{"id":2040576,"date":"2023-09-21T19:08:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T23:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-time-thomas-sowell-took-on-the-pope\/"},"modified":"2023-09-21T19:10:59","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T23:10:59","slug":"the-time-thomas-sowell-took-on-the-pope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-time-thomas-sowell-took-on-the-pope\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Sowell challenged the Pope."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-time-thomas-sowell-took-on-the-pope%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2040576&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Few figures in conservativism are more revered than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/usa-today-asks-is-math-racist-gets-ripped-online-sign-of-cultural-sickness\/\" title=\"USA Today Asks, \u2018Is Math Racist\u2019; Gets Ripped Online: \u2018Sign Of Cultural Sickness\u2019\">free-market economist<\/a>, social theorist and philosopher Thomas Sowell. His work has spanned decades and influenced generations.<\/h2>\n<p>Sowell has written a nationally syndicated column, authored dozens of books and \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/history-the-left-erased-the-founding-fathers-helped-obliterate-slavery\/\" title=\"Leftist historians have erased the crucial role of the Founding Fathers in abolishing slavery.\">dazzled television audiences time<\/a> and time again with his \u200ccommon sense, anti-intellectual approach to political and cultural issues.<\/p>\n<p>The following \u200cstory is part of\u2063 The Western Journal\u2019s exclusive series \u201cThe Sowell Digest.\u201d Each issue will break down and summarize one of Sowell\u2019s\u2062 many influential works.<\/p>\n<p>In advance \u2062of Pope Francis\u2019 September 2015 visit to the United\u200c States,\u200b Thomas Sowell exposed the pontiff\u2019s \u200cflawed leftist ideas.<\/p>\n<p>From the commencement of his papacy in March 2013, Francis had uttered many noble words about helping the poor.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cPope Francis has\u2064 created political controversy, both inside and outside the Catholic Church, by blaming capitalism for many of the problems\u200d of the poor,\u201d Sowell began.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In 2013, for instance, Francis attacked what he called the \u201cnew tyranny\u201d of capitalism\u200c without restraints, according to\u2063 CNBC.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cAs long as the problems of the\u200d poor\u2062 are not\u200b radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be\u200d found for the \u200cworld\u2019s problems or,\u2063 for that matter,\u200c to any problems,\u201d the\u200c pontiff wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The \u201cabsolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation\u201d amounts to a straw man. It exists nowhere. Nor does unrestrained capitalism. It never has.<\/p>\n<p>Assuming it did exist, however, whom would Francis trust to bridle this runaway capitalism of his imagination?<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor,\u201d the pope wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In short, \u200cFrancis looked\u200d to government to\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-time-thomas-sowell-took-on-the-pope\/\" title=\"Thomas Sowell challenged the Pope.\">solve problems supposedly caused<\/a> by capitalism.<\/p>\n<p>Sowell noted that the pope represents merely the latest in \u200da long line \u200bof extreme leftist Catholic leaders.<\/p>\n<p>In the 1980s, for instance, the \u2064National Conference of Catholic\u2064 Bishops published the \u2063\u201cPastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Had the publication been rooted in Scripture, Sowell would not have complained. Alas, Archbishop Rembert Weakland confessed that \u2063he and\u2064 his co-authors found their inspiration elsewhere.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI think we should be up front and say that really\u2064 we took this from the\u200d Enlightenment era,\u201d Weakland said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>On balance, the 18th-century Enlightenment led \u2064to greater human \u200bliberty\u2064 in America and elsewhere. In its worst manifestation, however, \u2064the Enlightenment also degenerated into the\u2064 atheistic French Revolution.<\/p>\n<p>Sowell \u2064found this deceitful on the part of the bishops.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cTo base social or moral principles on the philosophy of the 18th century Enlightenment, and then call the result \u2018Catholic teachings\u2019 suggests something like bait-and-switch advertising,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In any event, neither the\u2063 bishops of the 1980s nor the 21st-century pontiff had\u200b the\u200d right idea.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cBoth the authors\u2064 of the Bishops\u2019 Pastoral Letter in the 1980s, and Pope Francis today, blithely throw around the phrase \u2018the poor,\u2019 and blame poverty on what other people are doing or not doing to or for \u2018the poor,&#8217;\u201d Sowell wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Herein lay his basic criticism of the pope and his leftist ideas. Poverty, in fact, existed long before capitalism.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cAny serious look\u200c at the history \u2063of human beings over the millennia shows that the species began in poverty,\u201d\u200b Sowell wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Thus, he said, \u201cIt is\u200d not poverty, but prosperity, that needs explaining.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sowell provided the explanation.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe much criticized market economy of the \u2064United States\u200d has \u2063done\u2063 far more for the poor than the ideology \u200bof the\u2064 left,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Indeed, conservatives such\u200b as Sowell support market economies precisely because they help the poor. No other economic system has lifted so many people out of poverty.<\/p>\n<p>Had Francis merely urged Catholics to treat the poor with generosity, he would have done right.<\/p>\n<p>By blaming poverty on capitalism, however, the pontiff repeated old leftist lies.<\/p>\n<p>The post The Time Thomas Sowell Took on the Pope appeared \u200dfirst on The Western Journal.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> \u2062 What are the principles of individual liberty and \u2063limited government that \u200dSowell defends in his \u2064critique of Pope \u200bFrancis and the Catholic leadership?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Ok our inspiration for this letter comes more from \u200cKarl Marx than\u2062 from the gospel,\u201d Weakland said in an interview with Catholic World \u2062Report.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sowell\u2019s critique of Francis and the Catholic leadership \u200dis \u200bnot \u200dsimply\u2062 an\u2062 attack on religion, but rather a \u200bdefense of the principles of individual liberty \u2062and \u200dlimited government.<\/p>\n<p>He argues that the reliance on government to\u2063 solve social and economic \u2062problems ultimately leads \u2064to the erosion of individual \u200cfreedom and personal responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>In his book &#8220;The Quest for \u2064Cosmic Justice,&#8221; Sowell\u2063 explains that this reliance on government intervention is rooted in a flawed belief\u2062 in\u2063 the perfectibility\u2063 of\u2064 mankind and the ability of leaders to design \u200band implement policies that will\u2063 create a utopian society.<\/p>\n<p>However, history has shown us time and time again that government intervention often leads \u2064to unintended consequences and the infringement of\u200d individual rights.<\/p>\n<p>Sowell\u2019s argument\u200c is\u2063 not simply a\u2064 theoretical one, but \u2062is\u2062 backed by \u2062empirical \u2064evidence. He points to\u2064 the\u200c failure of socialist and communist regimes in the 20th\u2063 century, which resulted in\u2062 widespread poverty, oppression, and the loss of individual liberties.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore,\u2062 he highlights\u200c the success of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/robert-genetski-todays-america-an-economy-of-shortages\/\" title=\"Robert Genetski: Today\u2019s America: An Economy of Shortages\">free-market economies<\/a> in promoting\u2064 economic growth and lifting millions of people out\u2062 of poverty.<\/p>\n<p>While Sowell acknowledges\u200b that there are \u2063flaws and imperfections in\u2064 free-market\u200b capitalism, he argues that it is the best system we have for promoting individual \u2063liberty and prosperity.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, Sowell\u2019s critique of Pope\u200b Francis and the Catholic leadership is not a \u2064rejection of religion, but\u2064 rather an argument for\u2063 the\u200c principles of individual\u2063 liberty\u2062 and limited government.<\/p>\n<p>He warns against the dangers of \u2063relying on \u2062government \u200dto\u200b solve social and economic problems, and instead advocates for\u200d the\u200b free-market principles that have proven to promote economic growth and lift people out of poverty.<\/p>\n<p>His work serves \u200das a powerful reminder of the importance of individual freedom and personal responsibility in maintaining a just and\u2062 prosperous society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>conservative icon Thomas Sowell, a revered figure, has had a profound impact on generations through his work as a free-market economist, social theorist, and philosopher. With a nationally syndicated column, numerous books, and captivating TV appearances, his down-to-earth, anti-intellectual perspective on political and cultural matters continues to impress and resonate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2056,"featured_media":2040577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2040576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2056"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2040576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2040577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2040576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2040576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2040576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}