Religion, Virtue, and Economics: A Discussion with Father Robert Sirico

Truth with Vivek Ramaswamy

Vivek Ramaswamy

Business, News, Government

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 June 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Vivek Ramaswamy invites Father Robert Sirico for an engaging conversation about the intersections of capitalism, virtue, and religion. Father Sirico, co-founder of the Acton Institute and author of "The Economics of the Parables," sheds light on his personal journey from left-wing activism to priesthood. The duo dissect the relationship between capitalism and virtue, the concept of stakeholder capitalism, the involvement of politics in religion, and the importance of moral restraint. The conversation later pivots to discuss the compelling story of Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist, and the implications of his struggle for freedom. This episode serves as a profound exploration of morality's role in economics and the political sphere. Guest Bio: Father Robert Sirico is a renowned priest and co-founder of the Acton Institute. He's an acclaimed author, with his work, "The Economics of the Parables," critically exploring economic perspectives within biblical teachings. Time-Codes: 00:00:00 - Introduction of the relationship between capitalism and virtue by Vivek Ramaswamy. 00:01:55 - Introduction of Father Sirico's book, "The Economics of the Parables." 00:02:40 - Father Sirico's personal journey from left-wing activism to priesthood. 00:04:10 - Discussion on the role of capitalism and morality. 00:07:48 - Conversation about capitalism, materialism, and capital distribution. 00:09:52 - Criticism of fetishizing money. 00:10:14 - Introduction of the concept of power and authority as forms of constraint. 00:15:48 - Discussion on the dangers of politics involved in religion. 00:19:34 - Transition to Jimmy Lai's story and situation in Hong Kong. 00:24:23 - Discussion on Wall Street Journal's response to the TikTok incident. 00:28:34 - Importance of religion and its threat to totalitarian regimes. 00:30:48 - Warning about potential loss of freedom in societies. 00:32:27 - Sharing of the documentary's website for Jimmy Lai's story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So I often have said that capitalism is not only the least worst system for organizing a society's economic affairs.
0:16.5	It would be the best system for organizing all of a society's affairs if our wants actually matched our needs. I think that difference between what we
0:26.7	want and what we need is this thing we might call virtue and that daylight
0:31.3	might be part of what explains much of what we might even see wrong from the left from the right.
0:38.0	It doesn't matter with capitalism is not a source of virtue.
0:42.0	Virtue is a
0:43.3	precondition for capitalism to work.
0:45.5	And I think that that's a conversation that we don't have often enough.
0:49.9	I say this is someone who's an unapologetic proponent of free market capitalism as our mechanism
0:57.2	for organizing our society's economic affairs, but to recognize that there's more to our life well lived as individuals and as a society that then goes beyond just the economics of how we live.
1:11.0	And I'm looking forward to a sprawling conversation today. We've
1:15.9	already begun it, but we decided to just turn on the camera and get it on air
1:19.6	with my guest in the podcast today, Father Robert Serrico, I hope I'm saying your name correctly.
1:26.0	You are, yeah. I'm not so sensitive.
1:28.0	Yeah, well that's good.
1:29.0	Neither am I. It takes two of us to.
1:31.0	It takes two of us to.
1:32.0	It takes two of us to empathize on that but welcome to the podcast today.
1:34.8	Thank you for coming down from Michigan.
1:36.7	Thank you.
1:37.7	I'm grateful for you being here.
1:38.6	I thought it would be helpful.
	...

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