Ultracrepidarianism. Familiar with the term? If not, you're not alone; few people are.
Yet, we all know an ultracrepidarian or two — or a helluva lot more.
That neighbor across the street who pontificates on a wide array of subjects about which he sounds like an expert (if you know nothing or little about the subject at hand, that is, but if you're well-versed in the subject, you know damn well he isn't)? Yeah, that guy's an ultracrepidarian.
Enter Pope Francis — and "climate change."
For example, as I reported in October, Francis went off on carbon emissions — the climate alarmists' primary bogeyman — issuing the usual "existential threat to mankind" warning about melting polar ice caps, "great rains and floods," volcanic eruptions, and even "communities swept away by seaquakes."
Welp, Francis is back — with another cataclysmic climate warning.
His Holiness sent a message to the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Summit, fulminating against the “unbridled exploitation” of the environment by first-world countries. His missive included the usual "time is short" warning, of course.
Emphasis, mine.
[T]he destruction of the environment is an offence against God, a sin that is not only personal but also structural, one that greatly endangers all human beings, especially the most vulnerable in our midst and threatens to unleash a conflict between generations.
[C]limate change is “a global social issue and one intimately related to the dignity of human life” I am with you to raise the question which we must answer now: Are we working for a culture of life or a culture of death?To all of you I make this heartfelt appeal: Let us choose life! Let us choose the future!
May we be attentive to the cry of the earth, may we hear the plea of the poor, may we be sensitive to the hopes of the young and the dreams of children! We have a grave responsibility: to ensure that they not be denied their future.
In other words, It's all about our "inordinate greed," my fellow capitalists.
It has now become clear that the climate change presently taking place stems from the overheating of the planet, caused chiefly by the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activity, which in recent decades has proved unsustainable for the ecosystem.
The drive to produce and possess has become an obsession, resulting in an inordinate greed that has made the environment the object of unbridled exploitation. The climate, run amok, is crying out to us to halt this illusion of omnipotence. Let us once more recognize our limits, with humility and courage, as the sole path to a life of authentic fulfillment.
Francis was even more direct:
[T]he footprint of a few nations” [is] responsible for a deeply troubling ‘ecological debt’ towards many others. [It would] only be fair to find suitable means of remitting the financial debts that burden different peoples, not least in light of the ecological debt that they are owed.
We find ourselves facing “firm and even inflexible positions," His Holiness claimed, "calculated to protect income and business interests.”
The Pope's Solution? "Multilateralism"
Try to control your shock and amazement:
It is up to this generation to heed the cry of peoples, the young and children, and to lay the foundations of a new multilateralism. Why not begin precisely from our common home? Climate change signals the need for political change.
Let us emerge from the narrowness of self-interest and nationalism; these are approaches belonging to the past. Let us join in embracing an alternative vision: this will help to bring about an ecological conversion, for there are no lasting changes without cultural changes.
Of course, the pope favors multilateralism — for two main reasons.
First, as is the case with the United Nations, Francis embraces the idea of countries pooling resources — wealth redistribution — with the United States, primarily, transferring wealth to "underdeveloped" countries.
Second: As also embraced by the UN, Francis favors an international system by which small and middle powers can restrain more powerful nations and gain additional influence.
The Bottom Line
I've suggested in the past that Hollywood actors should stick to acting, singers should stick to singing, and popes should stick to poping.
In the case of the latter, others might argue (including Francis) that issuing histrionic missives about the "overheating of the planet" and "the climate run amok" — all of which His Holiness blames on the "greed" of developed countries — is poping.
Yeah, I disagree.