RUSH: We start in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Marcia. Thank you for waiting. Great to have you. Hi.
CALLER: Hello, my pontiff of the airwaves.
RUSH: Well, thank you very much. Pontiff of the airwaves. I like that.
CALLER: I am calling because the other day at Mass — I am a Roman Catholic — we were praying against certain evils in the world, and one of them we were supposed to pray to end was greedy capitalism.
RUSH: In Catholic Church Mass you were urged to pray against the greedy evils of capitalism?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: What was the reaction amongst the people in the church?
CALLER: Well, I shouted out, “Socialism!” And then I spoke with some friends after Mass, and they were pretty upset, too. I did e-mail the pastor, and the gist of it was I told him that capitalism had been a great force for good in the world, and that, you know, Marxism, socialism caused human suffering and was hostile to religion. Whereas capitalism allowed philanthropy, charity, people to rise from poverty.
RUSH: Did you get a reply to your e-mail?
CALLER: Yes, I did. It was kind of a nonanswer. He told me that capitalism was neutral.
RUSH: Then why pray against it?
CALLER: Well, you know, my point exactly.
RUSH: You know, the root of this is that your priest associates big government liberalism with charity.
CALLER: Oh, yeah, it’s all, you know, liberation theology, all that socialism.
RUSH: And I’m gonna tell you, I’m not a Catholic, but I would think that this is a much bigger problem than whether or not they’re gonna let gay cardinals choose a pope.
CALLER: Absolutely.
RUSH: All of this is seductive, but it is Massachusetts. Look, I’m member of the Methodist church. The Methodist church has been taken over by these people. It’s the same stuff. That capitalism is evil and greedy because it’s unfair in the distribution of assets. It’s unequal in the distribution of wealth and success, and only liberalism and good socialism can compensate for the inequalities and unequalness of capitalism. And, you know, capitalism has fed more poor people than charity ever has. Capitalism has created more wealth for these little irresponsible yokels to distribute than charity ever has. Capitalism has created more wealth than anything else except dictators confiscating it from the people of their countries. If you can get away with that you can get rich pretty quick. Ask Hugo Chavez. Ask Fidel. Ask Mao Tse-tung. Ask any of the old Soviet leaders.