Wednesday, August 22, 2012

"Biden And Ryan Share Faith, But Not Worldview"

Ryan: "..."The preferential option for the poor, which is one of the primary tenets of Catholic social teaching, means: Don't keep people poor; don't make people dependent on government so they stay stuck in their station in life," Ryan told CBN. "Help people get out of poverty [and] on to a life of independence."...


K Webster from nyc
Biden is emblematic of his working class roots. He is not calculated and blurts what he thinks - a campaign manager's nightmare.
Ryan is emblematic of his upper class roots. He is polished and calculated -a campaign manager's dream.

I'll take the kinder version of Catholic - one that didn't grow up surrounded by privilege to arrive at a philosophy of self interest couched as valuing "independence". Ryan essentially asks, "Why can't you make it like I did"- never acknowledging that he didn't - that his parents financed his ladder to "success".
Biden, despite his years in politics, still has some of the sheen of working class values: that we help each other get a leg up. Especially in an economy that was just gutted by the Romney's of this world.
Ryan calls it charity - we call it help.