Does Social Justice Include The Working Poor?

Blog Note: Well, it looks like the captcha word didn't stop the spam commenters. Next up: registration on this blog. I hate it, but if the spam continues, I'll have to do it.

On with the show.

Recently, the Pope gave a speech on Malta. This being Pope Francis, he talked about social justice, the environment and immigration. He talked about them as if they were all in harmony with one another, but they're not. Illegal immigrants contribute mightily to pollution. They also compete with the working poor of their destination country for jobs, which acts to depress the wages of the working poor.

Trash left behind by illegals near Nogales. Source.

This isn't to say that one cause is good and the other is bad, I'm just pointing out that you can't be in favor of all three at once or, at the very least, you have to prioritize them. As in, immigrants are our first priority. After that, we'll have to make sacrifices to pay to clean up their messes. Thirdly, we will have to make more sacrifices to help the working poor cope with the fact that we've just made it harder for them to escape poverty.

One of the things this blog has taught me is that it is very difficult to escape the assumptions of the culture. That is, I've always reflexively associated certain things because, well, that's what everyone does. Social Justice includes concern for the working poor, for example. 

When I read the text of Pope Francis' speech, I started to wonder if he even understood the implications of what he was proposing. I doubt it. He's swimming in this same ocean where social justice means you care for the less fortunate. It obscures the fact that the "less fortunate" includes different subsets with opposing interests.

The next time I hear someone go on about social justice or immigration, either in person or online, I'll pose the question asking which group should have primacy. We'll see what happens.