The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Aquinas and Korten on
Limiting Institutionalized Greed By Matthew Fox 11/17/2025 |
Where does the ever-growing gap between haves and have nots, the making of over 800 billionaires in the past 42 years, the soon-to-be first trillionaire in the world, come from? It comes surely from the institutionalization of greed by way of a society so rigged in favor of the haves that they, through their
bought politicians, make all the laws. Laws that favor tax breaks for the rich such as the new “big, beautiful budget” does, laws made by the super rich for the super rich. |
Such a budget is being paid for by gutting health care for millions Americans (Medicaid and Medicare) and food for the most needy (SNAP) to the tune of trillions of dollars. And promised threats to Social Security. Bought politicians and bought SCOTUS members seem
so |
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) speaks at a 2014 press conference about a proposed constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United. Photo by Senate Democrats. Wikimedia Commons. |
blinded by power that they appear not even to know they are bought. Their moral compasses are cracked and broken. Ever since SOCTUS gifted us with the poison pill for democracy called Citizens United (2010), unlimited and unregulated amounts of dark money have flooded into our elections. The result is that we’ve gotten the best politicians and the best judges that money can buy. Is there any more direct and immediate way to counteract the institutionalized greed of today’s America than by demanding the overturn of the Citizens United decision? |
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| Aquinas also warns that cupidity or unrestricted desire can readily “extinguish charity” in a person. Yes, greed kills love in the soul, murders it. Check it out.
It kills love of Mother Earth and Creation itself, and kills the very agency set up to protect our waters and air and environment. It is deadly as well as unjust, for “it pertains to avarice to take or keep the goods of others unjustly and this is always a mortal [i.e. deadly] sin.” Unrestrained capitalism is
deadly and spreads injustice. To kill justice is to kill the common good, which is the very glue that keeps a society together. |
Furthermore, observes Aquinas, restlessness, violence, perjury, fraud and betrayal very often accompany avarice. David Korten recognizes institutionalized greed as a betrayal of Adam Smith’s philosophy of capitalism. In The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, Smith
actually condemns business monopolies that are sustained and protected by the state, and urges a market composed solely of small buyers and sellers. “Smith never advocated a moral philosophy in defense of unrestrained greed. He was talking about small farmers and artisans trying to get the best price for their products to provide for themselves and their families. That is self-interest—not greed.” * |
Indeed, “Greed is a high-paid corporate executive firing 10,000 employees and then rewarding himself with a multimillion-dollar bonus for having saved the company so much money.” Korten compares our current economic system of unlimited growth to a cancer. “Our economic philosophy based on
constant |
David Korten speaks on moving “From Plutocracy to Deep Democracy.” Video by eon3. |
growth is a kind of cancer that seems to parallel the rise of bodily cancer in our time. Cancer too is a response of our bodies expressing itself in unlimited growth. Both are killers.” The problem with avarice is that it is looking for the infinite in the wrong places—in objects (money and power) that cannot
satisfy. The infinite is available to us, however, as Aquinas assures us. Where? We will discuss that in the accompanying video. |
Queries for Contemplation Do you recognize that institutionalized greed can kill love in the soul? And
kill Mother Earth? And kill the common good and hope for an entire generation that cannot, among other things, buy a home or afford health care? |
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| Counterpoint: A Response to Peter Thiel’s Antichrist An Important Conversation with Matthew Fox and Gil Duran Did you miss this two-session series with its powerful counter-narrative rooted in wisdom, justice, and |
authentic spirituality? This is your
chance to add it to your library of classics to be watched, re-watched, and contemplated. Fox explores the archetype of Christ and Antichrist as it plays out in our world today but also in artists of old. He draws from the teachings of Jesus and Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Carl Jung, and other mystics and visionaries, illuminating the stark contrast between life-giving and life-destroying spiritual energies. Purchase HERE. |
UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join spiritual pioneers Dr. Matthew Fox and Rev. Cameron Trimble for “In Search of a New Story: Reimagining What Comes Next,” a timely and transformative 4-part series featuring conversations with some of the most compelling wisdom voices of our time: Carolyn Myss, Diana Butler Bass, Luther Smith, and Ilia Delio. Thursdays, October 23, 30, and November 13, 20, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox in a lecture and Q&A on “Dorothee Soelle: Mystical Feminist Who Transformed Theology through Suffering,” a presentation in the Spiritual Wanderlust Mystics and Prophets series. Saturday, December 6, 9:00am-10:30am Register HERE.Join Matthew Fox in a lecture and Q&A on “Dorothee Soelle: Mystical Feminist Who Transformed Theology through Suffering,” a presentation in the Spiritual Wanderlust Mystics and Prophets series.
Saturday, December 6, 9:00am-10:30am Register HERE. |
Celebrate the traditional feast of the Black Madonna and the Immaculate Conception with spiritual theologian Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox joins award-winning singer/author Alessandra Belloni and music director John La Barbera in a 90-minute online event, “Honoring the Black Madonna as Our Lady of Freedom (Madonna della Libera),” in which they share the wisdom of the Black Madonna and her healing powers for our times when both democracy
and Mother Earth are in peril. Alessandra will also talk about her book Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna and present a 10-minute excerpt of |
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Join Matthew Fox in a new 6-month program of mystical wisdom for a new world. In this 6-month immersion program with Matthew, you’ll explore what it means to be a modern mystic and prophet, integrating this sacred knowledge into your life through the authentic teachings of Jesus and other wisdom keepers. This journey births what Matthew calls Christianity 2.0 — based not on dogma, but on a spirituality that recovers the sacred sense of original goodness. By Application only - apply
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Awakening the Divine Human: An Immersion in the Living Wisdom of Creation Spirituality …a week-long retreat in Sardinia, Italy, May 25-30, 2026 Join us on the sacred
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MONTHLY: Join Matthew Fox and Skylar Wilson of the Order of the Sacred Earth in a free virtual meeting for connection and networking with other mystic warriors. Last Tuesday of every month, 4:00-5:00pm PT.
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