Opinion by David Harsanyi, Washington Examiner
Pope Leo is wrong about hunger
For
Catholics, the Pope is the vicar of Christ and the spiritual leader of the Church — which is to say, his positions are typically none of my business. Then again,
any time the pope delivers a statement that speaks to the political aspirations of the secular left, the media amplifies it to lecture the rest of us.
The latest such comment has to do with world hunger.
“It is important to resist the commodification of basic human needs,” the Pope said,
criticizing slow humanitarian aid from the United States to the U.N. World Food Program. “Food, water and healthcare cannot be subordinated to market considerations or geopolitical interests.”
Virtually every major modern famine in history occurred in places that “subordinated” the commodification of food for a greater good. Though, Leo has it backward. The market is the natural state of economic activity. We subordinate the market. The question is, are we better off when we do? Almost every time, the answer is no.
It’s not an accident that capitalistic nations create so much wealth that they can be generous not only to their own hungry but also to the hungry elsewhere. The proportion of the global population facing hunger today has declined dramatically over the past 30-40 years because of technological advancements and efficiencies fueled by trade and market-driven profits.
Which is why the U.S. has pledged nearly $750 million to the U.N. World Food Program, far more than any nation. China generally contributes under $20 million and Russia around $30 million.
It should also be noted that government aid is not the only assistance we give. Americans are the most charitable people in the world.
“Access to adequate food is a fundamental human right grounded in the dignity of every person,” the pope went on. “Meeting this need not only alleviates suffering but also addresses underlying causes of geopolitical instability. Indeed, food security is an essential component of global and integral security.”
Most people acknowledge that feeding and caring for the poor is a moral imperative
. Being fed is not a “fundamental human right,” however, because it requires compelling another person to provide it. Americans believe — or should believe — that only the “fundamental rights” are those that call on others to abstain from interfering. That includes things like freedom of speech and religion. Your healthcare can’t be a right.
Moreover, helping the poor without any expectation that the government will change its policies that strip its people of dignity does nothing to help the underlying causes of geopolitical instability. If we choose, Americans have every right to attach expectations to their aid.
The United Nations, after all, is teeming with illiberal tyrannical nations that drive their own people into destitution. The areas most in danger of hunger, according to a recent U.N.
report, are Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria, Somalia, and the Gaza Strip. All of them struggle in part because of Islamism, which carries a political agenda that runs counter to every Christian tenet imaginable. It would be nice if the Church spoke out about corrupt regimes and Islamists with the same passion it does the U.S., which has done more for the world’s poor than any institution that has ever existed.
