If you were a peasant, you could be forgiven if you said that Pope Francis confuses you. 

Yes, he seems like a nice man. He seems down to earth. But he sends mixed messages.

Not long ago, the pope traveled to Cuba. Recently, he visited Mexico. He spoke at a big rally at the border with the United States. He spoke of the plight of the immigrants from the south — those who illegally flood across that border. He calls them victims. 

Pope Francis calls the Muslim migrants who flood across the borders of Europe victims as well. He calls the refugees from the wars of Africa victims. Well, he is right about that.

Here is what confuses me. Does he praise the U.S. for taking in countless millions of illegals? And millions of legal immigrants, too? No. He criticizes the U.S. for its capitalism.

Does Pope Francis rebuke Mexico for its wall-to-wall corruption? For its drug wars? Some. But mostly, he loves to whack away at the evils of capitalism.

Does the pope rebuke the Castro brothers for imprisoning millions of Cubans for half a century? No. He rewards them with a visit. Does he urge them to free their political prisoners? The prisoners who received no trial? The prisoners who went to jail for simply criticizing the regime? No or not loudly enough.

Does the pope call for free elections for Cubans? So that they could voice their opinions? Does he call for free travel for them?

No, he does not. He seems too busy instead railing against the evils of capitalism.

This is confusing for a few reasons. One is that if Cuba allowed for totally free travel, half the people would be gone in a year. And where would they go? To that evil capitalism in the U.S. They know that Cubans in Miami live 10 times better than Cubans in Cuba. Unless they belong to the communist elite in Cuba.

The pope decries the plight of illegal immigrants from Latin America and Mexico. Who does he blame for their plight? Often he blames America and its evil capitalism.

So where do those immigrants want to go? To America and its evil capitalism.

Does the pope see swarms of immigrants headed for socialist countries? Does he see them try to sneak into Venezuela?

The pope has a lot of reasons to attack communism and extreme socialism. By extreme, I mean enforced — as in Venezuela. Dictators and banana republics have resorted to these systems to plunder the wealth. And to punish the people. Whether they meant to or not, they did punish them. And they did deprive them of various liberties. And in some countries, they butchered millions of people.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis has a lot of reasons to praise various aspects of capitalism. No system has raised the standard of living of people more than capitalism. Witness India, China, South Korea, and Taiwan. Compare life in those countries with life in Vietnam, North Korea, China, and Laos. Compare dismal life in socialist Venezuela with bountiful life in capitalist Chile. 

It would be nice if the pontiff recognized some of the good of capitalism. Nice if he noticed that immigrants desperately seek the system he calls evil. Do they know something he doesn’t know?

The pope berated Donald Trump for wanting to build a wall. But notice that the pope does not open the gates of the Vatican to illegal immigrants. He does not berate Cuba for its virtual walls. Cuba is not taking in a few hundred thousand illegals — not that anyone would want to move there. And Cuba has walled in its people for 50 years.

Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Church is one of the world’s biggest players in the capitalist system.

If you were a peasant, all these contradictions might confuse you.

From Tom…as in Morgan.            

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial and other subjects from his home near Oneonta. Several upstate radio stations carry his daily commentary, Tom Morgan’s Money Talk. Contact him at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com

Providing our youth with the opportunity for a strong education is one of the most important jobs of our government. Unfortunately, the education system has had its fair share of challenges recently, both in terms of funding and from policies stemming from federal and state laws.

First among the challenges was the implementation of the Common Core, a set of academic standards mandated on school districts by the State Board of Regents. 

While most people are open to higher academic standards, the implementation of the new standards was widely criticized by parents, teachers, and administrators. Parents objected to the high-stakes testing that their children were required to undergo, teachers opposed having their evaluations tied to the testing results, and administrators objected to the cost of implementing the Common Core curriculum.

Due to the public outcry, the New York Legislature has made several changes to the Common Core implementation, including prohibiting standardized testing for pre-kindergarten through second-grade students and prohibiting state assessment scores from being placed on a student’s transcript. In addition, the Board of Regents has delayed until the 2019-20 school year, teachers and principals being evaluated based on students’ state test scores. 

While these changes are welcome and needed to be made, more needs to be done on Common Core. Short of scrapping it in its entirety, at the very least, the state needs to allow more flexibility in the curriculum’s implementation and execution. A one-size-fits-all mandate does not work in education because every school district and student is different. Input from local school districts, parents, and teachers on the Common Core and its implementation is a must. Moreover, while a student’s progress needs to measured, it shouldn’t be accomplished solely by means of high-stakes testing. Rather, testing should be used and seen as diagnostic tool, not a measurement to be used to bludgeon students, teachers, and school districts with punitive measures.

While reform of Common Core is necessary, it is also essential that the state ensure that our schools are provided with appropriate resources. One way to accomplish this is to close completely the gap elimination adjustment (GEA) in this year’s state budget. GEA was implemented in 2010, when the state was facing severe budget constraints. Essentially, GEA was an across-the-board cut in state education funding. The reduced funding was particularly burdensome for low-wealth school districts that were highly reliant on state aid. Low-wealth upstate districts, unlike high-wealth districts, are unable to raise revenue from other sources like property taxes to pay for state mandates (like Common Core). Since 2012, the state has been increasing education funding and closing the GEA. This year, Governor Cuomo is proposing to close the GEA over two years. I am urging the governor and my legislative colleagues to go a step further and close the GEA completely this year. This would be a big step in helping provide the resources our schools need, particularly during a time when they are hampered from raising revenue through property taxes in light of the property tax cap. I will continue to advocate for education and make sure that our schools receive the funding they need.            

William (Will) A. Barclay is the Republican representative of the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. Contact him at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us, or (315) 598-5185.