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The Globalization of the Economy and the Church

© Stefan Crisbasan

Religion and politics have as a common element justice. From the time when man has began to organize his social life, starting with his family, there was a concern about what is just. The moral application in the society of faith in God that guides man in freedom, is justice. This has to be satisfied in order to fulfill the way of life which man has been called to live. The religious and political life elements are often combined without paying attention. Even if we use different definitions for the terms used, what is appropriate to men, as given by God, appears always the best to do.

The life of the Church is not to be political, but it is social. Its work is spread over the whole world, 'cosmos', the universe, visibly and invisibly. The Church cannot be part of earthly, purely political organizations, because it preaches the Kingdom of Heaven, which is impartial for the whole humanity. The earthly governments bring to its citizen's happiness in this life. The Church gives to its member's eternal happiness, including the present life, in communion with God.

This life here on earth requires trade in order to acquire necessary goods that one cannot produce for himself, in exchange of the goods he has produced. This trade can be done on the local area, or the merchant can travel far away for his trade or even for the production of the goods. There he encounters regulations different than in his own country, and he has to respect them. It is not appropriate to impose his way of life on the people with whom he deals. Nowadays, there is a tendency to do the opposite: to impose the rules of the foreign investors upon the governments that are the host for the investors. This is not at the best interest of the citizens of the country, because the laws that govern the economy of the country are ignored and the foreign investors are given free hand of operation within that country, by the governments themselves, in an international treaty. This modern international treaty is called Multilateral Agreement on Investment, (MAI). The MAI is an international investment agreement currently under negotiation by the 29 member countries of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation(OEDC). The goal of this agreement is to impose limits on how the governments treat foreign investors. The MAI is the most comprehensive investment treaty negotiated between the developed countries. The obligations in the MAI are broader than those in the North American Free Trade Agreement. The MAI is the globalization of the economy, with no restrictions on the involvement in the internal affairs of the host country. It does sound quite unusual, doesn't it. Like someone who is extremely greedy and passes over any rules of good manners.

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