Elon Musk and DOGE have used the language of efficiency to impose a radical change in how we view helping others.

Whether we think “they should get jobs” or “the government should take care of them,” too often we regard the poor dispassionately. The story of the good Samaritan is a better place to start.

I introduced students to a worldview completely at odds with the one expressed by Pope Francis. In doing so, I rationalized greed and dismissed the idea of a common good.