The Injustice of "Distributism" in Catholic Social Justice

The December 20 edition of the Wanderer contained a recap of writings from Dorothy Day, a social justice activist who positioned herself against capitalism in favor of "distributism." Here is my response. We'll see if they publish it:

Dear Sir or Madam:
I could not help but respond to your publishing Dorothy Day’s October 1954 article “Distributism Versus Capitalism” in the December 20, 2012 edition of the Wanderer. To think how misguided Ms. Day was in her advocacy for distributism is evident everywhere we look in modern society, in America and abroad. Ms. Day, of course, did not have the empirical advantage of reviewing the social, personal and moral destruction that “distributism” has wrought in Africa, Europe, America’s inner cities, not to mention the Soviet Union, and China, until it adopted capitalism, and the next decade in the United States.

Sadly, Ms. Day and the entire social justice crowd seem to have, for the last 100 years or so, been absent from Mass to hear how Jesus crafted parables using capitalistic concepts to demonstrate the failures in morality – of distributism! And let’s shift our thinking here a bit. The term ‘capitalism’ was created by French proponents of Marxism to denigrate the working of free enterprise and free markets, in support of the socialistic/distributist reordering they sought. Jesus, for his part, never denigrated free enterprise (the precursor to free markets), but he did condemn the errors of those who accumulate wealth for its own sake.

In the parable of the Talents, Jesus clearly says there are rewards for the enterprising servants who traded for returns on their master’s talents (15 years’ worth of salary). By contrast, the servant who failed to engage in money-making activity is punished by the master upon his return. Industriousness is rewarded; laziness and fear of failure is punished.

In the parable of the Ten Virgins, Jesus clearly rewards the five who prepared themselves with extra lamp oil ahead of the bridegroom’s late night arrival. The five who did not bring enough oil are refused their requests for sharing by the five who did, and return to their town to get more. Jesus could have taken the outcome of the parable in a different direction, to chastise the five who did not share their oil with the ill-prepared. Instead, he rewarded those who had the forethought and industriousness of preparation, and punished those who did not. If there is any virtue in distributism, Jesus did not even consider it as a part of his lesson for this story.

In the parable of the Tenants, Jesus establishes that there is a wealthy landowner who invests in a vineyard for the purpose of producing grapes and wine. The landowner does everything possible to ensure a good crop, protecting the tenants with a wall and watchtower, building a press and planting the vineyard. He contracts with tenants to produce grapes and press wines, in return for some portion of the yield. The landowner, who Jesus later assigns as God the Father sending his Son, could certainly be described as encouraging and engaging in “capitalism” as it has come to be denigrated in our brainwashed minds, by the likes of Day and others. But truly another way to consider that type of activity might be much closer to descriptions of God’s support of a natural order inherent in all the attendant mechanics of free enterprise, contracts, investments, rents, trading, etc.

From your excerpt, it appeared that Day was railing against the insertion of capitalism in catechesis. She may have been right, that there was at the time a false faith in the ability of capitalism to fairly distribute goods, in her view. But where did that view come from? Jesus? No. She cites L’Osservatore Romano’s description of capitalism as seizing, confiscating and drying up wealth. But is that description true? What would an Ukrainian farmer of the 1930s say about that?

Please read this with care. I’m not defending “capitalism” or “capitalists” as they are caricaturized by Ms. Day and all the untold other proponents of social justice distributism. Jesus warned against the folly of wealth accumulation for its own sake. He demonstrated the folly of the farmer who built silos to accumulate his exceptional grain harvest. He praised the heart of the poor woman who shared her alms to point of jeopardizing her own well-being, and the contrasted that with the stingy rich.

I just wonder how our last century would have been reshaped if Ms. Day and others had understood free enterprise as supporting the ultimate goal of salvation for the individual, in accordance with the parables of Jesus, instead of the temporal gain of distributism that aligned more closely with Marx and his heirs.

Paul Ryan Agrees on the Non-Christianity of Obama's Socialism

My ebook, Not My Brother's Keeper, questions how Barack Obama interprets the Judeo-Christian Bible to support his socialistic principles of wealth distribution. I am not alone in questioning the President.

Back before the early November election Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan similarly observed that Obama's public policies are antithetical to Christian principles:

Obama’s policies on health care and religious freedom are a “dangerous path,” Ryan, a Catholic, told members of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, according to the New York Times. “It’s a path that grows government, restricts freedom and liberty and compromises those values, those Judeo-Christian, Western civilization values that made us such a great and exceptional nation in the first place.” [Posted by Rachel Weiner on the Washington Post Blog.]

 Obviously this did not make much difference in the election, with 50 percent of Catholics voting for Obama and 48 percent for Romney.

New Ebook Challenges Obama's Use of Biblical Passages to Tax the Rich, Spread the Wealth, and Keep His Brother

A new ebook, "Not My Brothers' Keeper: How Barack Obama Misleads America with Socialist Misinterpretations of Bible Verses," by Joe Gimenez challenges the biblical interpretations of President Barack Obama as different from those understood by most Christians.



In the new ebook, "Not My Brothers' Keeper: How Barack Obama Misleads America with Socialist Misinterpretations of Bible Verses," author Joe Gimenez examines the religious elements of Obama's speeches and compares them to the actual lessons Jesus taught in his parables

"Would Jesus support Obama's conclusions that government should be the Christian arm for charity, equalizing resources in the name of brotherly love, of spreading the wealth around?," Gimenez asks.

"In sum, No!," he says.

A publicist by trade, Gimenez uses his strong literary analysis to understanding how Barack Obama interprets several Bible passages to support his socialistic views and why those interpretations are subject to question.

“The parables of the Tenants and the Talents are but two examples of how Jesus is perfectly comfortable with the economic constructs of free enterprise. If he had not been, he would have said otherwise, or constructed his parables differently,” Gimenez says. "Just because a U.S. President says that Christianity is about being your brothers keeper, it's not, and people should take this opportunity ahead of the 2012 election to re-examine what Jesus actually said about free enterprise and the economic constructs that make people healthy, from a spiritual perspective."

In contrast to the "greed is the ultimate evil" mantra that will be a core of the Democratic president's fall campaign, Gimenez demonstrates how Jesus, speaking through his Parables, and interpreted without a socialist perspective, is clear on his support for free enterprise. Gimenez goes further, providing readers with examples in movies and real life where free enterprise (and not capitalism) is an activity capable of building each individual's character and developing virtue in them, in addition to providing for our personal needs. This is a far more desirable outcome than the redistributionist goals of Obama and even many in the clergy, he says.

While this book is coming out shortly before the 2012 elections, the book will have long staying power.

Barack Obama and other political and religious leaders will continue to mislead people about a certain participatory feel-goodism that comes with thinking that their government is striving to be their brothers and sisters keepers, Gimenez said. But he points out that the only person who asked whether he was his brother's keep was Bible's first murderer, Cain.

"Surely this should cause concern about what being a "keeper" truly means, when contrasted with the free will that God wants everyone to use, for themselves and others, without the intervening force of government," Gimenez said.

Along the way, the Not My Brothers Keeper ebook takes you on a journey of understanding, about the differences between free enterprise and capitalism, free markets and government engineered activity. It asks readers to view a 2008 movie, Sunshine Cleaning, that uses a free enterprise economy as backdrop to create a memorable and enchanting movie experience that's far different than most Hollywood films today. And it offers real life examples of people who've turned their life around using free enterprise, not socialism.

The ebook, "Not My Brothers' Keeper: How Barack Obama Misleads America with Socialist Misinterpretations of Bible Verses," is available exclusively today on Amazon.com for $2.99.

Economics, Paul Ryan and Catholicism

The Wall Street Journal has been running several stories about the economics of vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and various people in the Catholic Church who subordinate their duty to work and contribute charitably as individuals to support for massive government programs that force others to work for redistributionist goals. This isn't what Jesus would do.

Here's what the stories say:

• "Catholic Group Prays for Paul Ryan's 'Conversion'" is about the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Nuns on the Bus, and a new group PrayforPaulsChangeofHeart.org, all of which are concerned about Ryan's budget proposal of a couple of years ago. The budget restored fiscal sanity to the United States so that working citizens won't be subject to redistributionist goals and impending disaster. That doesn't matter to the true believers -- in big government. I pray for Paul Ryan to stand up to these non-Christian bullies.
• "Ryan's Catholic Roots Reach Deep" talks about Ryan's belief in the Catholic principle of subsidiarity, which says Big Brother shouldn't do what people at the local level can do on their own.  

Of course, the stories fail to mention the principles of free enterprise, the ones that Jesus explained in his Parables. The Parable of the Talents, for example, praises the servants who compound their master's interest. They worked through trade to accomplish that. Ryan's budget would help the people who trade for a living, who engage in free enterprise, and then are under compulsion from God to charitably contribute their time and resources -- voluntarily -- to those who are less fortunate. The Catholics who require their fellow citizens to pay for their vision of social justice are compelling against free will. They are joined by Barack Obama, the man who says you are your brothers keeper through Uncle Sam. You're not. You're his servant in Christ. 

Hat Tip Andrew Wilkow

Radio talk show host Andrew Wilkow likes to take sips from his "Capitalism is Boss" coffee mug and I say "Great! Enjoy!"

Indeed, the economic system referred to as Capitalism is the best, most natural system for the exchange of goods and services and has created creature comforts beyond cataloging in the past 100 years.

But is "Capitalism" the right word?

Shouldn't we instead be talking about "Free Enterprise," the ability of individuals to exchange goods and services? After all, the term capitalism was created by some of the most staunch enemies of free enterprise in the first place. Why should its proponents use it?

But more importantly, what is it about Free Enterprise that is redeeming as an economic system, in contrast to all its naysayers criticisms?

That is what we will discuss on this blog. Enjoy!