Ecclesia Americana

An email (from reader R.L. in Bethesda, MD) indicates that the pope agrees with my prior post related to the negative consequences of American capitalism. This is a very good point to make (especially for the benefit of folks whose opinions about religion lack subtlety).

Catholicism is seen as "conservative" by many secular people, because of abortion or the ban on women priests. But in Ecclesia In America the Pope also expresses the urgent need to maintain solidarity with the poor - something he has actually said repeatedly, in many venues. About globalism he says the "consequences ... will be negative if it is organized just to suit the interests of the powerful." He urges the faithful to reject consumerism and embrace a life of simplicity.

This from a guy who knew the ravages of socialism in his native Poland, and played a role in advancing democracy in eastern Europe.

The same email goes on to go on to point out that my comments about "white flight" are "so 1970s". I disagree. The demographic trends that have governed the explosion in growth of the Cincinnati exurbs are a phenomenon of the '00s. All of the 2004 election postmortems cited these exurbs as a key factor in Bush/Cheney II. The same trend is at play in Detroit, Houston, and Atlanta.

Yes, I am suggesting that a component of that growth - at least in my town - is related to racial fears. Too many white people still see a black person walking down the street as a sign of a dangerous neighborhood. They would prefer to be sitting in traffic, at a light, in Mason, Ohio (or Rockville, Maryland), while the light changes, and nobody moves.

How this lifestyle reconciles with simplicity and solidarity with the poor is, I'm afraid, beyond the scope of today's post.