I am a member of a religious order. I took a vow of poverty. Many say, “yeah you took it we live it, your life is not so bad.”  It is true, I live comfortably, so comfortably that I feel uncomfortable. But my vow of poverty was not a vow to live radical poverty, although that is a call also and many answer it. My vow was to own nothing, to share whatever I had with the other people who signed on to do the same. My relative comfort is a proof that the system works; there is enough for everyone. There is nothing wrong with the notion of communism (common ownership), many less technology developed communities all round the world continue to live in this way. Communism, with a big C failed because God was left out of the story and because shared ownership only works if people freely agree to it and then freely keep to their commitment.I am sure that Mr Gates and Mr Buffet and most of their friends are good and well intentioned people. I don’t think Gates set out to make gazzillions, but the fact is no one has a right to have that bigger share in the earth’s resources as these men. Even after they have given 90% of it away they will still have much more than they could ever use. It is not a matter of charity, it is a matter of justice. An economic system that allows this to happen is a broken system. The poor should not depend on the good will of the rich.

That said, I have no idea what he answer is. I am not so naive as to think that everyone would willingly sign up to shared ownership. In the meantime I will examine my own conscience and consider what I must do to reduce my level of comfort so that I might feel more comfortrable.

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1 Comment

Catherine Hannan
Aug 17, 2010 11:27