In Easter mssg, Pope Francis proposes Universal Basic Income

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https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2 ... sic-income

I think this is a nice change in tone for the Pope and the church. Definitely a break away from their typical requests for 10% tithes from everyone. But he didn’t go as far as to say the church would forego their tithes from here on in to help support UBI nor did he commit any funds from the Vatican’s vast wealth reserves.

So it’s still offloading all of the expense and actions onto members of their faith and the rest of the world’s citizens vs the church actually leading by example. You’d think that skimming 10% off the top for a couple thousand years would have built them up enough money to exist into perpetuity. Maybe they’re aiming to collect tithes as long as they can before science completely replaces religion in the future? As it stands now they still serve a purpose - some of the most faithful believers I know are also men of science/medical doctors. Science hasn’t yet been able to explain everything and where it stops faith and belief in a higher power takes over.

I guess time will tell if this Easter message resonates with people and their representative governments around the world and actually results in UBI and a leveling of the playing field in order to rebalance the extreme wealth inequality of present day society.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

Yes, this pope does seem to be bending to the wills of this age. My personal experience in the last five years or so in talking with lapsed Catholics I know who like what this pope has been saying and doing not only have no intention of returning to the Church but seem to have an underlying desire to see the Church wither and die (punishment for past transgressions and such).

I'm wondering if the following prophetic quote from Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will come to fruition in my lifetime:

"The Church never suits the particular mood of any age, because it was made for all ages. A Catholic knows that if the Church married the mood of any age in which it lived, it would be a widow in the next age. The mark of the true Church is that it will never get on well with the passing moods of the world” (I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you – John 15:19)"

"Traditional Catholics" would say that the devil loves the idea of the Church bending to the will of this age (or any other) because if Fulton Sheen is right, it will be the downfall of the Church.

In some tarot decks "The Hierophant" is also known as "The Pope". I see Pope Francis as a reversed version of this card.

Interesting couple of articles about UBI:

This one is pretty simplistic and Canada centric:

https://oakvillenews.org/universal-basi ... -covid-19/

It’s basically advocating for UBI in Canada now. It’s not exactly clear on the math of how $210B in (hypothetical) increased GDP would pay for $43B in expenses but I suppose the simplest answer is correct - I guess the feds project to collect ~25% in taxes from an additional $210B in GDP if the math checks out and UBI would in fact pay for itself.

This one is linked from the first and includes some international economic think tank ideas and assumptions but is mostly USA centric with a lot more detailed info about what UBI could look like and cost in America:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics ... mic-growth


Personally, I’d be all for it if the math checks out. The very poor would be better taken care of (and I have been very poor, I know what that’s like.) and others like myself would be able to pursue expensive life goals sooner/if at all because we’d have a boost in disposable income to decide what to do with, others yet would be consumers that keep the economy rolling along, and the well off won’t really have their incomes or lives change much but they don’t need the money as they already have enough to be able to decide what to do with, anyways, so let most of their UBI be taxed back and let them invest the remainder or throw a nice party or whatever.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.