Wry Catcher
Diamond Member
- Banned
- #1
How Bad Policies Brought Us a New Gilded Age.
It is clear by now that the state of the U.S. economy will be the primary issue in this years election. As voters and as Catholics, how should we evaluate the countrys economy and the governments role in regulating it? More than a century of Catholic social doctrine, drawn together in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church and expressed most recently in Benedict XVIs Caritas in veritate, provides some basic standards.
In the words of John Paul II, the first principle of the whole ethical and social order is that of the universal destination of goods, which requires that all persons have access to sufficient goods to live in dignity and develop to their fullest potential. This is a goal best realized, furthermore, through a vibrant market economy based on private property, the economic arrangement that most efficiently creates wealth, respects human initiative, and allows people to support themselves and their families with dignity. The Catholic tradition is not opposed to wealth, private property, or free markets. Their value, however, is instrumental rather than intrinsic; they are beneficial to the extent that they contribute to the good of all, creating a widely shared prosperity. To ensure they do this, markets need government. Laws are needed to enforce contracts, insure transparency, and prevent corruption, and regulation is needed to prevent what Benedict XVI calls the scandalous speculation in the financial sector that recklessly risks the security of those in the larger economy. According to John Paul II, markets must be appropriately controlled by the forces of society and by the state to assure that the basic needs of the whole society are satisfied.
Read more at:
Plutocracy or Democracy? | Commonweal magazine
It is clear by now that the state of the U.S. economy will be the primary issue in this years election. As voters and as Catholics, how should we evaluate the countrys economy and the governments role in regulating it? More than a century of Catholic social doctrine, drawn together in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church and expressed most recently in Benedict XVIs Caritas in veritate, provides some basic standards.
In the words of John Paul II, the first principle of the whole ethical and social order is that of the universal destination of goods, which requires that all persons have access to sufficient goods to live in dignity and develop to their fullest potential. This is a goal best realized, furthermore, through a vibrant market economy based on private property, the economic arrangement that most efficiently creates wealth, respects human initiative, and allows people to support themselves and their families with dignity. The Catholic tradition is not opposed to wealth, private property, or free markets. Their value, however, is instrumental rather than intrinsic; they are beneficial to the extent that they contribute to the good of all, creating a widely shared prosperity. To ensure they do this, markets need government. Laws are needed to enforce contracts, insure transparency, and prevent corruption, and regulation is needed to prevent what Benedict XVI calls the scandalous speculation in the financial sector that recklessly risks the security of those in the larger economy. According to John Paul II, markets must be appropriately controlled by the forces of society and by the state to assure that the basic needs of the whole society are satisfied.
Read more at:
Plutocracy or Democracy? | Commonweal magazine