48
invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and
relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. Debt
and the accumulation of interest also make it
difficult for countries to realize the potential of
their own economies and keep citizens from en-
joying their real purchasing power. To all this we
can add widespread corruption and self-serving
tax evasion, which have taken on worldwide di-
mensions. The thirst for power and possessions
knows no limits. In this system, which tends to
devour everything which stands in the way of in-
creased profits, whatever is fragile, like the envi-
ronment, is defenseless before the interests of a
deified market, which become the only rule.
No to a financial system which rules rather than serves
57.âBehind this attitude lurks a rejection of eth-
ics and a rejection of God. Ethics has come to
be viewed with a certain scornful derision. It is
seen as counterproductive, too human, because it
makes money and power relative. It is felt to be
a threat, since it condemns the manipulation and
debasement of the person. In effect, ethics leads
to a God who calls for a committed response
which is outside the categories of the market-
place. When these latter are absolutized, God
can only be seen as uncontrollable, unmanage-
able, even dangerous, since he calls human beings
to their full realization and to freedom from all
forms of enslavement. Ethics â a non-ideologi-
cal ethics â would make it possible to bring about
