Two things:

1.   Form your conscience.

2.   Vote your conscience.

You must read this article that I didn’t have time to write, but Rev. Dwight Longnecker did it for me, here it is from Inside Catholic:

Pope John Paul II prophesied just such a collapse. He said that there were two materialistic, atheistic, economic and social systems: communism and secular capitalism. Both were doomed because both were built on a system without God, and therefore without morality, without respect for human rights, without concern for others, and without real concern for either individual human beings or society as a whole.

 

John Paul II said that both systems would eventually collapse because it was impossible — given their philosophical presuppositions — to stand. Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the same truth by saying that the whole monetary system is a house built on sand. Such a house cannot stand, and the fall of a splendidly, luxurious house built on sand is even more spectacular and tragic to behold.

 

Please read the rest of this article because you will ba amazed at how JPII appeals to the conscience of those in power to look out for the common good of people.  We have seen not only a collapse of the market, but a collapse of (well-formed) conscience driven economy that the MBA ethics classes didn’t influence.

Eric Foner of Columbia University argues that traditionally-held American values of free-market capitalism and Christian morality are inherently contradictory.  I think that absolutely necessary for a good free market are people working within it who have well-formed consciences!!  Without SELF RESTRAINT, and a concern for the COMMON GOOD, the invisible hand of the free market becomes selfish and miserable.  The speaker sounds a lot like JPII to me who said, “If freedom is not used, is not taken advantage of by love, it becomes a negative thing and gives human beings a feeling of emptiness and unfulfillment.”   Further, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says,

The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes.  There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just.  #1733

Hard times are hard, no question, but what good ever came from anything too easy?  Today’s New York Times has an article about the state of health in hard economic times.  Knowing that hardship brings out the best in humans, I welcome an economic recession and rely on God’s grace to bring out the best in me and my fellow man.  The greatest grace that comes from hard times seems to be a re-orientation to the things that matter most–family, love of neighbor and may I add, love of God. 

 ”…economic studies suggest that people tend not to take care of themselves in boom times — drinking too much (especially before driving), dining on fat-laden restaurant meals and skipping exercise and doctors’ appointments because of work-related time commitments.

“The value of time is higher during good economic times,” said Grant Miller, an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford. “So people work more and do less of the things that are good for them, like cooking at home and exercising; and people experience more stress due to the rigors of hard work during booms.”

Similar patterns have been seen in some developing nations. Dr. Miller, who is studying the effects of fluctuating coffee prices on health in Colombia, says that even though falling prices are bad for the economy, they appear to improve health and mortality rates. When prices are low, laborers have more time to care for their children.

Could it be that during economic boom times we become so distracted by money and the things it can buy that we loose sight of what in life is really important?  If an economic downturn is what we need to regain sight of what is important (love God, love others), then I joyfully and hopefully welcome it!!