Pope Francis and Donald Trump: Competing visions of what life is about.

Pope Francis and Donald Trump: Competing visions of what life is about.

Inspiration from Saint Francis"I do not want to write this Encyclical without turning to that attractive and compelling figure, whose name I took as my guide and inspiration when I was elected Bishop of Rome. I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. He is the patron saint of all who study and work in the area of ecology, and he is also much loved by non-Christians. He was particularly concerned for God’s creation and for the poor and outcast. He loved, and was deeply loved for his joy, his generous self-giving, his openheartedness. He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace." -- Pope Francis, Laudato Si'
Living Simply
"Those who enjoy more and live better each moment are those who have given up dipping here and there, always on the look-out for what they do not have . . . Even living on little, they can live a lot, above all when they cultivate other pleasures and find satisfaction in fraternal encounters, in service, in developing their gifts, in music and art, in contact with nature, in prayer. Happiness means knowing how to limit some needs which only diminish us, and being open to the many different possibilities which life can offer." -- Pope Francis, Laudato Si'
The Problem of Greed
and Collective Selfishness
"The current global situation engenders a feeling of instability and uncertainty, which in turn becomes “a seedbed for collective selfishness”.[145] When people become self-centred and self-enclosed, their greed increases. The emptier a person’s heart is, the more he or she needs things to buy, own and consume. It becomes almost impossible to accept the limits imposed by reality. In this horizon, a genuine sense of the common good also disappears. As these attitudes become more widespread, social norms are respected only to the extent that they do not clash with personal needs. So our concern cannot be limited merely to the threat of extreme weather events, but must also extend to the catastrophic consequences of social unrest. Obsession with a consumerist lifestyle, above all when few people are capable of maintaining it,  can only lead to violence and mutual destruction." -- Pope Francis, Laudato Si'
Replacing Greed with Generosity
"Bartholomew has drawn attention to the ethical and spiritual roots of environmental problems, which require that we look for solutions not only in technology but in a change of humanity; otherwise we would be dealing merely with symptoms. He asks us to replace consumption with sacrifice, greed with generosity, wastefulness with a spirit of sharing, an asceticism which “entails learning to give, and not simply to give up. It is a way of loving, of moving gradually away from what I want to what God’s world needs. It is liberation from fear, greed and compulsion.”  -- Pope Francis, Laudato Si'

Living as if People and the Earth Matter:
Ecological Civilization International
"The world is clearly on an unsustainable course, as the Pope recently reminds us so convincingly. He also emphasized that the changes required of us must follow from changes in our attitudes toward life, our ways of interacting with each other, and our worldviews. He repeatedly points to the need to recognize how everything deserves to be treated with respect and care, and how all things are interrelated: the elements of the environment with one another; human persons and groups with one another; the environment and human beings with one another. If we view reality and our situation through these different lenses, we will discern new ways of ordering our lives and our communities. The overall result will be what the Pope calls integral ecology.
Many people are working to reform current practices and policies in the necessary direction. But few can clearly formulate a generous and inclusive vision of our world and universe. We are still seeking an ecological worldview that will enable us to live with respect and care for the community of life. As a result, progress is fragmentary and marginal, while the idea of “there is no alternative” dominates our major institutions. The urgency of change becomes daily more apparent; more and more people understand the need for a coherent alternative to which the many focused efforts can contribute.
We believe the time has come to encourage and cultivate ecological worldviews that emphasize the deep interconnectedness of the whole of life and that invite us, amid our respective efforts to help heal the world, to recognize the interconnectedness of all efforts to reform destructive systems. These worldviews will be based on the awareness that we are part of a larger web of life. They will help us recognize that the best hope for the world today is that we live with an awareness of these connections, with respect for the whole of life, and, as Pope Francis emphasizes, with special regard for those who are marginalized, poor and powerless. This broad partnership will involve groups working on saving species and healing the oceans on the one hand, and groups seeking justice for the exploited and peace among nations on the other. Whatever our area of work, it is urgent that we strive to make our shared values and deeper commitments evident, supporting one another in common cause without giving up our special foci." - Ecological Civilization International

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America the Greedy by Jung-Kyu KimExcerpts from Reversing the Culture of Greed
Huffington Post, 09/24/2013 1:02 pm EDT
A culture of greed and selfishness has somehow pervaded all levels of American society. How could the American elite ever allow this to happen? In our opinion, the main culprit was the widely held belief that pursuit of self-interest is the "rational" thing to do. Any other mode of behaviour -- say, a cab driver charging less fare to a blind woman, a phenomenon which is surprisingly common - was considered "irrational" and demanded an explanation based on selfish reasons (e.g. "ego motivation," meaning the cab driver just wanted to feel good about himself). Not only was the utilitarian calculation of self-interest condoned as the "natural" thing to do, but it was actively encouraged as the "right" thing to do - a philosophical stance known as rational egoism, coined by Ayn Rand in The Virtue of Selfishness. When we pursue this line of thinking to its logical extreme, we arrive at Gordon Gekko's famous dictum in the film Wall Street: "Greed is good." It was this kind of unquestioning belief in rational self-interest which slowly tore apart the fabric of Protestant morality, which had once upheld this great nation.
So what is to be done? If the cause of decline is primarily philosophical, then reversing it would require a radically new philosophy. Specifically, we must discard rational self-interest, a.k.a. the profit motive, as the prevailing model of human nature. Not only is it dangerously simplistic, but it is actively harmful. By openly endorsing utilitarian calculation of self-interest, it condones selfishness and greed; breeds a culture of money worship; exacerbates social competition; gives rise to contentious litigation; erodes loyalty and trust; and dehumanizes us to a point where we see one another as moneymaking tools (a means) rather than as fellow human beings (an end in itself). This may sound like dull moralizing, but the truth is that a society which prizes profit-making above all else is destined to decay sooner or later. The Great Learning, a Confucian classic from the Warring States period, ends with this astute observation, which was meant for the rulers of ancient states but still rings true today:
"If a leader makes profit-making his chief business, he will end up employing the services of greedy men. His intentions may be good, but when such small men control the affairs, calamities from Heaven and injuries from men will befall the state... This is why a true leader must not consider profit-making his profit, but regard enacting righteousness as his profit."
The single-minded pursuit of profit is a dangerous phenomenon which can dull our sensitivities and gradually obliterate all other social and human considerations. While Confucians did not deny the validity of the profit motive per se, they held that it should be brought under control by a spirit of compassion, aesthetic sensibility and humaneness -- what Confucius called ren.
Nothing illustrates the collapse of American civic society more forcefully than our gated communities and bulging prisons -- standing in stark contrast to the unlocked front doors that used to be so common in large swathes of America. The decline in social cohesion is not due to some external economic shock such as globalization and IT. Nor does the blame lie with the liberation of women, minorities and homosexuals, as some right-wing commentators claim. The real culprit is an unquestioning belief in rational self-interest which gradually pervaded our classrooms, boardrooms and policy caucuses. Ironically, what our diagnosis implies is that the decline can be reversed, as the underlying cause is primarily philosophical. For this to happen, though, we must recognize that selfishness (even of the enlightened sort) is ultimately a poor basis for morality and introduce a new philosophy based on the values of compassion, aesthetic sensibility and humaneness (ren) instead.
Donald Trump on being really rich
“I’m really rich. And by the way, I’m not saying that in a bragging way, that’s the kind of mindset you need for this country. We gotta make this country rich.”
"I’m proud of my net worth, I’ve done an amazing job … The total is $8,737,540,000 US. I’m not doing that to brag, because you know what, I don’t have to brag.”
What is Success? from Donald Trump website

"Donald J. Trump is the very definition of the American success story, continually setting the standards of excellence while expanding his interests in real estate, sports and entertainment. He is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance. An accomplished author, Mr. Trump has authored over fifteen bestsellers, and his first book, The Art of the Deal, is considered a business classic and one of the most successful business books of all time."
The Trump Signature: Real Estate, Golf Courses, and Luxury Hotels from Donald Trump website
"In New York City, the Trump signature is synonymous with the most prestigious of addresses, among them the world-renowned Fifth Avenue skyscraper, Trump Tower, the Trump International Hotel & Tower, Trump World Tower at the United Nations Plaza, 40 Wall Street, and Trump Park Avenue. His portfolio includes the historic Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida and his ever expanding collection of award-winning golf courses (seventeen thus far) which span the U.S from Los Angeles to New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Florida, and internationally from Scotland and Ireland to Dubai. He recently added the iconic golf resorts of Turnberry, Scotland, and Doonbeg, Ireland, to his portfolio and Trump National Golf Club Washington, DC, has been highly acclaimed. The Trump Hotel Collection has grown to include properties in Chicago, Las Vegas, Waikiki, Panama and Toronto in addition to Trump SoHo/New York and the acclaimed Trump International Hotel & Tower on Central Park West which once again won the coveted Mobil Five-Star Award as well as the Five Star Diamond Award from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences. The Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago was awarded the #1 Hotel in the US and Canada by Travel & Leisure Magazine. Recent acquisitions include the iconic Doral Hotel & Country Club (800 acres) in Miami, and the historic Old Post Office Building in Washington, D.C. which is being developed into a world class luxury hotel. Seen as a generational asset by the Trump family, the redevelopment plan will infuse the building with new life. Groundbreaking was in July of 2014."
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