World Council of Churches Says Capitalism a "Savage, Barbarous System" - Endorses Socialism

The LaymanOnline has a report from the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches:

During the press conference, Alan Wisdom, a reporter for the Institute for Religion and Democracy, mentioned a slogan that he observed outside the room: "Free Palestine – Support Socialism."

"What specific alternatives do you suggest in place of capitalism?" he asked. "Are you suggesting socialism as an alternative?"

"Call it what you want," [Methodist pastor Nancy Cardoso Pereita] replied. "Free market economics is not the divine will. It is a human construction that can be overcome." She said Latin Americans have tried to develop alternative economic models in Chile, Peru, Brazil and Nicaragua, [ED.: Noticeably absent from the list is Cuba, which is quite significant considering this is the Castro-loving World Council of Churches.] but that these had failed [ED.: Or, maybe she didn't list Cuba because she doesn't consider it a failure, but rather the model, since it has bravely stood against the forces of capitalism.] due to the overpowering force of capitalism. She said that, notwithstanding these failures, she was confident that alternative models would be reintroduced. Refusing to be pinned down on the word, "socialism," she quipped, "You call it socialism, but this is the people's movement, and they will give it a name." [ED.: Are they still teaching this stuff? Wasn't this crap pretty much discredited in the '80s? To quote Advocatus Militaris at Fumare, "Where's the School of the Americas when you need it?"]

Cardoso's views were applauded by other speakers before and during the WCC's plenary program on economic justice. Bishop Wolfgang Huber, formerly a member the WCC's central and executive committees, branded capitalism as "structural violence and structural inequality."

Yash Tandon , an economist from Uganda and executive director of the South Center in Geneva, told his WCC colleagues that, in Africa, he has seen first-hand the effects of capitalism upon the poor.

"Poverty does not just exist," [ED.: That's not what Jesus said: "The poor you will always have with you." And I'm pretty sure capitalism didn't exist in 1st century Judea, so it couldn't be to blame.] he said, "it is manufactured. Capitalism is based on competition, and it structurally negates cooperation, which is a very different value."

Tandon laid many of the inequalities in the developing world at the feet of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. "Their policies are the major reason for poverty today," he said. [ED.: Right. Because poverty didn't exist prior to 1980. See supra quote from Christ above.]

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, deputy chairman for the Department of External Church Relations in the Moscow Patriarchate, said unbridled capitalism is "unjust, one of the non-controllable powers that are ruling the world. None of us wants to destroy this system by force, but we need to ask how this system will change and how we can get the owners of this system to give up their power. And if silence is their reaction, then the WCC needs to consider another form of response."

However, in response to Wisdom's question if the alternative he had in mind is socialism, Chaplin said, "I have come out of a socialist country. I know very well from my experience that Marxism won't work, but a return to the 19th century won't work either." [ED.: Well, at least this guy makes a little sense.]

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My Comments:
Capitalism (preferred by Western "classical liberal" thinkers):
The unequal distribution of wealth.

Socialism (preferred by the lazy and the weak - i.e., university professors):
The equal distribution of misery.

Distributism (preferred by the Catholic Church):
The equal distribution of misery with the promise that things will be better in the afterlife (unless you go to Hell, of course).

By the way, that last one's a joke. Please don't come here and tell me what a bad Faithful Conservative Catholic[TM] that I am. ;)