The Pope's Lack of Understanding

This past week, the Pope stood up and made a big speech over ethical judgements, investing, and poor judgement in agricultural commodities.  Basically, food prices have gone up a notch or two over the past six months, and someone finally noted this to the Pope.  He figured that a speech on the topic and Pope-like advice would get to the folks who run the agricultural markets and halt such unethical pricing.

Generally, you go to a priest, bishop or Pope for one general purpose.....a reading on the Bible.  Beyond that, there's not much else in terms of advice that you want from them.

They generally don't tune cars, lay bricks, herd cattle, mix drinks, dig septic tanks, paint barns, split posts, feed the hungry, drive eighteen-wheelers, shovel snow, run a pub, mix concrete, plant tomatoes, operate a Dollar General Store, mow grass, weld metal gates, run a patrol through dangerous neighborhoods, rescue cats out of trees, rescue drunks at wild parties, replace windows, or plan a forty-person family reunion.

When the Pope suggests it's intolerable for folks to flex the market and it's by God's wishes to be ethical in handling agricultural pricing.....he might want to stand back and observe that there are at least forty variations on pricing which real life has to contend with.  He didn't mention various inspectors that are required by law now.  Nor did he mention the effect of weather.  Nor did he mention that drought comes and goes in various regions of the world.  The oil used for gas and diesel to move products?  Well, yeah....that's part of the mess as well.  The fact that folks want year-round products now....mean that we import grapes from India (yeah, shocking, isn't it) tomatoes from Egypt, and apples from New Zealand on occasion.  That didn't happen fifty years ago, but we started to insist that we had to have watermelons all year round, and that meant ships got involved, along with refrigeration.

Speculation?  It's all built into the system because we don't eat local fruits and vegetables anymore.  Nor will we eat local pork, chicken, turkey, fish or beef anymore.

I'm not dumping on the Pope.....but to suggest that God's will fits into agriculture, speculation or the pricing of cucumbers....well....it just ain't so.  Course, if you got a question on Moses, or why some reason why Luke was a better disciple than the rest of the dozen.....well....it might be worth asking about that.