Wednesday 25 January 2012

Protest at Protesters


Protesting at the injustices of the socio-economic system under which we live has almost become a way of life. Whether we take to the streets, or merely mutter imprecations under our breath, the sense of malaise is endemic. Yet the commentators or analysts rarely get to the heart of the matter. Decades ago, Peter Maurin (1877-1949), co-founder of the Catholic Worker, wrote:

Modern society has made the bank account the standard of values.
When this happens, the banker has the power.
When the banker has the power, the technician has to supervise the making of profits.
When the banker has the power, the politician has to assure law and order in the profit-making system.
When the banker has the power, the clergyman is expected to bless the profit-making system or join the unemployed.
When the banker has the power, the Sermon on the Mount is declared impractical.
When the banker has the power, we have an acquisitive, not a functional, society.[1]

Peter Maurin’s “Easy Essays” are freely available to be quoted “for the greater honour and glory of God and the furtherance of the lay apostolate to which the author’s life was devoted”.



[1] Quoted in Far East: Magazine of the Columban Missionaries, December 2010.

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