Page 42 - Reflexions of African Bishops and Priests

Economic

democracy;

to distribute

God’s abundance

by Alain Pilote

This painting profit. According to him, this correction requires
of the Eternal a financial system where the purchasing power of
Father was made the consumers can be adjusted by a discount on
in 1741 by the French prices and the general distribution of a dividend
artist Challe upon the request (sum of money) based on the production capacity
of St. Marguerite d’Youville (1701-1771), the first of the nation.
saint born in Canada, foundress of Sisters of Charity. In his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict
XVI wrote in Paragraph 66: “A more incisive role
The following text was sent in 2010 for study to
a group of economists, sociologists and theologians for consumers, as long as they themselves are
gathered in Rome. For this text I am heavily indebted to not manipulated by associations that do not truly
the research done by the late Diane Boucher. represent them, is a desirable element for building
economic democracy.”
ouglas’s ideas were first called Economic Dem-
ocracy, which is the title of the first book he Money can be compared to a ballot, with which
D wrote on the subject in 1919. He wrote other you can “vote” for the goods and services of your
books afterwards, the major works being The Monop- own choosing. Each individual should have enough
oly of Credit and Social Credit – the name most often of these “economic ballots” to get the necessities of
used today to describe his philosophy. life. (Today one tries to achieve this through social pro-
grams financed through taxation but, as we will read
The goal of this philosophy is to make sure further, Douglas proposes something different; a divi-
that consumers have enough purchasing power dend.) In order to stay in business, producers would
to buy the finished goods that satisfy their basic generate only the goods and services ordered by the
needs. Douglas asserts that a flaw in the present population. By voting for the goods and services they
price system causes a chronic and increasing want, consumers would ultimately decide what would
shortage of purchasing power and that it is im- be produced but obviously not how to produce it. (This
possible to correct this flaw in a financial sys- expertise belongs to the producers.)
tem where money is a commodity created for

Alain Pilote has been the school her children. She learned
editor of the English edition of Social Credit through her hus-
MICHAEL for several years. band, Francois Couture, and de-
Twice a year we organize a week cided to take courses in econom-
of study of the social doctrine of ic science at Laval University in
the Church and its application Quebec City in order to prove the
and Mr. Pilote is the instructor truthfulness of Social Credit. She
during these sessions. Last Sep- studied the theory in depth and
tember, seven bishops and 16 compared orthodox economics
priests from Africa attended the to Douglas’s new economics. A
seminar. professor recognized the value of her research and
Diane Boucher died of can- accepted to review her work. She was then able to
cer on May 4, 2008, at the age of 55. Mother of four, obtain her Masters’ degree in economics. She said:
she left a very lucrative job in computer research (in “I do not say that I believe that Social Credit is good,
which she had a Masters’ degree), in order to home- I say that I KNOW that Social Credit is good.”

42 2010 session www.michaeljournal.org