The new Pope’s scathing critique of unbridled consumerism and the immorality of the unconstrained market has come as a surprise. His identification of inequality as the root of all social evils reminds me of the compelling data compiled in the Spirit Level, how sharp inequality correlates very closely with high levels of crime, ill-health, low educational attainment, and so forth.
It is becoming evident to growing numbers that we need to be thinking, planning and acting beyond the limits of what has previously been conceived as ‘possible’ or ‘realistic’. We need to open our imaginations, talk and dream together about a society in which the highest value is not the pursuit of money but the flourishing of all people and the integity and well-being of ecosystems.