In the wake of Trump’s attack on Harvard and the 25% of the students who are foreign:
this is what Pope Leo XIII said in Rrum Novarum, the Catholic Social Justice critique of the Industrial Revolution:
“Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical, addressed the social issues arising from the Industrial Revolution, primarily focusing on the relationship between labor and capital. Five key points include: the need for a just wage, the right of workers to organize, the importance of private property, the role of the state in protecting the common good, and the moral responsibilities of both employers and employees. “
This is an important critique of both capitalism and communism.
A just wage is what Bernie Sanders and many others have been fighting for for decades. The rights of workers to organize, to have representation with big business through unions, is another big point, which Joe Biden consistently pointed to as a major contributor to the 40 hour week, and protections against dangers in the work place, and in protection of retirement for workers.
The right of private property is a caution against communism, or state-mandated control of everything.
The role of the state in protecting the common good is a direct flag to our Constitution, to consider the needs of the people in the country, not just the big employers, or corporations.
Moral responsibility of both the employers and employees gives us the necessity of working together for “best practices” and the best working relationships.
Our government needs to stay on course between the two extremes of capitalism and communism. After WW2, Europe made great headway with Democratic Socialism, which is also an attempt to provide for the general welfare, to buffer the costs of medical care, the housing costs, the retirement needs of the elderly, the needs of families raising children, the needs to have a well-educated workforce, and to have good laws which protect the peace and well-being of the people in the society.
Recently Paul Krugman again recommended that we have appropriate taxation of corporations and billionaires, to help fund the needs for meeting the common good, in our time. Instead of passing a massive tax cut for them, we should be increasing it. After WW2, in the Eisenhower years, the tax rate for the top bracket was 90%!. This money helped make America great. We need to put a reasonable tax burden on the corporations, and on the billionaires. This will help us meet the needs of our people over this century. We CAN be moderate in this way– helping make our nation great, as we also provide for the vulnerable in meaningful ways. It gives me great hope that Pope Leo XIV, our new American pope, decided to use the name Leo, perhaps pointing to this great insightful “middle way” of his predecessor with the same name. We need to support Harvard, and all institutions of higher learning, and we need to protect due process of law. We need to help working families to be able to raise healthy children. And we also need to recognize that these goals do not exclude human spirituality and love of God.
martina2b 