If Properous Nations Continue to be Jealous

We must repeat that the superflous goods of wealthier nations ought to be placed at the disposal of poorer nations. The rule, by virtue of which in times past those nearest us were to be helped in time of need, applies today to all the needy throughout the world. And the prospering peoples will be the first to benefit from this. Continuing avarice on their part will arouse the judgment of God and the wrath of the poor, with consequences no one can forsee. If prosperous nations continue to be jealous of their own advantage alone, they wil jeoprdize their highest values, sacrificing the pursuit of excellence to the acquistion of possessions. We might well apply to them the parable of the rich man. His fields yielded an abundant harvest and he did not know where to store it. "But God said to him, 'Fool, this very night your soul will be demanded from you....' " Pope Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 49
This is an admonition to be heeded in the rewriting of the Farm Bill, of the Immigration Bill, of the Free Trade Agreements and countless other policies coming up for reconsideration by our government.