Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Friday, 9 September 2011

The self-destructiveness of capitalism


A friend has sent me a link to this piece by John Gray on the BBC website arguing that capitalism is inherently and uncontrollably changeable and that in the process it destroys the very things it is said to promote. Now I amnot an economist but his article does make for thoughtful reading about the situation we all find ourselves in. You do not have to be Marxist or a neo-Marxist (I am not) nor a Distributivist or neo-Distributivist (I am not) nor an environmentalist eco-warrior (I am not) to sense that things are very much out of kilter. Gray may not offer a solution, but he does pose some points worth considering.

This is not just a matter of economics - it has bearings on the spiritual challenge, if not indeed crisis, facing Christendom. In such a self consuming yet dynamic world making the message of Christ heard is all the more difficult. Defining the causes might just help to enable us to see where the answers lie.
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