The Pope... And The Rukawat

In an earlier post, “Heal the World,” I had written about how the free market unites the faiths of Hindus, Muslims, Parsees, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. What about Christians?

Well, thanks to LRC, Antidote readers now have a Christmas present from the Pope himself. In his New Year message of peace, Pope Benedict XVI says:

“If economic activities require a favourable context in order to develop, this must not distract attention from the need to generate revenue. While it has been rightly emphasized that increasing per capita income cannot be the ultimate goal of political and economic activity, it is still an important means of attaining the objective of the fight against hunger and absolute poverty. Hence, the illusion that a policy of mere redistribution of existing wealth can definitively resolve the problem must be set aside. In a modern economy, the value of assets is utterly dependent on the capacity to generate revenue in the present and the future. Wealth creation therefore becomes an inescapable duty, which must be kept in mind if the fight against material poverty is to be effective in the long term.” [Emphasis added.]

Reminds me of what the late Peter, Lord Bauer once wrote:

“Poverty indicates just one thing – the absence of economic achievement. Economic achievements are made in markets.”

The pathway to ending poverty forever lies in free markets, free trade and complete economic freedom. In other words, Liberty Under Law.

I am extremely happy that the Pope has endorsed this point of view. So now all major faiths are agreed. This presents a historic opportunity for liberals in India, who are battling against godless commies, socialists and communalists. We have God on our side, in the marketplace.

Ultimately, it is a moral question: How can a human being survive morally and with justice? The only answer: Through peaceful, voluntary exchanges in markets. The immoral way is plunder, which includes living off taxes. This is the moral question that is being missed in the USA today, in discussions on their tax-funded “bailouts.”

Hence, it saddened me to read about the ouster of over a 100 women hawkers from a market in Chennai yesterday. They had been selling there for over 25 years. You cannot do this to the poorest businesspeople in the country while "protecting" Bajaj, Tata, Birla and Ambani. In India, liberalism must be based on a strong moral argument.

But this police atrocity on the old, established fish market only proves my point:

Rukawat Hatao. Gareebi Apnay Aap Hutt Jayegi.

Remove all the obstacles. Poverty will vanish on its own.