January/February 2012 UN and You

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For many years the prosperity of a country has been based on its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The GDP measures the monetary value of all goods and services that are produced within a nation during a given period and sold to consumers, governments, investors or are exported. In a nutshell this means that GDP represents the part of the population’s well-being that comes from the consumption of goods and services. In order for the GDP of a country to grow, the people must consume more and more.

There are multiple criticisms of the use of GDP as an indicator of a country’s prosperity. For example, if a country engages in war or suffers from natural disasters monetary transactions will increase, thus leading to a higher GDP. If a small portion of a population spends extravagantly, but many do not have the resources to spend, the GDP may show growth, but at the cost of great inequality.

According to Richard Heinberg, “Calculating a nation’s overall health according to its GDP makes about as much sense as evaluating the quality of a piece of music solely by counting the number of notes it contains”. [1] GDP takes into account a single bottom line – economic growth. This means that no externalities such as the cost of natural resources, just wages, etc. are taken into account. Many economists, as well as specialists in other fields, are now advocating for the triple bottom line – social, environmental and economic growth.

A planet with finite resources cannot sustain perpetual growth. This realization, however, implies a total rethinking of the nature of growth and prosperity, as well as a restructuring of our current global financial architecture.

Naomi Klein asserts that “our current economic model is based on the faulty premise that nature is limitless, that we will always be able to find more of what we need, and that if something runs out it can be seamlessly replaced by another resource that we can endlessly extract.” [2] Environmental economist Tim Jackson makes the choice before us very clear: “Trash the system or crash the planet.” Our current economic system is no longer viable. It has led to extreme wealth for some countries and individuals at the expense of many of the least developed countries (LDCs) and a great majority of the populations of both the LDCs and industrialized countries.

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The question we must ask is “How can people work, individually and collectively, to challenge the current all-pervasive consumer society which is destructive of both people and the planet in such a way that it truly leads to building God’s kin-dom on earth? What does Catholic Social Teaching have to offer in the midst of the economic and environmental crises?

A few quotes to ponder: “Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it TAKES A SERIOUS LOOK AT ITS LIFESTYLE. In many parts of the world, society is given to instant gratification and consumerism while remaining indifferent to the damage which these cause.” John Paul II in The Ecological Crisis: A Common Responsibility “We cannot interfere in one area of the ecosystem without paying due attention both to the consequences of such interference in other areas and to the well-being of future generations.” John Paul II in The Ecological Crisis “One must denounce the economic, financial and social mechanisms and structures that are manipulated by the rich and powerful for their own benefit at the expense of the poor.” – John Paul II in Solicitudo Rei Socialis “Profit is useful if it serves as a means towards an end that provides a sense both of how to produce it and how to make good use of it.

Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty.” – Benedict XVI in Caritas in Veritate “Cain’s question, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’, has global implications and is a special challenge for our time, touching not one brother but all our sisters and brothers. Are we responsible for the fate of the world’s poor? Do we have duties to suffering people in far-off places?

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Must we respond to the needs of suffering refugees in distant nations? Are we keepers of the creation for future generations? For the followers of Jesus, the answer is YES! – U.S.

Catholic Conference in Called to Global Solidarity “One of the great challenges to authentic human development is the reality of the miseries of poverty or economic underdevelopment existing side-by-side with the inadmissible super-development which involves consumerism and waste.” – John Paul II in Solicitudo Rei Sociales The fundamental question to ask about economic development is: What is it doing to people? What is it doing for people?

What is it enabling people to do for themselves? – U.S. Bishops in Economic Justice for All “The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. Therefore the earth’s treasures no longer serve to build God’s garden for all to live in, but they have been made to serve the powers of exploitation and destruction.” – Pope Benedict XVI A few more quotes to ponder: “The choices we make determine whether the mark we leave enhances or diminishes the human contribution to Creation’s great quest to actualize its possibilities.

We matter. Our choices make a difference. – David Korten “The fact is that Religious Life was never meant simply to be a labor force in the church; it was meant to be a searing presence, a paradigm of search, a mark of human souls and a catalyst to conscience in the society in which it emerged. -Joan Chittister “The dormant power of women together is the untapped resource needed by humanity and the planet.” – Jean Bolen “The world hasn’t ended, but the world as we know it has-even if we don’t quite know it yet.” –Bill McKibben “Prosperity for the few founded on ecological destruction and persistent social injustice is no

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