In March, the College of Cardinals elected Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio Pope. Choosing his papal name after Francis of Assisi, he gave an early indication of what would become the priorities for his papacy. The poor of the world moved to front and center. The Catholic Church has, for centuries, taught that all have an obligation to the disadvantaged. What was different about this Pope were the emphasis he placed on it and his symbolic actions of empathy. Then in late November he issued his first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospels). Evangelii Gaudium covers much ground (full text and Porta Fidei website summary) but the items getting the most attention in the Western, and particularly the US, press are his comments on "trickle down" economics and income inequality. Here are a couple of widely quoted passages that spell out in the clearest terms possible what the application of the Gospel means in a poorly regulated capitalistic system.
“...some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting."
“While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules."
(Time named Pope Francis its "Person of the Year" today. [Reuters])
(Time named Pope Francis its "Person of the Year" today. [Reuters])
In May, Maryland became the 18th state to abolish the death penalty and thereby join the rest of the civilized world. The death penalty is still imposed in 32 US states. In 2012 the US was the sixth highest executioner of prisoners - only China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen killed more. Quite a group to be in with...
State legislatures introduced and/or passed legislation to control gun violence and foster clean energy initiatives. In the absence of any Congressional action, this comes as good news. Needless to say, the state initiatives are already under attack from conservative lobbyists and special interest groups. On gun violence, the New York Times noted on September 15: "Since the Newtown shooting, robust background check laws or packages of gun legislation were enacted in four states with Democrat-controlled governments — Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and New York — as well as in Colorado, the site of two mass shootings, in Aurora in 2012 and in Columbine in 1999. Others states, including Alabama, South Carolina, Texas and Utah, enacted far more modest legislation to strengthen restrictions on the possession of guns by people with mental illnesses or those involved in domestic violence cases." On clean energy, this year at least 44 pieces of legislation to strengthen "renewable portfolio standards" were proposed or enacted in 18 states. [CleanEnergyStates.org] A Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is "a regulation that requires the increased production of energy from renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal." [Wikipedia] Special kudos to Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. These states did not also have counterbalancing legislation introduced that would weaken RPS's.
In November, the G3+3 reached an interim agreement with Iran on limiting its uranium enrichment and allowing complete inspection of the country's nuclear facilities. This is the year's most important diplomatic victory and the decade's most important action to stabilize the Middle East. Reuters said the agreement signalled "the start of a game-changing rapprochement that would reduce the risk of a wider Middle East war." [Left Bank Café Post of Nov 25] Le Monde Diplomatique compared it to "the historic meeting between US president Richard Nixon and China’s Mao Zedong in February 1972... [which] transformed the entire geopolitical scene." [Left Bank Café Post of Dec 7]
The US Senate revised its filibuster rule. The change reduces the threshold from 60 votes to 51 votes for Senate approval of executive branch and non-Supreme Court judicial nominees. The move was prompted by the unprecedented Republican use of the filibuster during Obama's two terms to block Obama nominations. Passed on November 21, the rules change has just seen its first success - Patricia Millett's confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on December 10. [Left Bank Café post of Aug 5 ranked the filibuster as the #5 threat to American democracy]
Finally, two items from the world of science and medicine make the best news list - the Argus II bionic eye and a gene therapy treatment for blood cancers. Popular Science in its December issue named the Argus II bionic eye "The Innovation of the Year". The first FDA-approved artificial retina uses a video camera and a microprocessor to send images to an electrode array implanted in the back of the eye. "The optic nerve picks up these signals and sends them to the brain, where they are interpreted as rudimentary gray-scale images....trials are planned to test the treatment of macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in Americans over the age of 60." On the gene therapy treatment, NBC News writes: "In one of the biggest advances against leukemia and other blood cancers in many years, doctors are reporting unprecedented success by using gene therapy to transform patients' blood cells into soldiers that seek and destroy cancer." The treatment has been successfully applied to adults and children who were "gravely ill patients out of options."
Top 5 (or 6) Viewed Posts on the Left Bank Café
#1 Most Viewed: Night Fishing at Antibes
#2: 2312 (a novel by Kim Stanley Robinson)
#3: Sunday Round-Up May 26, 2013
#4: When the Blue Shift Comes; End of Time Sci-Fi
#5 (tie): Existence (a novel)
#5 (tie): Masters of War
Correction upon a recount: The Leader and the Demagogue post had several more views than either Existence or Masters of War.
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Image and quote of Pope Francis is from the usmessageboard.com website
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