Social doctrine versus sacred market

"Out of ego-capitalism"

By Malte Kornfeld

[This article posted on September 21, 2023 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://makroskop.eu/30-2023/soziallehre-versus-heiliger-markt/.]

Theologically accentuated critique of capitalism has rarity value these days. Patrick Kaczmarzcyk provides it in his new book "Raus aus dem Ego-Kapitalismus." His analysis and critique are at the same time an exciting voyage of discovery of Christian social teaching.

Criticism of capitalism is as old as capitalism itself. By far the most influential critic of capitalism, Karl Marx, pointed out the fundamental contradiction between labor and capital, which breaks down on the question of property. His radical critique manifested itself in the political call for communist revolution that was to fundamentally shape the bloc confrontation throughout most of the 20th century.

In the face of the increasingly obvious consequences of climate change, the voices that have been growing louder in recent years are those that denounce the capitalist destruction of nature. This ecological critique of capitalism has a prominent voice in the taz economics correspondent Ulrike Hermann, who has attracted much attention with her book "The End of Capitalism."

Now, in his new work "Raus aus dem Ego-Kapitalismus" (Out of Ego-Capitalism), the development economist and consultant at the UN Organization for World Trade and Development Patrick Kaczmarczyk takes a path of capitalism criticism that is extremely unusual for today's times but all the more interesting. Referring to Christian social teaching, he attacks the "belief in the blessing of the sacred market," which goes hand in hand with the "individualization of political, economic and social problems." The ideological rise of ego-capitalism is closely linked to the emergence of neoliberalism in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Thatcher in Great Britain, Reagan in the U.S., and finally Kohl in Germany in the course of the "spiritual-moral turn" apparently represented Christian values, but pursued neoliberal policies that were contrary to Christian social teaching. Accordingly, Kaczmarczyk takes the new conservatism to task. He calls the plaintive words of CDU chairman Friedrich Merz that we have many people in Germany who are not "usable in the labor market" "deeply un-Christian, because it disregards the dignity of the human being and of work." And with the "absurd demand" of CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann for a welfare state quota of 30 percent, Kaczmarczyk says, "one distances oneself light years from the message of Jesus, who stood up for the poor like no one else."

Socially critical servants of God

This sharp judgment is preceded by a comprehensive analysis of the destructive forces of ego-capitalism. Kaczmarczyk not only analyzes how neoliberal capitalism has fostered social inequality and significantly reduced poverty almost exclusively in rising economies - most notably China. He also shows that economic growth is detrimental to the environment - although his explanations are less extensive than those on social structural aspects.

True to his qualifications, Kaczmarczyk pays particular attention to the developmental implications of ego-capitalism, above all the unequal development between the global North and South. This is accompanied by the financial relations between North and South, which are determined by a significant indebtedness of dependent economists in foreign currency. As a result, the global South remains dependent on crisis-ridden developments on the world market and is inhibited in its independent development toward greater prosperity.

He confronts this unsparing diagnosis of the times with Christian social teaching. In no way is Kaczmarczyk concerned with proclaiming Christianity a state religion - in that way the "faith would become an instrument of power" and thus lose everything "that is at its core." Rather, he sees social doctrine as a "compass" to bury market worship. People should not submit to the imperatives of the economy, he said, but the economy should be shaped in the "service of man."



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Drawing on biblical quotations and statements by high-ranking church representatives - primarily including popes - the author outlines the social doctrine. Although the church has not been unjustly subjected to extensive criticism in recent years - one need only think of the abuse scandals in the Catholic Church or the vehement opposition from Rome to the appointment of women to clerical offices - Kaczmarczyk nevertheless comes across surprisingly social demands by the ministers of God.

Pope Leo XIII, for example, already formulated the legitimacy of the socialization of property in the first social encyclical of 1891:

"Man should not regard his material possessions as his own, but as something common to all, so that he may share them without hesitation when others are in need."

Likewise, Kaczmarczyk quotes Pope Francis, whose ductus borders on anti-capitalism:

"There continue to be numerous forms of injustice in the world today, nourished by truncated anthropological views as well as an economic model based on profit that does not shy away from exploiting human beings away or even killing them."

Even Joseph Ratzinger, who is generally considered conservative, criticizes the exploitative treatment of the "peoples of Africa."

"Instead of giving them God [...] we have carried to them the cynicism of a world without God in which only power and profit matter."

Even if the Christian social doctrine addresses here above all questions of social justice, the criticism of exploitative natural conditions has become louder and louder since the 1970s.

According to Paul VI, man must learn to "master his mastery [of nature]" in order to ensure the survival of humanity. Kaczmarczyk recognizes that there are more and more views that see in the "relationship of human beings to nature (...) a reflection of the relationship to themselves". In this sense, Pope Francis states, "Any cruelty to any creature 'contradicts the dignity of man.'"

Kaczmarczyks, however, does not ignore the blind spots of current discourses: "Often today, no more than a carbon-neutral transformation of the current model is called for, while social concerns are ignored." He says this is particularly evident in the relationship between the rich North and the global South, which sometimes gives the impression of "green neocolonialism." In contrast, right at the beginning of the book, Kaczmarczyk argues for 'thinking together' the social and ecological crises. With social doctrine, he has found an approach that does justice to this project.

Social justice, solidarity and sustainability

But what should follow ego-capitalism? Kaczmarczyk recalls the premise of subsidiarity as a central component of social doctrine. Subsidiarity means "that the superior units (for example, the state) may take over only those tasks that the subordinate units (for example, the individual and the family) cannot handle."

Accordingly, the author argues for a decentralized organization of the economy, because: In a decentrally organized system, the actors would be able to process the available information locally better than the distant and centrally controlled state. At the same time, this would limit the power of politics and thus also potential abuse of power.

On the other hand, however, the subsidiarity principle also obliges the state to provide conditions that the individual cannot guarantee. And here Kaczmarczyk calls for "deep intervention in the economy." These concern, for example, the setting of interest rates, wage policy or the stabilization of the financial sector. As a development economist, he also sees a "functioning international framework" as a prerequisite for "each country to be able to develop on its own." He envisions this framework in the form of a "world political authority" similar to the UN.

A longer quote shows the extent to which Kaczmarczyk sees social doctrine as a kind of antipode to ego-capitalism:

"Where politics and capital weaken workers and depress wages, social doctrine insists on favoring labor over capital. Where private property becomes an end in itself and a sanctuary, there social doctrine reminds us of the superior general destination of goods and the preferential option for the poor. Where the senseless accumulation of excessive wealth becomes a virtue, social doctrine names it for what it is: a mental illness that clouds the view of what is essential - and at the same time causes a social and ecological disaster. And where neoliberalism finally elevates social and ecological ruthlessness to the moral norm, there social doctrine emphasizes in a special way the responsibility of people and states for each other and for the well-being of our creation. It is, in short, a powerful bulwark against the corrupt, neoliberal ideology that has poisoned our thinking and our politics over the past 40 years."

This sharp yet stylistically appealing formulation conveys the core concepts of his counter-proposal to ego-capitalism: social justice, international solidarity, and environmental sustainability. All that's missing is the political power to make his demands a reality.

Patrick Kaczmarczyk: Raus aus dem Ego-Kapitalismus. For an economy in the service of people, Westend Verlag, 208 pages, €22.00



Malte Kornfeld is a political economist and works at Europahaus Nordthüringen. The Europahaus is part of the EU-wide network consisting of about 500 Europe Direct information centers. He also conducts research on political economy developments from a heterodox perspective.