As young economists and entrepreneurs gear up for “The Economy of
Francesco” later this week, Anna Maria Geogy, a teacher in India, says the
event hopes to give a soul to the global economy by inspiring younger
generations to put human dignity in first place.
By Devin Watkins
The Economy of Francesco kicks
off on Thursday, 19 November, and runs for three days online, with the heart of
the event taking place in the Italian town of Assisi.
Called for by Pope Francis, the event hopes to inspire young people to
initiate a process of global change in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi
and the encyclical Laudato si’.
Another goal is to prod young economists and entrepreneurs to do their part
toward imbuing the economic system with justice, inclusivity, and sustainability,
along the lines set out in Pope Francis' recent encyclical Fratelli
tutti.
The Economy of Francesco will focus on themes such as work, finance, education, and artificial
intelligence.
A community working together
According to Anna Maria Geogy, the Economy of Francesco is
a “community of people coming from very different walks of life, but who
believe that we can do way better than what our economy is right now.”
This young Catholic teacher from Bengaluru, India, says she and her
colleagues hope to help create a new reality centered on the human person and
human dignity.
‘Be the change you want to see’
But how, one might ask, can young people change the global economy for the
better?
Well, Ms Geogy draws inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi and his encouragement
to “Be the change you want to see.”
“The world economy, as much as it’s a larger place, can also start with
each of us,” she says. “That means it has to begin with youth like me, in my house,
in my workplace, and in the choices I make.”
Creating a ripple effect, adds Ms Geogy, is how The Economy
of Francesco event seeks to effect change, by giving young people
across the world a “platform to come together and brainstorm.”
Global problems, local solutions
When the young member of the Focolare Movement first got involved in the
event, she felt the economic problems she saw in her part of the world were
specific to that area.
Meeting people from other parts of the globe, Ms Geogy realized that
“essentially a lot of problems are the same, and the causes behind a lot of
these problems are the same.”
She diagnoses those causes to “the love of neighbor”, or perhaps the lack
thereof.
‘Let the children come to me’
Ms Geogy trained and worked for a time as an architect. But she soon got
involved with the Teach for India Fellowship, which led her to teach a host of
subjects to low-income children in urban slums.
Now she believes that the best place to effect change begins with children.
“For the economy to be better, it should treat everyone as a human entity,
seeing the human person, and in a special way starting with children,” she
says.
One way to verify the correctness of an economic system, asserts Ms Geogy,
is to evaluate its impact on women and children. “If their health and
livelihood are taken care of, if their dignity is taken care of, then that
shows you the measure of the society.”
Soul-food
Though the global economy may seem a soulless, impersonal entity, young
participants in the Assisi event don’t think it has to be that way.
“The Economy of Francesco is trying to give the global economy
a soul, a flavor, a personality,” says Ms Geogy. “It’s not something that is
uniform, but that comes from the diversity of all the people, putting their
little parts together: A creation of a soul for the global economy.”
‘Utopian exercise?’
Is this just a pie-in-the-sky exercise in dialogue?
No, affirms Ms Geogy. “This is actually not like a utopia, but is very
doable. And there
are people everywhere doing it.”
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