Fourteen years ago, the Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot burst into the scene defining what made so many countries failures, namely,

The “Idiot” species, we suggested, bore responsibility for Latin America’s underdevelopment. Its beliefs — revolution, economic nationalism, hatred of the United States, faith in the government as an agent of social justice, a passion for strongman rule over the rule of law — derived, in our opinion, from an inferiority complex.

Things evolve, and by 2009, the idiots were

back in force in the form of populist heads of state who are reenacting the failed policies of the past, opinion leaders from around the world who are lending new credence to them, and supporters who are giving new life to ideas that seemed extinct.

Now we have a clerical version, in the form of that air conditioning-hater, the The Peronist Pope who is fond of straw men, as we read that In Fiery Speeches, Francis Excoriates Global Capitalism

His speeches can blend biblical fury with apocalyptic doom. Pope Francis does not just criticize the excesses of global capitalism. He compares them to the “dung of the devil.” He does not simply argue that systemic “greed for money” is a bad thing. He calls it a “subtle dictatorship” that “condemns and enslaves men and women.”

Having returned to his native Latin America, Francis has renewed his left-leaning critiques on the inequalities of capitalism, describing it as an underlying cause of global injustice, and a prime cause of climate change. Francis escalated that line last week when he made a historic apology for the crimes of the Roman Catholic Church during the period of Spanish colonialism — even as he called for a global movement against a “new colonialism” rooted in an inequitable economic order.

The fact remains that capitalism works,

Cato economist Michael Tanner estimates that in the last 20 years, capitalism has lifted more than a billion people out of poverty and halved the number of those living in developing countries on less than $1.25 a day.

With such results, failing to see capitalism in its unfettered form as a viable solution to poverty borders on the immoral.

Over at the Vatican, The return of Benedict XVI
The Pope Emeritus has not vanished into monastic silence. He’s still offering comfort for those who prefer his vision to that of Pope Francis, while

Vatican bank reports big profit http://t.co/m365Jzc2I3 in other news, Pope Francis condemns the pursuit of profit http://t.co/8WM0jtJLlE

— TakingHayekSeriously (@FriedrichHayek) July 10, 2015

Related:
Why I’m Disregarding Laudato Si and You Should Too (lengthy but worth the read).

[In case you wonder, here’s the original speech in Spanish,
TEXTO: Discurso del Papa el encuentro con los movimientos populares en Bolivia]

UPDATE
On The Incompatibility Of Christianity With Socialism And Communism

Christian charity and free market entrepreneurship are not only compatible, but necessary to truly aid the poor.

Christian charity strives for the moral betterment of man, and the advancement of our neighbor out of love. For believers, these are works of religion, which many men and women of good will willingly and freely undertake. Forcing people “to do good” is the death of the virtue of charity, as charity must always be freely exercised.

But a second factor is equally needed to alleviate poverty: entrepreneurs and the free-market system. These offer the possibility of a greater and more lasting solution to the problem of poverty. Creating jobs and industry is a great good, and to diminish the possibilities for entrepreneurs and the private sector and claim the façade of virtue in doing so, is pure folly. Entrepreneurs and the business class do more in the United States for the Church and for vital issues to society, than anywhere else in the world.

I don’t expect Fr. Marcel to be invited to the Vatican any time soon.

And,
As if things weren’t bad enough, Pope Francis invited California Governor Jerry Brown to lend his expertise on global warming and climate change to a summit at the Vatican later in the month. But he banned Philippe de Larminat, an actual scientist, from the April 28 summit.

Linked to by Babalu. Thank you!