The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1953-11-27

lllE Nu0iE l1GOAlAD3 III N1lG N6SAGJm
world, liberty does not come es-
sentially from improved conditions
of living, either political or eco
nomic, but is rather the spring out
of which better conditions must
flow. A free spirit creates free in
stitutions; slave spirit permits the
creation of tyrannical ones.
Mans Dignity and Economics
Closely connected with freedom
and human dignity is the right of
private property. On the question
of private property the aforemen-
toned misconceptions of liberty
beget two other extremes: first the
belief that mans right to proper
ty is absolute, and that he may do
with it what he pleases, without
regard for the moral law or social
justice; and, secondly, the reac-
tionary error of Communism, which
denies all personal rights and 1odg-
es all property in the hands of the
state.
The Christian position main
fains that fhe right to property
is personal, while the use of
property is also social. Unre-
strained capitalism makes IFS
mistake by divorcins property
rights from social use; commun-
ism hits wide of fhe mark by
considering social use apart from
personal rights.
Much Of our economic restless
ness, however, is the fostering of
mans wounded dignity. Kari Marx
himself was percepeive enough to
see that Democracy is based on
the principle of the sovereign
worth of the individual, which, in
turn, is based on the dream of
Christianity that man has an inn
mortal soul" Marx-Engels Histori-
Critical Edition, Karl Marx In
stitute, Moscow, Vol. /, No. /, p.
590.)
Ignoring the testimony of both
reason and revelation and believ-
ing the dream to be only a
dream, modern men have tended to
concentrate almost exclusively on
economic security and to pursue it
at times with the fervOr of reIip-
ious devotion.
often the hope IS voiced that
man will turn TO the cultivation of
the spirit after all his economic
needs are supplied. We are re
minded of the delusion of Jean
Jacques Rousseau that man, good
in himself, has been corrupted on
ly by society. Marxism, changing
the formula, gives the same false
primacy to external circumstances
mans goodness will depend upon
the economic system under which
he lives. But the exclusive depend
ence on economic security and So
cial reform to right the wrongs of
mankind is by no means confined
to Marxism. 1t affects the thought
OF great masses of men who reject
the fundamental tenets OF Marxism.
While we have deep sympathy
with all people in their craving
for economic security and while
we acknowledge the evils, indi-
vidual and spiritual as we'll as
social which often flourish in .
society when many are forced to
live in conditions Of degrading
poverty, yet we cannot refrain
from pointing out the fact that
mans goodness is from within.
II depends upon mans personal
convictions and upon his efforts
aided by Gods grace. Economic
and social reform, 10 be effee-
rive, must be preceded by per-
sonal reform. The perfection of
q society may not be measured
by the moral goodness Of the
individuals who compose il; but
the goodness of a society can
not rise above the goodness Of
its members.
The position of the Church rel
alive to the economic order is bas-
ed on the principle that the rights
man possesses as an individual and
the function he fulfills in society
are inSeparabIe. Many of the
rights of the individual depend up
on the function he fulfills in soci-
ETY.. Capital and labor from this
point of view are related and made
inseparabIe by the common good of
society. This is a prime principle
of social Justice. The right of the
capitalist to his business and to his
profits and interest, and the right
of the laborer to his wages and his
union, are both conditioned by
their service to the common good.
Mans Dignity and Labor
II IS only IN the light OF the spiEz
tiual worth of man that the dignity
and Importance of labor become
evident. Labor is not something
detached from the rest of life. Eco
nomically, it is bound up with cap
ital as a eo-partner in production.
Socially, it is bound up with leisure
as an avenue to cultural enrich
ment. Spiritually, it is bound up
with the souls development and
with salvation. The worker is not
hand, as individualistic capital
ism contends; not a stomach to be
fed by commissars, as Communism
thinks: but a person who through
his labor establishes three rela.
tionS: with God, with his neigh
Dor, and with the whole natural
world.
First of all, work unites us to
Cod NOT nY1Iy hxr lie acaatip charac,