All economic life should be shaped by moral principles. Economic choices and institutions must be judged by how they protect or undermine the life and dignity of the human person, support the family, and serve the common good. Both individuals and institutions are subject to this stern standard, including government and its bureaucracies. No institution has harmed family life more than big government, with its high taxes, bureaucratic red tape, and dependency-promoting welfarism. Economists from Joseph Schumpeter to Michael Novak and Gary Becker have stressed that vibrant family life and the common good are inseparably linked to private property, equal rights, and economic liberty.
All people have a right to life and to secure the basic necessities of life.
Some in the media claimed this plank endorses welfare rights, which would be alarming. It is a small step from welfare rights to socialism. There is no normative right to others' property, but only to secure necessities for ourselves in a manner consistent with others' rights. I don't claim my free-market take on this statement is the definitive rendering, but herein lies the beauty of the Bishops' ten points. They have provided a moral framework that embraces markets, rejects socialism and excessive government management, calls upon people to put morality at the center of decision making, while tolerating divergent opinions on the details.