans — were building successful lives for themselves and their children.

Pope Francis is promoting a healthy economic model that allows wealth to flow and by doing so, raise the standard of living for all who are capable and willing to contribute. He’s promoting fairness of access. He’s championing the notion that a country, a people, can only be healthy and successful if all of her citizens have a real and fair chance of applying themselves to make a better life.

These are classic American ideals found throughout our history and are cornerstones of our mythos. And yet, they are ideals that I hear more these days from a square in Vatican City than the halls of Washington. The Pope has challenged us, as Americans, to question the changes we’ve allowed to dominate our culture. In many ways, he’s challenged us to live up to our own ideals, our own values, our own promise. Given the conversation he’s sparked, he may have given us the push we needed to save us from ourselves.