Greed and self-absorption are ancient problems for the human race, occupying the bulk of the Old Testament and making major contributions to the New. Adam and Eve struggled with them, to our detriment. Isaiah, Ezekiel and others lectured us at length about their consequences. Christ’s entire ministry was directed to counteracting them, resulting in the proclamation of the New Commandment to serve as an antidote.
Why, then, do greed and self-absorption remain the defining problem of our times? Why, despite thousands of years of sorrowful experience, including wars that have killed hundreds of millions of people, do we continue to allow power-seekers to drive us away from each other, distracting us with untruths, with shiny toys and with infinite opportunities to indulge ourselves while they put us out of meaningful work, encourage us to hate and distrust one another, and entice us to destroy the planet while they maximize profits?
Voters in Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, the United States, and other jurisdictions will face these questions in discerning their choices this fall. It is time for us to engage, in an informed and prayerful manner.
Nations bomb, invade and interfere in other countries in order to obtain access to oil, even when they already have oil. And they “joke” about annexing other countries — along with their resources — in order to bring us closer together and enable commerce to flow more freely.
The state of our hospitals and health care system, which are the subject of 30-50 per cent of the taxes we pay, along with long wait lists for surgery and treatment of disease, and lack of proper care for the elderly, the disabled and the forgotten wreak misery and drive people to accept medically assisted suicide — which, with abortion, has outpaced cancer and other diseases as causes of death across Canada.
Corporate greed — in the form of automation, mergers and consolidations, and other “efficiency” measures — destroys meaningful jobs and contributes to homelessness. At the same time, young parents are forced to work and deliver their children to government-controlled early education systems in order to afford dignified homes. And our municipal governments forcibly displace people, hiding them away, out of sight during major sporting events and festivals.
Our children are deliberately misled by their educators with falsehoods concerning the nature of their bodies and the “benefits” of surgical mutilation, and bullied into other unjust beliefs, rather than being empowered and taught to be proud of themselves as the individuals God made them to be, and to follow His guidance throughout life.
At the same time, religious rights are continually restricted. Our churches are burned while our governments turn their heads and do nothing to protect us.
Unscrupulous governments call early elections and spin deceitful platforms in order to take advantage of emergencies, real or imagined, to consolidate power in view of temporary weaknesses among their opponents; and those appointed to monitor them allow it.
Leaders call for provinces to secede from our country in order to chase false utopias of independence, rather than to humbly but purposefully stand their rightful ground while seeking fair treatment from the federal government and their neighbours.
We, the voters, elect the people who do and encourage these things. We are at fault, at least as much as they are.
And we are not content with merely bullying, cheating and harming one another. We are taking life, health and opportunities away from future generations, at an increasing pace, in order to enjoy our unsustainable indulgences.
Debt, for example: We have elected governments and watched in silence as they have run up debts we cannot pay, sometimes in defiance of the governments’ own auditors. In the past few decades, for example, Canadian governments have run up combined debts to the tune of $2.2 trillion, amounting to approximately $60,000 for every breathing soul in the country. Who will be responsible for repaying such debts? How will our children afford to pay for our overspending, if they cannot afford decent housing now?
How long will we, the voters, allow this to continue?
The environment offers another example. As Pope Francis has pointed out in his encyclical “Laudato si”: “A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system… Humanity is called to recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat… at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it. It is true that there are other factors, yet a number of scientific studies indicate that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases released mainly as a result of human activity.”
Years ago, most of the world’s developed countries agreed to adapt their economies and practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so as to arrive at a more acceptable, sustainable level, by 2030. At best, the Canadian commitment amounted to a level six times greater than the per capital global target. And since the current trade war erupted, Canada, along with many other countries, has “temporarily” shelved its climate efforts, in hopes of maintaining the unsustainable convenience of our current standards of living.
Is it likely that we humans will ever find the resolve to address these problems? It sometimes seems unlikely. Why do we want to harm our children, and all future generations, this way?
There are many issues facing voters in each of the coming elections. On every one of these issues, Catholic social teaching can cast light. Study Catholic social teaching. Inform yourself about current events. Pray constantly. And vote responsibly, with truth and the good of all in mind.
Matthew Marquardt is the director of Catholic Conscience.
