Pastor’s Page –
The More You Have, the More You Need

In his book on wealth, Richistan: A Journey through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich", Robert Frank states that millionaires usually estimate that to feel secure and rich they need "twice their net worth." The more you have the more you need. It seems that no matter how big you are or how much you have, some people always feel small.
   
"A few million doesn't go as far as it used to.... You are nobody here at $10 million.... I'd be rich in Kansas City... But here I’m a dime a dozen." (The New York Times interview of Silicon Valley millionaires)
    
The media feeds us a steady diet of wants and needs. We are inundated with the message that we must produce more, consume more, sell more and own more. How about a platinum cellphone for $30,000, a wristwatch by Patek Philippe for a $1.2 million, a yacht for $300 million?
    


Our current economic crisis was propelled by greed; the greed of bankers and lenders around the globe. Capitalism without moral or legal constraints consumes the resources of the poor and middle class. What happened to your 401(k) or retirement account?

At a $4600 seat fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffett noted that the tax rate on his $46 million income was just about half the rate on his secretary’s income, a woman who made $60,000 annually. He told the 400 wealthy people in the audience at the fundraiser, "The 400 of us pay a lower part of our income in taxes than our receptionist do, or are cleaning ladies, for that matter. If you are in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%."
    
Catholic social teaching recognizes that the widening gap between rich and poor nations is arguably the great evil of our time. Richer nations have the power to cultivate the economies of poor nations while avoiding colonialism, cultural imperialism and subjugation. Half the world's population subsisting on a dollar or two a day is not morally acceptable.
     
Love impels us as Christians to bring justice to deprived peoples. Without economic justice, violence can only result. Extreme poverty can be the breeding ground for jealousy and hate.
    
Pope Paul VI offered a threefold obligation for richer nations: generous and wisely planned aid to poorer nations; systematic reform of the economic rules for international trade; and sensitivity to cultural differences as well as the spirit of collaboration between rich and poor. He called for "increased esteem for the dignity of the others, the turning toward the spirit of poverty (for those who have more), cooperation for the common good, the will and desire for peace."

Generous and sacrificial giving to others is the gospel of love in action. Appropriate use of the material goods we have been given by God, is our challenge.

Peace,
Father Bruce