Laudato Si

The Garden of Eden, Cranach, 16th C.

I agree with most of Laudato Si. Care for Sister Nature, for our fellow creatures, is indeed, and should be understood to be, a vital Catholic value. Our mission, as good gardeners (Genesis 2:15), is the preservation and promotion of beauty; this of course includes natural beauty. It would be terribly wrong to put the Church on the opposite side in that effort.

I also agree with Francis's condemnation of a consumerist lifestyle. Even apart from environmental issues, this is bad for the soul. We should be seeking, each of us, to keep our physical wants and our physical demands small; to walk lightly on this earth, in the world but not of it. We should seek instead, in the words of the gospel, our riches in heaven. And, of course, the less we take of the world's goods, in principle if not necessarily in practice, the more there is left for others. No, I do not buy Keynes to the contrary on this point.

However, past this I run into problems. Francis goes on to declare that there is a current environmental or ecological crisis; and he blames technology, the free market, and economic development for it.

Heavens, no.

If there is some urgent crisis now, it seems to me invisible. And if there is, technology and development are not the cause; they are the solution. What is an improved technology? In essence, an improved technology is one that reduces waste and increases efficiency. That is what technology is. Therefore, any advance we can make in technology and development automatically reduces pollution, helps the environment, and improves the lot of the poor. You think developed countries are polluted? Visit an undeveloped country.

Rousseau's Edenic "Reve."

As for the free market, Francis writes:

Once more, we need to reject a magical conception of the market, which would suggest that problems can be solved simply by an increase in the profits of companies or individuals. Is it realistic to hope that those who are obsessed with maximizing profits will stop to reflect on the environmental damage which they will leave behind for future generations? Where profits alone count, there can be no thinking about the rhythms of nature, its phases of decay and regeneration, or the complexity of ecosystems which may be gravely upset by human intervention 

He has the most fundamental point wrong here: the free market does not work to maximize profits for anyone. Monopolies do that. Free markets keep profits down, as they increase general efficiency. Because they are efficient, they start out being intrinsically good for the environment. Moreover, so long as consumers care about “the rhythms of nature, its phases of decay and regeneration, or the complexity of ecosystems,” the market must also care about it. If the market does not care, government, in any democracy, cannot do better: it is based on a similar canvassing of popular demand.

Saint Francis preaches to the animals.

Concern for the environment and natural beauty will grow with general wealth. When one is starving today, one lacks the luxury to care about tomorrow; or, for the most part, about aesthetics. Once basic needs are met, people will spend more as consumers in return for a better environment.

Popes are infallible on faith and morals. Sadly, they are as fallible as the rest of us on science and economics.