This is a very important principle that I wholeheartedly embrace.
http://www.zenit.org/article-21717?l=english
Holy See: Good Societies Aid Weakest Members
Archbishop Says Poverty Offends Human Dignity
NEW YORK, FEB. 8, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Unemployment and poverty are offenses to human dignity, and a good society is one that assists its weakest members, says the Holy See.
Archbishop Celetino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said this Thursday to a social development commission meeting of the Economic and Social Council.
The topic of the meeting was to promote full employment and decent work for all, an objective which the archbishop said the United Nations has always had as a priority.
The Vatican spokesman considered two aspects of unemployment and poverty: "first, that the lack of full employment and decent work and its associated poverty and social disintegration offend human dignity, and second, that we can only hold the trust of the people if we listen to them and concretely take their needs into account."
The poor, said Archbishop Migliore, "are the hardest hit in times of economic downturn, thus, any policy to stimulate the economy must provide them concrete economic help. Assisting them is a question of justice and solidarity, but it is also a financially sound measure to stimulate national economies and international trade."
He continued: "The Holy See wishes to recall that the compelling needs of the poor have a priority claim on our conscience and on the choices financial leaders make, and as such, it is incumbent upon international fora to provide a platform to the poor because, more often than not, they are left voiceless in the search for solutions to problems that also deeply matter to them."
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Back when I worked for a Wall Street bank I was standing on their trading floor with some of my project managers when suddenly we heard the traders cheering. I asked one of my colleagues, "What are they cheering about?" She told me, "The unemployment rate just went up." I said, "They are cheering because more people are out of work?" She said, "Yes, the ones cheering are bond traders, and when more people are out of work the value of the rate of return on their bonds goes up."