“Consumerism commodifies human relationships and trivializes freedom of choice, so that individuals become alienated not only from others, but also from themselves. As Merton put it, “Our trouble is that we are alienated from our own personal reality, or true self. We do not believe in anything but money and the power or the enjoyment which come from the possession of money.” Alienation is the source of the disregard for persons that produces apathy, hatred, and violence. The purpose of nonviolence, then, is to oppose alienation by offering people the possibility of reconciliation with one’s self as well as with others.13” Thomas Merton
This whole thing is a good read. Merton on Greed and the Economic Crisis
DeeAnn Dean 