Father Orthoduck does not have time to write this morning. But, the two comics above point out what part of the problem is. Yesterday, Father Ernesto pointed out that wages have stagnated or dropped while business owners are getting ever larger bonuses. The comic above points out that wealth is being increasingly centralized in groups of the super-rich. This is not the result of increased earnings by companies or of a vastly recovered economy, but is the result of shifting money away from workers to the rich. And, as pointed out by the statistics, this shifting is made possible by stagnant or lowered wages, and by shifting jobs out of this country and laying off workers, not by increased production.
This is why Father Ernesto said that the Scripture from James applies, the one about the wages being withheld crying out to the Lord of Hosts. Wages are being withheld so that the rich may make more, exactly the situation described in James. Worse, notice that the Tea Party supports proposals to lower the wages of those it considers too highly paid (workers) while supporting the lowering of taxes and the undoing of regulations which used to put some brakes on the accelerating accumulation of wealth only by the super-rich. This is why Father Ernesto says that the Tea Party practices the “preferential option for the rich.” He considers them the right-wing version of liberation theology.
Father Ernesto did receive a couple of very well written and considered comments and questions objecting to his conclusions, which objections he will try to answer by tomorrow.
Leave a Reply