Hello Barack,
I have a list of issues and actions that I believe are ethical and must be implemented if we are to be unified and successful as a nation under your Administration.
1. Health Care: At the US government level, a health care system cannot disrupt the free market. If a public option is included, it must be made clear to the American public that such a public option will NEVER be compulsory, will NEVER be used to make free market health care obsolete, and that people will still be able to choose the doctor of their choice. While many people distrust private health insurance companies, just as many people, if not more, distrust the government and do not want the government in control of their lives. You must also be very clear that there are no so-called "death panels". There are many people who have legitimate concerns about this.
2. Your Citizenship: There are groups out there right now, called "birthers" by the media, that do not believe that you are a United States citizen. While I personally believe that these claims are very unfounded, some have legitimate Constitutional concerns with this. To make it crystal clear for people, I believe you should personally address this. Whenever conspiracy theories arose about the last Administration, Bush/Cheney never addressed theories brought against them, and this fueled their theories even more. I believe you could show that you are the bigger man in this one by addressing the concerns and putting these false rumors to rest. It doesn't matter where you were born, your mother was a US citizen, therefore you are a US citizen. In my opinion, one is "natural born" regardless of where they were physically born. People forget that John McCain was born in Panama. I have a friend who was born in Canada to an unwed couple- his mom was a US citizen and his dad was a Canadian college student in New York. They happened to be visiting his family in Toronto when she went into labor, and he was born there. My friend is a US citizen, natural born or otherwise.
3. The Stimulus (ARRA): I believe you should condense the details about ARRA and explain in layman's terms about how your Administration will balance this deficit created by the plan. 9 trillion dollars is a lot of money over 10 years, and people are concerned that we won't be able to pay it back without it negatively affecting our nation and national sovereignty in the long-term. I'll be honest, I'm worried about it also. I haven't seen any job growth in my area yet, and my unemployment is about to run out. I believe you should extend unemployment benefits another few months for people like me who can't find a decent job.
4. Socialism/Communism/Fascism: I believe you should use your position to educate people about the true nature of these economic ideologies. If more people understood your position and your plans to rebuild the national infrastructure, they would stop saying that you subscribe to any of these terms. Socialism advocates the abolition of private property, which you do not advocate. Communism advocates violent overthrow of the upper class, and you are completely nonviolent. Fascism is completely unrelated to Socialism and Communism, and you are not fascist, because you do not advocate complete control of private industry by the central government. You need to explain this to the people because there is a concerted effort to label you right now. Throughout our national history, many Presidents, even the most "conservative" of Presidents such as Reagan, have implemented temporary measures that seemed "Socialist", but once recovery efforts were finished, we returned to a normal free-market environment. Please explain this to the people.
5. Swine Flu: You must explain to people that H1N1 is no different than many other communicable illnesses and end a lot of the panic and conspiracies out there. You should also make sure that vaccines are not mandatory and also ease some of the panic in the medical community about this virus- there are some clinics and doctors who are in a panic wanting to vaccinate people immediately, and we can't do this. The vaccine has only been in the works for a few months, which means it is highly untested on humans, and could present a higher threat than the virus itself. Please read about the mistakes that the US government made during the first Swine Flu scare in 1976. If this is found to have been a weaponized strain, be honest with the people and let's go after the perpetrators. If this was a natural occurrence, explain this as well. But, do not force this upon the people. I personally have issues with vaccines of many different kinds due to the additives in the vaccines that have been proven in some cases to cause neurological damage in some people.
6. City Year and Citizen Corps: Explain to people that you are doing exactly what President Eisenhower and others did, by helping to encourage community organization so that we are better prepared as a nation for local and national emergencies, and to help clean up ran-down communities. The Civil Defense programs of the 40's, 50's, and 60's were VERY beneficial to our national security. I believe we should be doing more of these things, such as building local shelters and providing equipment to protect against nuclear blast and fallout, biological and chemical agents, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, electromagnetic pulse attacks, and more.
7. General Motors: Explain to people that if the government did not step in and help to save GM, we would have slipped into a complete economic depression. Since the government owns the majority share of the company, begin to distribute company ownership certificates to United States citizens since we own the majority of the company with our tax dollars. Roll out cars that people can buy with their tax returns- cars that are quality made, fuel-efficient, AND financially cheap.
8. Bring Us the Head of Osama Bin Laden on a Platter: I want you and the United States Department of Defense to bust heads at the FBI and CIA, get the classified details on him, and capture and kill Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri once and for all. Thousands of our men and women, and many thousands more innocent people in Iraq (though it had nothing to do with 9/11) and Afghanistan are dead due to the initial 9/11 attack. If they are able to release tapes to Al-Jazeera, then we know they're able to be captured. We have the technology to find them. Do it. And nail anyone else involved, no matter if they were rich, poor, powerful, international, or American.
9. Holding Criminals Accountable: You must hold anyone accountable from any previous Administration or from your Administration who has violated any law or committed any act of treason against the United States. We need to reopen the 9/11 investigation, we need to reopen the Katrina investigation, and we need a full investigation of the build-up to the Iraq War. We need to get into classified details surrounding these cases and prosecute anyone who may have been negligent or intended and/or committed an act of criminal harm.
10. Last but not least- Reevaluate Financial Policy in the US: It's time for a full financial investigation into corporate and banking fraud, and a full investigation and audit of the Federal Reserve. Ron Paul, a libertarian Republican from Texas, has authored a bill that states his desire to audit the Fed. This is very important. We need to find out who the puppeteers are that created this economic mess we now find ourselves in. In past decades, we've went through the recovery but we never fully investigated who was responsible and sent them to prison. In a new era of accountability, we must do this.
Thank you for your time.
These town hall meeting protestors should be ashamed! I can't believe that they want to stop the progress that we're finally making with healthcare in America. Is asking for basic healthcare for all Americans really so offensive to these teabaggers??
It's not fair that healthcare companies can destroy the democratic process by buying off a bunch of people to do their dirty work for them! We need to shout louder than these teabaggers and show them our compassion towards those among us who need a helping hand!
April 2, 2009
"The new “New World Order”
© Enrique Woll Battistini 2009
Now that the G20 Summit in London is over, it is fair to ask if sufficient attention was given by the leaders of the world's 20 richest countries to the economic and social conditions and prospects for development of the remaining 90%, which as should be noted, are non-OECD members and located mostly in the Southern hemisphere. Why is it considered acceptable that the rich and powerful decide on the fate of the poor, without their consent? Poor does not mean stupid or morally inept. Rather, it means disenfranchised, still, and that, in the new “New World Order” proclaimed by Gordon Brown today, should be abolished forthwith. The grossly unacceptable welfare imbalance between countries in the Southern and Northern hemispheres also must be corrected forthwith. It is a reflection of the gross capitalization imbalances between them, and will cease in short order if G20-supported special action to promote North-South foreign direct investment is undertaken. For such action to be successful, it must occur in the context of for-profit PRIVATE-PUBLIC Partnerships in each of the three main geo-economic North-South scenarios -The Americas, Europe-Africa, and Asia-Oceania. These Partnerships must be comprised of the fittest surviving financial companies in the leading OECD-member country in each scenario, and their counterparts in each non-OECD or developing country in that scenario. In addition, each Partnership must include appropriate multilateral institutions relevant to economic and social development and their counterpart local governmental entities, in a supporting role. Without question, these Partnerships must be for-profit, as stated, and must be led by the private sector. It is not enough to reform the international financial system, abolish banking secrecy, super-inflate the IMF, or to enact a massive world-wide deficit-spending scheme. In The Americas, the Partnership could be called, for instance, "A Partnership for Development with the United States of America" ("Sociedad para el Desarrollo con los Estados Unidos de América"). This idea was first proposed in 1992 to President Clinton, and in 2005 to Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. Perhaps its time has finally come.
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Hi! My name is Gerry a New York filmmaker. I recently shot a narrative film called THE MOUNTAIN THIEF in Payatas, a dumpsite community and possibly the poorest place in the world.
Please take 2 minutes of your time to view the trailer, this will give you an idea:
http://www.mountainthief.com/Site_/Trailer.html
A place where people live on top of mountains of trash. I held an acting workshop in the town for the scavenger residents and the graduates acted out the parts in the film. I hope to get a discussion on how to build an audience for the film, inspire change and touch the lives of the scavengers who acted in the film.
Our website above gives more info about the film and please add our page to your facebook account:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Mountain-Thief/25443474407
Social Justice and the Common Well is not socialism. The following encyclical is an example and a good reference why we need to support the Barack Obama plans for CHANGE, as catholics or christians.
Raymark Clement
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Rerum NovarumOn the Condition of the Working ClassesPope Leo XIII, 1891
Encyclical Letter of Pope Leo XIII issued on May 15, 1891.
To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other Ordinaries of Places Having Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See:
1. Once the passion for revolutionary change was aroused -- a passion long disturbing governments -- it was bound to follow sooner or later that eagerness for change would pass from the political sphere over into the related field of economics. In fact, new developments in industry, new techniques striking out on new paths, changed relations of employer and employee, abounding wealth among a very small number and destitution among the masses, increased self-reliance on the part of workers as well as a closer bond of union with one another, and, in addition to all this, a decline in morals have caused conflict to break forth.
2. The momentous nature of the questions involved in this conflict is evident from the fact that it keeps men's minds in anxious expectation, occupying the talents of the learned, the discussions of the wise and experienced, the assemblies of the people, the judgment of lawmakers, and the deliberations of rulers, so that now no topic more strongly holds men's interests.
3. Therefore, Venerable Brethren, with the cause of the Church and the common welfare before Us, We have thought it advisable, following Our custom on other occasions when We issued to you the Encyclicals "On Political Power", "On Human Liberty", "On the Christian Constitution of States", and others of similar nature, which seemed opportune to refute erroneous opinions, that We ought to do the same now, and for the same reasons, "On the Condition of Workers." We have on occasion touched more than once upon this subject. In this Encyclical, however, consciousness of Our Apostolic office admonishes Us to treat the entire question thoroughly, in order that the principles may stand out in clear light, and the conflict may thereby be brought to an end as required by truth and equity.
4. The problem is difficult to resolve and is not free from dangers. It is hard indeed to fix the boundaries of the rights and duties within which the rich and the proletariat -- those who furnish material things and those who furnish work -- ought to be restricted in relation to each other. The controversy is truly dangerous, for in various places it is being twisted by turbulent and crafty men to pervert judgment as to truth and seditiously to incite the masses.
5. In any event, We see clearly, and all are agreed that the poor must be speedily and fittingly cared for, since the great majority of them live undeservedly in miserable and wretched conditions.
6. After the old trade guilds had been destroyed in the last century, and no protection was substituted in their place, and when public institutions and legislation had cast off traditional religious teaching, it gradually came about that the present age handed over the workers, each alone and defenseless, to the inhumanity of employers and the unbridled greed of competitors. A devouring usury, although often condemned by the Church, but practiced nevertheless under another form by avaricious and grasping men, has increased the evil; and in addition the whole process of production as well as trade in every kind of goods has been brought almost entirely under the power of a few, so that a very few rich and exceedingly rich men have laid a yoke almost of slavery on the unnumbered masses of non-owning workers.
7. To cure this evil, the Socialists, exciting the envy of the poor toward the rich, contend that it is necessary to do away with private possession of goods and in its place to make the goods of individuals common to all, and that the men who preside over a municipality or who direct the entire State should act as administrators of these goods. They hold that, by such a transfer of private goods from private individuals to the community, they can cure the present evil through dividing wealth and benefits equally among the citizens.
8. But their program is so unsuited for terminating the conflict that it actually injures the workers themselves. Moreover, it is highly unjust, because it violates the rights of lawful owners, perverts the function of the State, and throws governments into utter confusion.
9. Clearly the essential reason why those who engage in any gainful occupation undertake labor, and at the same time the end to which workers immediately look, is to procure property for themselves and to retain it by individual right as theirs and as their very own. When the worker places his energy and his labor at the disposal of another, he does so for the purpose of getting the means necessary for livelihood. He seeks in return for the work done, accordingly, a true and full right not only to demand his wage but to dispose of it as he sees fit. Therefore, if he saves something by restricting expenditures and invests his savings in a piece of land in order to keep the fruit of his thrift more safe, a holding of this kind is certainly nothing else than his wage under a different form; and on this account land which the worker thus buys is necessarily under his full control as much as the wage which he earned by his labor. But, as is obvious, it is clearly in this that the ownership of movable and immovable goods consists. Therefore, inasmuch as the Socialists seek to transfer the goods of private persons to the community at large, they make the lot of all wage earners worse, because in abolishing the freedom to dispose of wages they take away from them by this very act the hope and the opportunity of increasing their property and of securing advantages for themselves.
10. But, what is of more vital concern, they propose a remedy openly in conflict with justice, inasmuch as nature confers on man the right to possess things privately as his own.
11. In this respect also there is the widest difference between man and other living beings. For brute beasts are not self- ruling, but are ruled and governed by a two-fold innate instinct, which not only keeps their faculty of action alert and develops their powers properly but also impels and determines their individual movements. By one instinct they are induced to protect themselves and their lives; by the other, to preserve their species. In truth, they attain both ends readily by using what is before them and within immediate range; and they cannot, of course, go further because they are moved to action by the senses alone and by the separate things perceived by the senses.
Man's nature is quite different. In man there is likewise the entire and full perfection of animal nature, and consequently on this ground there is given to man, certainly no less than to every kind of living being, to enjoy the benefits of corporeal goods. Yet animal nature, however perfectly possessed, is far from embracing human nature, but rather is much lower than human nature, having been created to serve and obey it. What stands out and excels in us, what makes man man and distinguishes him generically from the brute, is the mind and reason. And owing to the fact that this animal alone has reason, it is necessary that man have goods not only to be used, which is common to all living things, but also to be possessed by stable and perpetual right; and this applies not merely to those goods which are consumed by use, but to those also which endure after being used.
12. This is even more clearly evident, if the essential nature of human beings is examined more closely. Since man by his reason understands innumerable things, linking and combining the future with the present, and since he is master of his own actions, therefore, under the eternal law, and under the power of God most wisely ruling all things, he rules himself by the foresight of his own counsel. Wherefore it is in his power to choose the things which he considers best adapted to benefit him not only in the present but also in the future. Whence it follows that dominion not only over the fruits of the earth, but also over the earth itself, ought to rest in man, since he sees that things necessary for the future are furnished him out of the produce of the earth. The needs of every man are subject, as it were, to constant recurrences, so that, satisfied today, they make new demands tomorrow. Therefore, nature necessarily gave man something stable and perpetually lasting on which he can count for continuous support. But nothing can give continuous support of this kind save the earth with its great abundance.
13. There is no reason to interpose provision by the State, for man is older than the State. Wherefore he had to possess by nature his own right to protect his life and body before any polity had been formed.
14. The fact that God gave the whole human race the earth to use and enjoy cannot indeed in any manner serve as an objection against private possessions. For God is said to have given the earth to mankind in common, not because He intended indiscriminate ownership of it by all, but because He assigned no part to anyone in ownership, leaving the limits of private possessions to be fixed by the industry of men and the institutions of peoples. Yet, however the earth may be apportioned among private owners, it does not cease to serve the common interest of all, inasmuch as no living being is sustained except by what the fields bring forth. Those who lack resources supply labor, so that it can be truly affirmed that the entire scheme of securing a livelihood consists in the labor which a person expends either on his own land or in some working occupation, the compensation for which is drawn ultimately from no other source than from the varied products of the earth and is exchanged for them.
15. For this reason it also follows that private possessions are clearly in accord with nature. The earth indeed produces in great abundance the things to preserve and, especially, to perfect life, but of itself it could not produce them without human cultivation and care. Moreover, since man expends his mental energy and his bodily strength in procuring the goods of nature, by this very act he appropriates that part of physical nature to himself which he has cultivated. On it he leaves impressed, as it were, a kind of image of his person, so that it must be altogether just that he should possess that part as his very own and that no one in any way should be permitted to violate his right.
16. The force of these arguments is so evident that it seems amazing that certain revivers of obsolete theories dissent from them. These men grant the individual the use of the soil and the varied fruits of the farm, but absolutely deny him the right to hold as owner either the ground on which he has built or the farm he has cultivated. When they deny this right they fail to see that a man will be defrauded of the things his labor has produced. The land, surely, that has been worked by the hand and the art of the tiller greatly changes in aspect. The wilderness is made fruitful; the barren field, fertile. But those things through which the soil has been improved so inhere in the soil and are so thoroughly intermingled with it, that they are for the most part quite inseparable from it. And, after all, would justice permit anyone to own and enjoy that upon which another has toiled? As effects follow the cause producing them, so it is just that the fruit of labor belongs precisely to those who have performed the labor.
17. Rightly therefore, the human race as a whole, moved in no wise by the dissenting opinions of a few, and observing nature carefully, has found in the law of nature itself the basis of the distribution of goods, and, by the practice of all ages, has consecrated private possession as something best adapted to man's nature and to peaceful and tranquil living together. Now civil laws, which, when just, derive their power from the natural law itself, confirm and, even by the use of force, protect this right of which we speak. -- And this same right has been sanctioned by the authority of the divine law, which forbids us most strictly even to desire what belongs to another. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his house, nor his field, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his." [1]
18. Rights of this kind which reside in individuals are seen to have much greater validity when viewed as fitted into and connected with the obligations of human beings in family life.
19. There is no question that in choosing a state of life it is within the power and discretion of individuals to prefer the one or the other state, either to follow the counsel of Jesus Christ regarding virginity or to bind oneself in marriage. No law of man can abolish the natural and primeval right of marriage, or in any way set aside the chief purpose of matrimony established in the beginning by the authority of God: "Increase and multiply." [2] Behold, therefore, the family, or rather the society of the household, a very small society indeed, but a true one, and older than any polity! For that reason it must have certain rights and duties of its own independent of the State. Thus, right of ownership, which we have shown to be bestowed on individual persons by nature, must be assigned to man in his capacity as head of a family. Nay rather, this right is all the stronger, since the human person in family life embraces much more.
20. It is a most sacred law of nature that the father of a family see that his offspring are provided with all the necessities of life, and nature even prompts him to desire to provide and to furnish his children, who, in fact reflect and in a sense continue his person, with the means of decently protecting themselves against harsh fortune in the uncertainties of life. He can do this surely in no other way than by owning fruitful goods to transmit by inheritance to his children. As already noted, the family like the State is by the same token a society in the strictest sense of the term, and is governed by its own proper authority, namely, by that of the father. Wherefore, assuming, of course, that those limits be observed which are fixed by its immediate purpose, the family assuredly possesses rights, at least equal with those of civil society, in respect to choosing and employing the things necessary for its protection and its just liberty. We say "at least equal" because, inasmuch as domestic living together is prior both in thought and in fact to uniting into a polity, it follows that its rights and duties are also prior and more in conformity with nature. But if citizens, if families, after becoming participants in common life and society, were to experience injury in a commonwealth instead of help, impairment of their rights instead of protection, society would be something to be repudiated rather than to be sought for.
21. To desire, therefore, that the civil power should enter arbitrarily into the privacy of homes is a great and pernicious error. If a family perchance is in such extreme difficulty and is so completely without plans that it is entirely unable to help itself, it is right that the distress by remedied by public aid, for each individual family is a part of the community. Similarly, if anywhere there is a grave violation of mutual rights within the family walls, public authority shall restore to each his right; for this is not usurping the rights of citizens, but protecting and confirming them with just and due care. Those in charge of public affairs, however, must stop here; nature does not permit them to go beyond these limits. Paternal authority is such that it can be neither abolished nor absorbed by the State, because it has the same origin in common with that of man's own life. "Children are a part of their father," and, as it were, a kind of extension of the father's person; and, strictly speaking, not through themselves, but through the medium of the family society in which they are begotten, they enter into the participate in civil society. And for the very reason that children "are by nature part of their father...before they have the use of free will, they are kept under the care of their parents." [3] Inasmuch as the Socialists, therefore, disregard care by parents and in its place introduce care by the State, they act against natural justice and dissolve the structure of the home.
22. And apart from the injustice involved, it is only too evident what turmoil and disorder would obtain among all classes; and what a harsh and odious enslavement of citizens would result! The door would be open to mutual envy, detraction, and dissension. If incentives to ingenuity and skill in individual persons were to be abolished, the very fountains of wealth would necessarily dry up; and the equality conjured up by the Socialist imagination would, in reality, be nothing but uniform wretchedness and meanness for one and all, without distinction.
23. From all these conversations, it is perceived that the fundamental principle of Socialism which would make all possessions public property is to be utterly rejected because it injures the very ones whom it seeks to help, contravenes the natural rights of individual persons, and throws the functions of the State and public peace into confusion. Let it be regarded, therefore, as established that in seeking help for the masses this principle before all is to be considered as basic, namely, that private ownership must be preserved inviolate. With this understood, we shall explain whence the desired remedy is to be sought.
24. We approach the subject with confidence and surely by Our right, for the question under consideration is certainly one for which no satisfactory solution will be found unless religion and the Church have been called upon to aid. Moreover, since the safeguarding of religion and of all things within the jurisdiction of the Church is primarily Our stewardship, silence on Our part might be regarded as failure in Our duty.
25. Assuredly, a question as formidable as this requires the attention and effort of others as well, namely, the heads of the State, employers and the rich, and finally, those in whose behalf efforts are being made, the workers themselves. Yet without hesitation We affirm that if the Church is disregarded, human striving will be in vain. Manifestly, it is the Church which draws from the Gospel the teachings through which the struggle can be composed entirely, or, after its bitterness is removed, can certainly become more tempered. It is the Church, again, that strives not only to instruct the mind but to regulate by her precepts the life and morals of individuals, that ameliorates the condition of the workers through her numerous and beneficent institutions, and that wishes and aims to have the thought and energy of all classes of society united to this end, that the interests of the workers be protected as fully as possible. And to accomplish this purpose she holds that the laws and the authority of the State, within reasonable limits, ought to be employed.
26. Therefore, let it be laid down in the first place that a condition of human existence must be borne with, namely, that in civil society the lowest cannot be made equal to the highest. Socialists, of course, agitate the contrary, but all struggling against nature is vain. There are truly very great and very many natural differences among men. Neither the talents, nor the skill, nor the health, nor the capacities of all are the same, and unequal fortune follows of itself upon necessary inequality in respect to these endowments. And clearly this condition of things is adapted to benefit both individuals and the community; for to carry on its affairs community life requires varied aptitudes and diverse services, and to perform these diverse services men are impelled most by differences in individual property holdings.
27. So far as bodily labor is concerned, man even before the Fall was not destined to be wholly idle; but certainly what his will at that time would have freely embraced to his soul's delight, necessity afterwards forced him to accept, with a feeling of irksomeness, for the expiation of his guilt. "Cursed be the earth in thy work: in thy labor thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life." [4] Likewise there is to be no end on earth of other hardships, for the evil consequences of sin are hard, trying, and bitter to bear, and will necessarily accompany men even to the end of life. Therefore, to suffer and endure is human, and although men may strive in all possible ways, they will never be able by any power or art wholly to banish such tribulations from human life. If any claim they can do this, if they promise the poor in their misery a life free from all sorrow and vexation and filled with repose and perpetual pleasures, they actually impose upon these people and perpetuate a fraud which will ultimately lead to evils greater than the present. The best course is to view human affairs as they are and, as We have stated, at the same time to seek appropriate relief for these troubles elsewhere.
28. It is a capital evil with respect to the question We are discussing to take for granted that the one class of society is of itself hostile to the other, as if nature had set rich and poor against each other to fight fiercely in implacable war. This is so abhorrent to reason and truth that the exact opposite is true; for just as in the human body the different members harmonize with one another, whence arises that disposition of parts and proportion in the human figure rightly called symmetry, so likewise nature has commanded in the case of the State that the two classes mentioned should agree harmoniously and should properly form equally balanced counterparts to each other. Each needs the other completely: neither capital can do without labor, nor labor without capital. Concord begets beauty and order in things. Conversely, from perpetual strife there must arise disorder accompanied by bestial cruelty. But for putting an end to conflict and for cutting away its very roots, there is wondrous and multiple power in Christian institutions.
29. And first and foremost, the entire body of religious teaching and practice, of which the Church is interpreter and guardian, can pre-eminently bring together and unite the rich and the poor by recalling the two classes of society to their mutual duties, and in particular to those duties which derive from justice.
30. Among these duties the following concern the poor and the workers: To perform entirely and conscientiously whatever work has been voluntarily and equitably agreed upon; not in any way to injure the property or to harm the person of employers; in protecting their own interests, to refrain from violence and never to engage in rioting; not to associate with vicious men who craftily hold out exaggerated hopes and make huge promises, a course usually ending in vain regrets and in the destruction of wealth.
31. The following duties, on the other hand, concern rich men and employers: Workers are not to be treated as slaves; justice demands that the dignity of human personality be respected in them, ennobled as it has been through what we call the Christian character. If we hearken to natural reason and to Christian philosophy, gainful occupations are not a mark of shame to man, but rather of respect, as they provide him with an honorable means of supporting life. It is shameful and inhuman, however, to use men as things for gain and to put no more value on them than what they are worth in muscle and energy. Likewise it is enjoined that the religious interests and the spiritual well- being of the workers receive proper consideration. Wherefore, it is the duty of employers to see that the worker is free for adequate periods to attend to his religious obligations; not to expose anyone to corrupting influences or the enticements of sin, and in no way to alienate him from care for his family and the practice of thrift. Likewise, more work is not to be imposed than strength can endure, nor that kind of work which is unsuited to a worker's age or sex.
32. Among the most important duties of employers the principal one is to give every worker what is justly due him. Assuredly, to establish a rule of pay in accord with justice, many factors must be taken into account. But, in general, the rich and employers must remember that no laws, either human or divine, permit them for their own profit to oppress the needy and the wretched or to seek gain from another's want. To defraud anyone of the wage due him is a great crime that calls down avenging wrath from Heaven, "Behold, the wages of the laborers...which have been kept back by you unjustly, cry out: and their cry has entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts." [5] Finally, the rich must religiously avoid harming in any way the savings of the workers either by coercion, or by fraud, or by the arts of usury; and the more for this reason, that the workers are not sufficiently protected against injustices and violence, and their property, being so meager, ought to be regarded as all the more sacred. Could not the observance alone of the foregoing laws remove the bitterness and the causes of the conflict?
33. But the Church, with Jesus Christ as her teacher and leader, seeks greater things than this; namely, by commanding something more perfect, she aims at joining the two social classes to each other in closest neighborliness and friendship. We cannot understand and evaluate mortal things rightly unless the mind reflects upon the other life, the life which is immortal. If this other life indeed were taken away, the form and true notion of the right would immediately perish; nay, this entire world would become an enigma insoluble to man. Therefore, what we learn from nature itself as our teacher is also a Christian dogma and on it the whole system and structure of religion rests, as it were, on its main foundation; namely, that, when we have left this life, only then shall we truly begin to live. God has not created man for the fragile and transitory things of this world, but for Heaven and eternity, and He has ordained this earth as a place of exile, not as our permanent home. Whether you abound in, or whether you lack, riches, and all the other things which are called good, is of no importance in relation to eternal happiness. But how you use them, that is truly of utmost importance. Jesus Christ by His "plentiful redemption" has by no means taken away the various tribulations with which mortal life is interwoven, but has so clearly transformed them into incentives in virtue and sources of merit that no mortal can attain eternal reward unless he follows the bloodstained footsteps of Jesus Christ. "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him." [6] By the labors and suffering which He voluntarily accepted, He has wondrously lightened the burden of suffering and labor, and not only by His example but also by His grace and by holding before us the hope of eternal reward. He has made endurance of sorrows easier: "for our present light affliction, which is for the moment, prepares us for an eternal weight of glory that is beyond all measure." [7]
34. Therefore, the well-to-do are admonished that wealth does not give surcease of sorrow, and that wealth is of no avail unto the happiness of eternal life but is rather a hindrance; [8] that the threats [9] pronounced by Jesus Christ, so unusual coming from Him, ought to cause the rich to fear; and that on one day the strictest account for the use of wealth must be rendered to God as Judge.
35. On the use of wealth we have the excellent and extremely weighty teaching, which, although found in a rudimentary stage in pagan philosophy, the Church has handed down in a completely developed form and causes to be observed not only in theory but in everyday life. The foundation of this teaching rests on this, that the just ownership of money is distinct from the just use of money.
36. To own goods privately, as We saw above, is a right natural to man, and to exercise this right, especially in life in society, is not only lawful, but clearly necessary. "It is lawful for man to own his own things. It is even necessary for human life." [10] But if the question be asked: How ought man to use his possessions? the Church replies without hesitation: "As to this point, man ought not regard external goods as his own, but as common so that, in fact, a person should readily share them when he sees others in need. Wherefore the Apostle says: 'Charge the rich of this world...to give readily, to share with others'." [11] No one, certainly, is obliged to assist others out of what is required for his own necessary use or for that of his family, or even to give to others what he himself needs to maintain his station in life becomingly and decently: "No one is obliged to live unbecomingly." [12] But when the demands of necessity and propriety have been met, it is a duty to give to the poor out of that which remains. "Give that which remains as alms." [13] These are duties not of justice, except in cases of extreme need, but of Christian charity, which obviously cannot be enforced by legal action. But the laws and judgments of men yield precedence to the law and judgment of Christ the Lord, Who in many ways urges the practice of alms- giving: "It is more blessed to give than to receive," [14] and Who will judge a kindness done or denied to the poor as done or denied to Himself, "As long as you did it for one of these, the least of My brethren, you did it for Me." [15] The substance of all this is the following: whoever has received from the bounty of God a greater share of goods, whether corporeal and external, or of the soul, has received them for this purpose, namely, that he employ them for his own perfection and, likewise, as a servant of Divine Providence, for the benefit of others. "Therefore, he that hath talent, let him constantly see to it that he be not silent; he that hath an abundance of goods, let him be on the watch that he grow not slothful in the generosity of mercy; he that hath a trade whereby he supports himself, let him be especially eager to share with his neighbor the use and benefit thereof." [16]
37. Those who lack fortune's goods are taught by the Church that, before God as judge, poverty is no disgrace, and that no one should be ashamed because he makes his living by toil. And Jesus Christ has confirmed this by fact and by deed, Who for the salvation of men, "being rich, became poor;" [17] and although He was the Son of God and God Himself, yet He willed to seem and to be thought the son of a carpenter; nay, He even did not disdain to spend a great part of his life at the work of a carpenter. "Is not this the carpenter, the Son of Mary?" [18] Those who contemplate this Divine example will more easily understand these truths: True dignity and excellence in men resides in moral living, that is, in virtue; virtue is the common inheritance of man, attainable equally by the humblest and the mightiest, by the rich and the poor; and the reward of eternal happiness will follow upon virtue and merit alone, regardless of the person in whom they may be found. Nay, rather the favor of God Himself seems to incline more toward the unfortunate as a class; for Jesus Christ calls the poor [19] blessed, and He invites most lovingly all who are in labor or sorrow [20] to come to Him for solace, embracing with special love the lowly and those harassed by injustice. At the realization of these things the proud spirit of the rich is easily brought down, and the downcast heart of the afflicted is lifted up; the former are moved toward kindness, the latter toward reasonableness in their demands. Thus the distance between the classes which pride seeks is seduced, and it will easily be brought to pass that the two classes, with hands clasped in friendship, will be united in heart.
38. Yet, if they obey Christian teachings, not merely friendship but brotherly love also will bind them to each other. They will feel and understand that all men indeed have been created by God, their common Father; that all strive for the same object of good, which is God Himself, Who alone can communicate to both men and angels perfect and absolute happiness; that all equally have been redeemed by the grace of Jesus Christ and restored to the dignity of the sons of God, so that they are clearly united by the bonds of brotherhood not only with one another but also with Christ the Lord, "the first-born among many brethren," [21] and further, that the goods of nature and the gifts of divine grace belong in common and without distinction to all human kind, and that no one, unless he is unworthy, will be deprived of the inheritance of Heaven. "But if we are sons, we are also heirs: heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ." [22]
39. Such is the economy of duties and rights according to Christian philosophy. Would it not seem that all conflict would soon cease wherever this economy were to prevail in civil society?
40. Finally, the Church does not consider it enough to point out the way of finding the cure, but she administers the remedy herself. For she occupies herself fully in training and forming men according to discipline and doctrine; and through the agency of bishops and clergy, she causes the health-giving streams of this doctrine to be diffused as widely as possible. Furthermore, she strives to enter into men's minds and to bend their wills so that they may suffer themselves to be ruled and governed by the discipline of divine precepts. And in this field, which is of first and greatest importance because in it the whole substance and matter of benefits consists, the Church indeed has a power that is especially unique. For the instruments which she uses to move souls were given her for this very purpose by Jesus Christ, and they have an efficacy implanted in them by God. Such instruments alone can properly penetrate the inner recesses of the heart and lead man to obedience to duty, to govern the activities of his self-seeking mind, to love God and his neighbors with a special and sovereign love, and to overcome courageously all things that impede the path of virtue.
41. In this connection it is sufficient briefly to recall to mind examples from history. We shall mention events and facts that admit of no doubt, namely, that human society in its civil aspects was renewed fundamentally by Christian institutions; that, by virtue of this renewal, mankind was raised to a higher level, nay, was called back from death to life, and enriched with such a degree of perfection as has never existed before and was not destined to be greater in any succeeding age; and that, finally, the same Jesus Christ is the beginning and end of these benefits; for as all things have proceeded from Him, so they must be referred back to Him. When, with the acceptance of the light of the Gospel, the world had learned the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Word and the redemption of man, the life of Jesus Christ, God and man, spread through the nations and imbued them wholly with His doctrine, with His precepts, and with His laws. Wherefore, if human society is to be healed, only a return to Christian life and institutions will heal it. In the case of decaying societies it is most correctly prescribed that, if they wish to be regenerated, they must be recalled to their origins. For the perfection of all associations is this, namely, to work for and to attain the purpose for which they were formed, so that all social actions should be inspired by the same principle which brought the society itself into being. Wherefore, turning away from the original purpose is corruption, while going back to this discovery is recovery. And just as we affirm this as unquestionably true of the entire body of the commonwealth, in like manner we affirm it of that order of citizens who sustain life by labor and who constitute the vast majority of society.
42. But it must not be supposed that the Church so concentrates her energies on caring for souls as to overlook things which pertain to mortal and earthly life. As regards the non-owning workers specifically, she desires and strives that they rise from their most wretched state and enjoy better conditions. And to achieve this result she makes no small contribution by the very fact that she calls men to and trains them in virtue. For when Christian morals are completely observed, they yield of themselves a certain measure of prosperity to material existence, because they win the favor of God, the source and fountain of all goods; because they restrain the twin plagues of life -- excessive desire for wealth and thirst [23] for pleasure -- which too often make man wretched amidst the very abundance of riches; and because finally, Christian morals make men content with a moderate livelihood and make them supplement income by thrift, removing them far from the vices which swallow up both modest sums and huge fortunes, and dissipate splendid inheritances.
43. But, in addition, the Church provides directly for the well- being of the non-owning workers by instituting and promoting activities which she knows to be suitable to relieve their distress. Nay, even in the field of works of mercy, she has always so excelled that she is highly praised by her very enemies. The force of mutual charity among the first Christians was such that the wealthier ones very often divested themselves of their riches to aid others; wherefore, "Nor was there anyone among them in want." [24] To the deacons, an order founded expressly for this purpose, the Apostles assigned the duty of dispensing alms daily; and the Apostle Paul, although burdened with the care of all the churches, did not hesitate to spend himself on toilsome journeys in order to bring alms personally to the poorer Christians. Moneys of this kind, contributed voluntarily by the Christians in every assembly, Tertullian calls "piety's deposit fund," because they were expended to "support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of orphan boys and girls without means of support, of aged household servants, and of such, too, as had suffered shipwreck." [25]
44. Thence, gradually there came into existence that patrimony which the Church has guarded with religious care as the property of the poor. Nay, even disregarding the feeling of shame associated with begging, she provided aid for the wretched poor. For, as the common parent of rich and poor, with charity everywhere stimulated to the highest degree, she founded religious societies and numerous other useful bodies, so that, with the aid which these furnished, there was scarcely any form of human misery that went uncared for.
45. And yet many today go so far as to condemn the Church as the ancient pagans once did, for such outstanding charity, and would substitute in lieu thereof a system of benevolence established by the laws of the State. But no human devices can ever be found to supplant Christian charity, which gives itself entirely for the benefit of others. This virtue belongs to the Church alone, for, unless it is derived from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, it is in no wise a virtue; and whosoever departs from the Church wanders far from Christ.
46. But there can be no question that, to attain Our purpose, those helps also which are within the power of men are necessary. Absolutely all who are concerned with the matter must, according to their capacity, bend their efforts to this same end and work for it. And this activity has a certain likeness to Divine Providence governing the world; for generally we see effects flow from the concert of all the elements upon which as causes these effects depend.
47. But it is now in order to inquire what portion of the remedy should be expected from the State. By State here We understand not the form of government which this or that people has, but rather that form which right reason in accordance with nature requires and the teachings of Divine wisdom approve, matters that We have explained specifically in our Encyclical "On the Christian Constitution of States."
48. Therefore those governing the State ought primarily to devote themselves to the service of individual groups and of the whole commonwealth, and through the entire scheme of laws and institutions to cause both public and individual well-being to develop spontaneously out of the very structure and administration of the State. For this is the duty of wise statesmanship and the essential office of those in charge of the State. Now, States are made prosperous especially by wholesome morality, properly ordered family life, protection of religion and justice, moderate imposition and equitable distribution of public burdens, progressive development of industry and trade, thriving agriculture, and by all other things of this nature, which the more actively they are promoted, the better and happier the life of the citizens is destined to be. Therefore, by virtue of these things, it is within the competence of the rulers of the State that, as they benefit other groups, they also improve in particular the condition of the workers. Furthermore, they do this with full right and without laying themselves open to any charge of unwarranted interference. For the State is bound by the very law of its office to serve the common interest. And the richer the benefits which come from this general providence on the part of the State, the less necessary it will be to experiment with other measures for the well-being of workers.
49. This ought to be considered, as it touches the question more deeply, namely, that the State has one basic purpose for existence, which embraces in common the highest and the lowest of its members. Non-owning workers are unquestionably citizens by nature in virtue of the same right as the rich, that is, true and vital parts whence, through the medium of families, the body of the State is constituted; and it hardly need be added that they are by far the greatest number in every urban area. Since it would be quite absurd to look out for one portion of the citizens and to neglect another, it follows that public authority ought to exercise due care in safe-guarding the well-being and the interests of non-owning workers. Unless this is done, justice, which commands that everyone be given his own, will be violated. Wherefore St. Thomas says wisely: "Even as part and whole are in a certain way the same, so too that which pertains to the whole pertains in a certain way to the part also." [26] Consequently, among the numerous and weighty duties of rulers who would serve their people well, this is first and foremost, namely, that they protect equitably each and every class of citizens, maintaining inviolate that justice especially which is called distributive.
50. Although all citizens, without exception, are obliged to contribute something to the sum-total common goods, some share of which naturally goes back to each individual, yet all can by no means contribute the same amount and in equal degree. Whatever the vicissitudes that occur in the forms of government, there will always be those differences in the condition of citizens without which society could neither exist nor be conceived. It is altogether necessary that there be some who dedicate themselves to the service of the State, who make laws, who dispense justice, and finally, by whose counsel and authority civil and military affairs are administered. These men, as is clear, play the chief role in the Sate, and among every people are to be regarded as occupying first place, because they work for the common good most directly and pre-eminently. On the other hand, those engaged in some calling benefit the State, but not in the same way as the men just mentioned, nor by performing the same duties; yet they, too, in a high degree, although less directly, serve the common weal. Assuredly, since social good must be of such a character that men through its acquisition are made better, it must necessarily be founded on virtue.
51. Nevertheless, an abundance of corporeal and external goods is likewise a characteristic of a well-constituted State, "the use of which goods is necessary for the practice of virtue." [27] To produce these goods the labor of the workers, whether they expend their skill and strength on farms or in factories, is most efficacious and necessary. Nay, in this respect, their energy and effectiveness are so important that it is incontestable that the wealth of nations originates from no other source than from the labor of workers. Equity therefore commands that public authority show proper concern for the worker so that from what he contributes to the common good he may receive what will enable him, housed, clothed, and secure, to live his life without hardship. Whence, it follows that all those measures ought to be favored which seem in any way capable of benefiting the condition of workers. Such solicitude is so far from injuring anyone, that it is destined rather to benefit all, because it is of absolute interest to the State that those citizens should not be miserable in every respect from whom such necessary goods proceed.
52. It is not right, as We have said, for either the citizen or the family to be absorbed by the State; it is proper that the individual and the family should be permitted to retain their freedom of action, so far as this is possible without jeopardizing the common good and without injuring anyone. Nevertheless, those who govern must see to it that they protect the community, because nature has entrusted its safeguarding to the sovereign power in the State to such an extent that the protection of the public welfare is not only the supreme law, but is the entire cause and reason for sovereignty; and the constituent parts, because philosophy and Christian faith agree that the administration of the State has from nature as its purpose, not the benefit of those to whom it has been entrusted, but the benefit of those who have been entrusted to it. And since the power of governing comes from God and is a participation, as it were, in His supreme sovereignty, it ought to be administered according to the example of the Divine power, which looks with paternal care to the welfare of individual creatures as well as to that of all creation. If, therefore, any injury has been done to or threatens either the common good or the interests of individual groups, which injury cannot in any other way be repaired or prevented, it is necessary for public authority to intervene.
53. It is vitally important to public as well as to private welfare that there be peace and good order; likewise, that the whole regime of family life be directed according to the ordinances of God and the principles of nature, that religion be observed and cultivated, that sound morals flourish in private and public life, that justice be kept sacred and that no one be wronged with impunity by another, and that strong citizens grow up, capable of supporting, and, if necessary, of protecting the State. Wherefore, if at any time disorder should threaten because of strikes or concerted stoppages of work, if the natural bonds of family life should be relaxed among the poor, if religion among the workers should be outraged by failure to provide sufficient opportunity for performing religious duties, if in factories danger should assail the integrity of morals through the mixing of the sexes or other pernicious incitements to sin, or if the employer class should oppress the working class with unjust burdens or should degrade them with conditions inimical to human personality or to human dignity, if health should be injured by immoderate work and such as is not suited to sex or age -- in all these cases, the power and authority of the law, but of course within certain limits, manifestly ought to be employed. And these limits are determined by the same reason which demands the aid of the law, that is, the law ought not to undertake more, nor it go farther, than the remedy of evils or the removal of danger requires.
54. Rights indeed, by whomsoever possessed, must be religiously protected; and public authority, in warding off injuries and punishing wrongs, ought to see to it that individuals may have and hold what belongs to them. In protecting the rights of private individuals, however, special consideration must be given to the weak and the poor. For the nation, as it were, of the rich, is guarded by its own defenses and is in less need of governmental protection, whereas the suffering multitude, without the means to protect itself, relies especially on the protection of the State. Wherefore, since wage workers are numbered among the great mass of the needy, the State must include them under its special care and foresight.
55. But it will be well to touch here expressly on certain matters of special importance. The capital point is this, that private property ought to be safeguarded by the sovereign power of the State and through the bulwark of its laws. And especially, in view of such a great flaming up of passion at the present time, the masses ought to be kept within the bounds of their moral obligations. For while justice does not oppose our striving for better things, on the other hand, it does forbid anyone to take from another what is his and, in the name of a certain absurd equality, to seize forcibly the property of others; nor does the interest of the common good itself permit this. Certainly, the great majority of working people prefer to secure better conditions by honest toil, without doing wrong to anyone. Nevertheless, not a few individuals are found who, imbued with evil ideas and eager for revolution, use every means to stir up disorder and incite to violence. The authority of the State, therefore, should intervene and, by putting restraint upon such disturbers, protect the morals of workers from their corrupting arts and lawful owners from the danger of spoliation.
56. Labor which is too long and too hard and the belief that pay is inadequate not infrequently give workers cause to strike and become voluntarily idle. This evil, which is frequent and serious, ought to be remedied by public authority, because such interruption of work inflicts damage not only upon employers and upon the workers themselves, but also injures trade and commerce and the general interests of the State; and, since it is usually not far removed from violence and rioting, it very frequently jeopardizes public peace. In this matter it is more effective and salutary that the authority of the law anticipate and completely prevent the evil from breaking out by removing early the causes from which it would seem that conflict between employers and workers is bound to arise.
57. And in like manner, in the case of the worker, there are many things which the power of the State should protect; and, first of all, the goods of his soul. For however good and desirable mortal life be, yet it is not the ultimate goal for which we are born, but a road only and a means for perfecting, through knowledge of truth and love of good, the life of the soul. The soul bears the express image and likeness of God, and there resides in it that sovereignty through the medium of which man has been bidden to rule all created nature below him and to make all lands and all seas serve his interests. "Fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea and the fowls of the earth." [28] In this respect all men are equal, and there is no difference between rich and poor, between masters and servants, between rulers and subjects: "For there is the same Lord of all." [29] No one may with impunity outrage the dignity of man, which God Himself treats with great reverence, nor impede his course to that level of perfection which accords with eternal life in heaven. Nay, more, in this connection a man cannot even by his own free choice allow himself to be treated in a way inconsistent with his nature, and suffer his soul to be enslaved; for there is no question here of rights belonging to man, but of duties owed to God, which are to be religiously observed.
58. Hence follows necessary cessation from toil and work on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. Let no one, however, understand this in the sense of greater indulgence of idle leisure, and much less in the sense of that kind of cessation from work, such as many desire, which encourages vice and promotes wasteful spending of money, but solely in the sense of a repose from labor made sacred by religion. Rest combined with religion calls man away from toil and the business of daily life to admonish him to ponder on heavenly goods and to pay his just and due homage to the Eternal Deity. This is especially the nature, and this the cause, of the rest to be taken on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, and God has sanctioned the same in the Old Testament by a special law: "Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath Day," [30] and He Himself taught it by His own action; namely the mystical rest taken immediately after He had created man: "He hath rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done." [31]
59. Now as concerns the protection of corporeal and physical goods, the oppressed workers, above all, ought to be liberated from the savagery of greedy men, who inordinately use human beings as things for gain. Assuredly, neither justice nor humanity can countenance the exaction of so much work that the spirit is dulled from excessive toil and that along with it the body sinks crushed from exhaustion. The working energy of a man, like his entire nature, is circumscribed by definite limits beyond which it cannot go. It is developed indeed by exercise and use, but only on condition that a man cease from work at regular intervals and rest. With respect to daily work, therefore, care ought to be taken not to extend it beyond the hours that human strength warrants. The length of rest intervals ought to be decided on the basis of the varying nature of the work, of the circumstances of time and place, and of the physical condition of the workers themselves. Since the labor of those who quarry stone from the earth, or who mine iron, copper, or other underground materials, is much more severe and harmful to health, the working period for such men ought to be correspondingly shortened. The seasons of the year also must be taken into account; for often a given kind of work is easy to endure in one season but cannot be endured at all in another, or not without the greatest difficulty.
60. Finally, it is not right to demand of a woman or a child what a strong adult man is capable of doing or would be willing to do. Nay, as regards children, special care ought to be taken that the factory does not get hold of them before age has sufficiently matured their physical, intellectual, and moral powers. For budding strength in childhood, like greening verdure in spring, is crushed by premature harsh treatment; and under such circumstances all education of the child must needs be foregone. Certain occupations, likewise, are less fitted for women, who are intended by nature for work of the home -- work indeed which especially protects modesty in women and accords by nature with the education of children and the well-being of the family. Let it be the rule everywhere that workers be given as much leisure as will compensate for the energy consumed by toil, for rest from work is necessary to restore strength consumed by use. In every obligation which is mutually contracted between employers and workers, this condition, either written or tacit, is always present, that both kinds of rest be provided for; nor would it be equitable to make an agreement otherwise, because no one has the right to demand of, or to make an agreement with anyone to neglect those duties which bind a man to God or to himself.
61. We shall now touch upon a matter of very great importance, and one which must be correctly understood in order to avoid falling into error on one side or the other. We are told that free consent fixes the amount of a wage; that therefore the employer, after paying the wage agreed to would seem to have discharged his obligation and not to owe anything more; that only then would injustice be done if either the employer should refuse to pay the whole amount of the wage, or the worker should refuse to perform all the work to which he had committed himself; and that in those cases, but in no others, is it proper for the public authority to safeguard the rights of each party.
62. An impartial judge would not assent readily or without reservation to this reasoning, because it is not complete in all respects; one factor to be considered, and one of the greatest importance, is missing. To work is to expend one's energy for the purpose of securing the things necessary for the various needs of life and especially for its preservation. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." [32] Accordingly, in man sweat labor has two marks, as it were, implanted by nature, so that it is truly personal, because work energy inheres in the person and belongs completely to him by whom it is expended, and for whose use it is destined by nature; and secondly, that it is necessary, because man has need of the fruit of his labors to preserve his life, and nature itself, which must be most strictly obeyed, commands him to preserve it. If labor should be considered only under the aspect that it is personal, there is no doubt that it would be entirely in the worker's power to set the amount of the agreed wage at too low a figure. For inasmuch as he performs work by his own free will, he can also by his own free will be satisfied with either a paltry wage for his work or even with none at all. But this matter must be judged far differently, if with the factor of personality we combine the factor of necessity, from which indeed the former is separable in thought but not in reality. In fact, to preserve one's life is a duty common to all individuals, and to neglect this duty is a crime. Hence arises necessarily the right of securing things to sustain life, and only a wage earned by his labor gives a poor man the means to acquire these things.
63. Let it be granted then that worker and employer may enter freely into agreements and, in particular, concerning the amount of the wage; yet there is always underlying such agreements an element of natural justice, and one greater and more ancient than the free consent of contracting parties, namely, that the wage shall not be less than enough to support a worker who is thrifty and upright. If, compelled by necessity or moved by fear of a worse evil, a worker accepts a harder condition, which although against his will he must accept because an employer or contractor imposes it, he certainly submits to force, against which justice cries out in protest.
64. But in these and similar questions, such as the number of hours of work in each kind of occupation and the health safeguards to be provided, particularly in factories, it will be better, in order to avoid unwarranted governmental intervention, especially since circumstances of business, season, and place are so varied, that decision be reserved to the organizations of which We are about to speak below, or else to pursue another course whereby the interests of the workers may be adequately safeguarded -- the State, if the occasion demands, to furnish help and protection.
65. If a worker receives a wage sufficiently large to enable him to provide comfortably for himself, his wife and his children, he will, if prudent, gladly strive to practice thrift; and the result will be, as nature itself seems to counsel, that after expenditures are deducted there will remain something over and above through which he can come into the possession of a little wealth. We have seen, in fact, that the whole question under consideration cannot be settled effectually unless it is assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought to favor this right and, so far as it can, see that the largest possible number among the masses of the population prefer to own property.
66. If this is done, excellent benefits will follow, foremost among which will surely be a more equitable division of goods. For the violence of public disorder has divided cities into two classes of citizens, with an immense gulf lying between them. On the one side is a faction exceedingly powerful because exceedingly rich. Since it alone has under its control every kind of work and business, it diverts to its own advantage and interest all production sources of wealth and exerts no little power in the administration itself [sic] of the State. On the other side are the needy and helpless masses, with minds inflamed and always ready for disorder. But if the productive activity of the multitude can be stimulated by the hope of acquiring some property in land, it will gradually come to pass that, with the difference between extreme wealth and extreme penury removed, one class will become neighbor to the other. Moreover, there will surely be a greater abundance of the things which the earth produces. For when men know they are working on what belongs to them, they work with far greater eagerness and diligence. Nay, in a word, they learn to love the land cultivated by their own hands, whence they look not only for food but for some measure of abundance for themselves and their dependents. All can see how much this willing eagerness contributes to an abundance of produce and the wealth of a nation. Hence, in the third place, will flow the benefit that men can easily be kept from leaving the country in which they have been born and bred; for they would not exchange their native country for a foreign land if their native country furnished them sufficient means of living.
67. But these advantages can be attained only if private wealth is not drained away by crushing taxes of every kind. For since the right of possessing goods privately has been conferred not by man's law, but by nature, public authority cannot abolish it, but can only control its exercise and bring it into conformity with the commonweal. Public authority therefore would act unjustly and inhumanly, if in the name of taxes it should appropriate from the property of private individuals more than is equitable.
68. Finally, employers and workers themselves can accomplish much in this matter, manifestly through those institutions by the help of which the poor are opportunely assisted and the two classes of society are brought closer to each other. Under this category come associations for giving mutual aid; various agencies established by the foresight of private persons to care for the worker and likewise for his dependent wife and children in the event that an accident, sickness, or death befalls him; and foundations to care for boys and girls, for adolescents, and for the aged.
69. But associations of workers occupy first place, and they include within their circle clearly all the rest. The beneficent achievements of the guilds of artisans among our ancestors have long been well known. Truly, they yielded noteworthy advantages not only to artisans, but, as many monuments bear witness, brought glory and progress to the arts themselves. In our present age of greater culture, with its new customs and ways of living, and with the increased number of things required by daily life, it is most clearly necessary that workers' associations be adapted to meet the present need. It is gratifying that societies of this kind composed either of workers alone or of workers and employers together are being formed everywhere, and it is truly to be desired that they grow in number and in active vigor. Althoug
Back in the early 1960's when I was a young boy, I saw images of freedom riders; young men and women, riding buses to Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and yes, Florida. These heros, men and women, black and white, came to the South to stand up for justice and sometimes to sit in. Their heroic efforts changed our country and society forever. When you look at those old photos from back in the day, you'll notice that many of those young men and women came to the protest actions dressed formally.
Tomorrow, it's looking increasingly hopeful that we will elect a new president and he will be a sure enough multicultural/multiracial man with a African father and a Midwestern mother. It's the most significant public event of my 58 years on Planet Earth.
To mark this occasion and to honor the brave heros of the early 60's, I'm wearing my best (OK, my only) suit and tie when I go to vote tomorrow. I hope some of you will join me in marking this life changing event.
As a grad student at a Pentecostal University and an Assemblies of God minister, my support (rather vocal, at that) for Obama has made me the target for quite the number of email forwards, personal notes, phone calls, Facebook posts and messages, and, of course, the occasional sarcastic comment. Inevitably, these concerned friend, University officials, and random acquaintances all have the same primary complaints: Abortion, gay rights, and the faith of Obama himself.
Hola a todos los lectores:
Para los que aun estan indecisos o confundidos sobre la campaña negativa por parte de los Republicanos, aqui les estoy presentando la Carta Encíclica Rerum Novarum del Sumo Pontífice León XIII, sobre la situacion de los obreros.
Tenemos que estar claros que la Iglesia Catolica tambien promueve la justicia social igual que Barack Obama. No podemos dejarnos confundir por los republicanos que viendose perdidos por la extremadamente mala administracion del Presidente Bush.
El colmo de los colmos. Ahora ellos dicen que Obama es socialista por el solo hecho de querer llevar justicia social a todos los rincones de este pais. Ya no saben que hacer para recuperar la confianza de la gente. Solo les falta decir que el Medicaid, el Medicare y las Food stamps tambien son medidas socialistas o comunistas, porque buscan el beneficio de la gente que necesita estos servicios.
La verdad es que nunca habiamos vivido un desastre economico y social tan grave como el que tenemos hoy en dia gracias a la mala politica de Washignton y del Partido Republicano.
Espero que al leer esta Encíclica nos demos cuenta que al votar por Barack Obama, estamos votando por un mejor futuro para nuestro país y el mundo.
Gracias por su interes en leer este blog a favor de nuestro proximo Presidente Barack Obama y por un mejor futuro con una verdadera Justicia Social para todos.
Ahora es el tiempo para el cambio.
Hasta pronto;
Ingeniero Raymark Clement
Raymarkclement@aol.com
Latinos por Obama;
Ingenieros por Obama;
Plomeros por Obama;
Electricistas por Obama y
Catolicos por Obama
CARTA ENCÍCLICARERUM NOVARUMDEL SUMO PONTÍFICELEÓN XIIISOBRE LA SITUACIÓN DE LOS OBREROS
1. Despertado el prurito revolucionario que desde hace ya tiempo agita a los pueblos, era de esperar que el afán de cambiarlo todo llegara un día a derramarse desde el campo de la política al terreno, con él colindante, de la economía. En efecto, los adelantos de la industria y de las artes, que caminan por nuevos derroteros; el cambio operado en las relaciones mutuas entre patronos y obreros; la acumulación de las riquezas en manos de unos pocos y la pobreza de la inmensa mayoría; la mayor confianza de los obreros en sí mismos y la más estrecha cohesión entre ellos, juntamente con la relajación de la moral, han determinado el planteamíento de la contienda. Cuál y cuán grande sea la importancia de las cosas que van en ello, se ve por la punzante ansiedad en que viven todos los espíritus; esto mismo pone en actividad los ingenios de los doctos, informa las reuniones de los sabios, las asambleas del pueblo, el juicio de los legisladores, las decisiones de los gobernantes, hasta el punto que parece no haber otro tema que pueda ocupar más hondamente los anhelos de los hombres.Así, pues, debiendo Nos velar por la causa de la Iglesia y por la salvación común, creemos oportuno, venerables hermanos, y por las mismas razones, hacer, respecto de la situación de los obreros, lo que hemos acostumbrado, dirigiéndoos cartas sobre el poder político, sobre la libertad humana, sobre la cristiana constitución de los Estados y otras parecidas, que estimamos oportunas para refutar los sofismas de algunas opiniones. Este tema ha sido tratado por Nos incidentalmente ya más de una vez; mas la conciencia de nuestro oficio apostólico nos incita a tratar de intento en esta encíclica la cuestión por entero, a fin de que resplandezcan los principios con que poder dirimir la contienda conforme lo piden la verdad y la justicia. El asunto es dificil de tratar y no exento de peligros. Es dificil realmente determinar los derechos y deberes dentro de los cuales hayan de mantenerse los ricos y los proletarios, los que aportan el capital y los que ponen el trabajo. Es discusión peligrosa, porque de ella se sirven con frecuencia hombres turbulentos y astutos para torcer el juicio de la verdad y para incitar sediciosamente a las turbas. Sea de ello, sin embargo, lo que quiera, vemos claramente, cosa en que todos convienen, que es urgente proveer de la manera oportuna al bien de las gentes de condición humilde, pues es mayoría la que se debate indecorosamente en una situación miserable y calamitosa, ya que, disueltos en el pasado siglo los antiguos gremios de artesanos, sin ningún apoyo que viniera a llenar su vacío, desentendiéndose las instituciones públicas y las leyes de la religión de nuestros antepasados, el tiempo fue insensiblemente entregando a los obreros, aislados e indefensos, a la inhumanidad de los empresarios y a la desenfrenada codicia de los competidores. Hizo aumentar el mal la voraz usura, que, reiteradamente condenada por la autoridad de la Iglesia, es practicada, no obstante, por hombres condiciosos y avaros bajo una apariencia distinta. Añádase a esto que no sólo la contratación del trabajo, sino también las relaciones comerciales de toda índole, se hallan sometidas al poder de unos pocos, hasta el punto de que un número sumamente reducido de opulentos y adinerados ha impuesto poco menos que el yugo de la esclavitud a una muchedumbre infinita de proletarios.
2. Para solucionar este mal, los socialistas, atizando el odio de los indigentes contra los ricos, tratan de acabar con la propiedad privada de los bienes, estimando mejor que, en su lugar, todos los bienes sean comunes y administrados por las personas que rigen el municipio o gobiernan la nación. Creen que con este traslado de los bienes de los particulares a la comunidad, distribuyendo por igual las riquezas y el bienestar entre todos los ciudadanos, se podría curar el mal presente. Pero esta medida es tan inadecuada para resolver la contienda, que incluso llega a perjudicar a las propias clases obreras; y es, además, sumamente injusta, pues ejerce violencia contra los legítimos poseedores, altera la misión de la república y agita fundamentalmente a las naciones.
3. Sin duda alguna, como es fácil de ver, la razón misma del trabajo que aportan los que se ocupan en algún oficio lucrativo y el fin primordial que busca el obrero es procurarse algo para sí y poseer con propio derecho una cosa como suya. Si, por consiguiente, presta sus fuerzas o su habilidad a otro, lo hará por esta razón: para conseguir lo necesario para la comida y el vestido; y por ello, merced al trabajo aportado, adquiere un verdadero y perfecto derecho no sólo a exigir el salario, sino también para emplearlo a su gusto. Luego si, reduciendo sus gastos, ahorra algo e invierte el fruto de sus ahorros en una finca, con lo que puede asegurarse más su manutención, esta finca realmente no es otra cosa que el mismo salario revestido de otra apariencia, y de ahí que la finca adquirida por el obrero de esta forma debe ser tan de su dominio como el salario ganado con su trabajo. Ahora bien: es en esto precisamente en lo que consiste, como fácilmente se colige, la propiedad de las cosas, tanto muebles como inmuebles. Luego los socialistas empeoran la situación de los obreros todos, en cuanto tratan de transferir los bienes de los particulares a la comunidad, puesto que, privándolos de la libertad de colocar sus beneficios, con ello mismo los despojan de la esperanza y de la facultad de aumentar los bienes familiares y de procurarse utilidades.
4. Pero, lo que todavía es más grave, proponen un remedio en pugna abierta contra la justicia, en cuanto que el poseer algo en privado como propio es un derecho dado al hombre por la naturaleza. En efecto, también en esto es grande la diferencia entre el hombre y el género animal. Las bestias, indudablemente, no se gobiernan a sí mismas, sino que lo son por un doble instinto natural, que ya mantiene en ellas despierta la facultad de obrar y desarrolla sus fuerzas oportunamente, ya provoca y determina, a su vez, cada uno de sus movimientos. Uno de esos instintos las impulsa a la conservación de sí mismas y a la defensa de su propia vida; el otro, a la conservación de la especie. Ambas cosas se consiguen, sin embargo, fácilmente con el uso de las cosas al alcance inmediato, y no podrían ciertamente ir más allá, puesto que son movidas sólo por el sentido y por la percepción de las cosas singulares. Muy otra es, en cambio, la naturaleza del hombre. Comprende simultáneamente la fuerza toda y perfecta de la naturaleza animal, siéndole concedido por esta parte, y desde luego en no menor grado que al resto de los animales, el disfrute de los bienes de las cosas corporales. La naturaleza animal, sin embargo, por elevada que sea la medida en que se la posea, dista tanto de contener y abarcar en sí la naturaleza humana, que es muy inferior a ella y nacida para servirle y obedecerle. Lo que se acusa y sobresale en nosotros, lo que da al hombre el que lo sea y se distinga de las bestias, es la razón o inteligencia. Y por esta causa de que es el único animal dotado de razón, es de necesidad conceder al hombre no sólo el uso de los bienes, cosa común a todos los animales, sino también el poseerlos con derecho estable y permanente, y tanto los bienes que se consumen con el uso cuanto los que, pese al uso que se hace de ellos, perduran.
5. Esto resalta todavía más claro cuando se estudia en sí misma la naturaleza del hombre. Pues el hombre, abarcando con su razón cosas innumerables, enlazando y relacionando las cosas futuras con las presentes y siendo dueño de sus actos, se gobierna a sí mismo con la previsión de su inteligencia, sometido además a la ley eterna y bajo el poder de Dios; por lo cual tiene en su mano elegir las cosas que estime más convenientes para su bienestar, no sólo en cuanto al presente, sino también para el futuro. De donde se sigue la necesidad de que se halle en el hombre el dominio no sólo de los frutos terrenales, sino también el de la tierra misma, pues ve que de la fecundidad de la tierra le son proporcionadas las cosas necesarias para el futuro.
Las necesidades de cada hombre se repiten de una manera constante; de modo que, satisfechas hoy, exigen nuevas cosas para mañana. Por tanto, la naturaleza tiene que haber dotado al hombre de algo estable y perpetuamente duradero, de que pueda esperar la continuidad del socorro. Ahora bien: esta continuidad no puede garantizarla más que la tierra con su fertilidad.
6. Y no hay por qué inmiscuir la providencia de la república, pues que el hombre es anterior a ella, y consiguientemente debió tener por naturaleza, antes de que se constituyera comunidad política alguna, el derecho de velar por su vida y por su cuerpo. El que Dios haya dado la tierra para usufructuarla y disfrutarla a la totalidad del género humano no puede oponerse en modo alguno a la propiedad privada. Pues se dice que Dios dio la tierra en común al género humano no porque quisiera que su posesión fuera indivisa para todos, sino porque no asignó a nadie la parte que habría de poseer, dejando la delimitación de las posesiones privadas a la industria de los individuos y a las instituciones de los pueblos. Por lo demás, a pesar de que se halle repartida entre los particulares, no deja por ello de servir a la común utilidad de todos, ya que no hay mortal alguno que no se alimente con lo que los campos producen. Los que carecen de propiedad, lo suplen con el trabajo; de modo que cabe afirmar con verdad que el medio universal de procurarse la comida y el vestido está en el trabajo, el cual, rendido en el fundo propio o en un oficio mecánico, recibe, finalmente, como merced no otra cosa que los múltiples frutos de la tierra o algo que se cambia por ellos.
7. Con lo que de nuevo viene a demostrarse que las posesiones privadas son conforme a la naturaleza. Pues la tierra produce con largueza las cosas que se precisan para la conservación de la vida y aun para su perfeccionamiento, pero no podría producirlas por sí sola sin el cultivo y el cuidado del hombre. Ahora bien: cuando el hombre aplica su habilidad intelectual y sus fuerzas corporales a procurarse los bienes de la naturaleza, por este mismo hecho se adjudica a sí aquella parte de la naturaleza corpórea que él mismo cultivó, en la que su persona dejó impresa una a modo de huella, de modo que sea absolutamente justo que use de esa parte como suya y que de ningún modo sea lícito que venga nadie a violar ese derecho de él mismo.
8. Es tan clara la fuerza de estos argumentos, que sorprende ver disentir de ellos a algunos restauradores de desusadas opiniones, los cuales conceden, es cierto, el uso del suelo y los diversos productos del campo al individuo, pero le niegan de plano la existencia del derecho a poseer como dueño el suelo sobre que ha edificado o el campo que cultivó. No ven que, al negar esto, el hombre se vería privado de cosas producidas con su trabajo. En efecto, el campo cultivado por la mano e industria del agricultor cambia por completo su fisonomía: de silvestre, se hace fructífero; de infecundo, feraz. Ahora bien: todas esas obras de mejora se adhieren de tal manera y se funden con el suelo, que, por lo general, no hay modo de separarlas del mismo. ¿Y va a admitir la justicia que venga nadie a apropiarse de lo que otro regó con sus sudores? Igual que los efectos siguen a la causa que los produce, es justo que el fruto del trabajo sea de aquellos que pusieron el trabajo. Con razón, por consiguiente, la totalidad del género humano, sin preocuparse en absoluto de las opiniones de unos pocos en desacuerdo, con la mirada firme en la naturaleza, encontró en la ley de la misma naturaleza el fundamento de la división de los bienes y consagró, con la práctica de los siglos, la propiedad privada como la más conforme con la naturaleza del hombre y con la pacífica y tranquila convivencia. Y las leyes civiles, que, cuando son justas, deducen su vigor de esa misma ley natural, confirman y amparan incluso con la fuerza este derecho de que hablamos. Y lo mismo sancionó la autoridad de las leyes divinas, que prohíben gravísimamente hasta el deseo de lo ajeno: «No desearás la mujer de tu prójimo; ni la casa, ni el campo, ni la esclava, ni el buey, ni el asno, ni nada de lo que es suyo»(1).
9. Ahora bien: esos derechos de los individuos se estima que tienen más fuerza cuando se hallan ligados y relacionados con los deberes del hombre en la sociedad doméstica. Está fuera de duda que, en la elección del género de vida, está en la mano y en la voluntad de cada cual preferir uno de estos dos: o seguir el consejo de Jesucristo sobre la virginidad o ligarse con el vínculo matrimonial. No hay ley humana que pueda quitar al hombre el derecho natural y primario de casarse, ni limitar, de cualquier modo que sea, la finalidad principal del matrimonio, instituido en el principio por la autoridad de Dios: «Creced y multiplicaos»(2).
He aquí, pues, la familia o sociedad doméstica, bien pequeña, es cierto, pero verdadera sociedad y más antigua que cualquiera otra, la cual es de absoluta necesidad que tenga unos derechos y unos deberes propios, totalmente independientes de la potestad civil. Por tanto, es necesario que ese derecho de dominio atribuido por la naturaleza a cada persona, según hemos demostrado, sea transferido al hombre en cuanto cabeza de la familia; más aún, ese derecho es tanto más firme cuanto la persona abarca más en la sociedad doméstica.
Es ley santísima de naturaleza que el padre de familia provea al sustento y a todas las atenciones de los que engendró; e igualmente se deduce de la misma naturaleza que quiera adquirir y disponer para sus hijos, que se refieren y en cierto modo prolongan la personalidad del padre, algo con que puedan defenderse honestamente, en el mudable curso de la vida, de los embates de la adversa fortuna. Y esto es lo que no puede lograrse sino mediante la posesión de cosas productivas, transmisibles por herencia a los hijos. Al igual que el Estado, según hemos dicho, la familia es una verdadera sociedad, que se rige por una potestad propia, esto es, la paterna. Por lo cual, guardados efectivamente los límites que su causa próxima ha determinado, tiene ciertamente la familia derechos por lo menos iguales que la sociedad civil para elegir y aplicar los medios necesarios en orden a su incolumnidad y justa libertad. Y hemos dicho «por lo menos» iguales, porque, siendo la familia lógica y realmente anterior a la sociedad civil, se sigue que sus derechos y deberes son también anteriores y más naturales. Pues si los ciudadanos, si las familias, hechos partícipes de la convivencia y sociedad humanas, encontraran en los poderes públicos perjuicio en vez de ayuda, un cercenamiento de sus derechos más bien que una tutela de los mismos, la sociedad sería, más que deseable, digna de repulsa.
10. Querer, por consiguiente, que la potestad civil penetre a su arbitrio hasta la intimidad de los hogares es un error grave y pernicioso. Cierto es que, si una familia se encontrara eventualmente en una situación de extrema angustia y carente en absoluto de medios para salir de por sí de tal agobio, es justo que los poderes públicos la socorran con medios extraordinarios, porque cada familia es una parte de la sociedad. Cierto también que, si dentro del hogar se produjera una alteración grave de los derechos mutuos, la potestad civil deberá amparar el derecho de cada uno; esto no sería apropiarse los derechos de los ciudadanos, sino protegerlos y afianzarlos con una justa y debida tutela. Pero es necesario de todo punto que los gobernantes se detengan ahí; la naturaleza no tolera que se exceda de estos límites. Es tal la patria potestad, que no puede ser ni extinguida ni absorbida por el poder público, pues que tiene idéntico y común principio con la vida misma de los hombres. Los hijos son algo del padre y como una cierta ampliación de la persona paterna, y, si hemos de hablar con propiedad, no entran a formar parte de la sociedad civil sino a través de la comunidad doméstica en la que han nacido. Y por esta misma razón, porque los hijos son «naturalmente algo del padre..., antes de que tengan el uso del libre albedrío se hallan bajo la protección de dos padres»(3). De ahí que cuando los socialistas, pretiriendo en absoluto la providencia de los padres, hacen intervenir a los poderes públicos, obran contra la justicia natural y destruyen la organización familiar.
11. Pero, además de la injusticia, se deja ver con demasiada claridad cuál sería la perturbación y el trastorno de todos los órdenes, cuán dura y odiosa la opresión de los ciudadanos que habría de seguirse. Se abriría de par en par la puerta a las mutuas envidias, a la maledicencia y a las discordias; quitado el estímulo al ingenio y a la habilidad de los individuos, necesariamente vendrían a secarse las mismas fuentes de las riquezas, y esa igualdad con que sueñan no sería ciertamente otra cosa que una general situación, por igual miserable y abyecta, de todos los hombres sin excepcíón alguna. De todo lo cual se sigue claramente que debe rechazarse de plano esa fantasía del socialismo de reducir a común la propiedad privada, pues que daña a esos mismos a quienes se pretende socorrer, repugna a los derechos naturales de los individuos y perturba las funciones del Estado y la tranquilidad común. Por lo tanto, cuando se plantea el problema de mejorar la condición de las clases inferiores, se ha de tener como fundamental el principio de que la propiedad privada ha de conservarse inviolable. Sentado lo cual, explicaremos dónde debe buscarse el remedio que conviene.
12. Confiadamente y con pleno derecho nuestro, atacamos la cuestión, por cuanto se trata de un problema cuya solución aceptable sería verdaderamente nula si no se buscara bajo los auspicios de la religión y de la Iglesia. Y, estando principalmente en nuestras manos la defensa de la religión y la administración de aquellas cosas que están bajo la potestad de la Iglesia, Nos estimaríamos que, permaneciendo en silencio, faltábamos a nuestro deber. Sin duda que esta grave cuestión pide también la contribución y el esfuerzo de los demás; queremos decir de los gobernantes, de los señores y ricos, y, finalmente, de los mismos por quienes se lucha, de los proletarios; pero afirmamos, sin temor a equivocarnos, que serán inútiles y vanos los intentos de los hombres si se da de lado a la Iglesia. En efecto, es la Iglesia la que saca del Evangelio las enseñanzas en virtud de las cuales se puede resolver por completo el conflicto, o, limando sus asperezas, hacerlo más soportable; ella es la que trata no sólo de instruir la inteligencia, sino también de encauzar la vida y las costumbres de cada uno con sus preceptos; ella la que mejora la situación de los proletarios con muchas utílísimas instituciones; ella la que quiere y desea ardientemente que los pensamientos y las fuerzas de todos los órdenes sociales se alíen con la finalidad de mirar por el bien de la causa obrera de la mejor manera posible, y estima que a tal fin deben orientarse, si bien con justicia y moderación, las mismas leyes y la autoridad del Estado.
13. Establézcase, por tanto, en primer lugar, que debe ser respetada la condición humana, que no se puede igualar en la sociedad civil lo alto con lo bajo. Los socialistas lo pretenden, es verdad, pero todo es vana tentativa contra la naturaleza de las cosas. Y hay por naturaleza entre los hombres muchas y grandes diferencias; no son iguales los talentos de todos, no la habilidad, ni la salud, ni lo son las fuerzas; y de la inevitable diferencia de estas cosas brota espontáneamente la diferencia de fortuna. Todo esto en correlación perfecta con los usos y necesidades tanto de los particulares cuanto de la comunidad, pues que la vida en común precisa de aptitudes varias, de oficios diversos, al desempeño de los cuales se sienten impelidos los hombres, más que nada, por la diferente posición social de cada uno. Y por lo que hace al trabajo corporal, aun en el mismo estado de inocencia, jamás el hombre hubiera permanecido totalmente inactivo; mas lo que entonces hubiera deseado libremente la voluntad para deleite del espíritu, tuvo que soportarlo después necesariamente, y no sin molestias, para expiación de su pecado: «Maldita la tierra en tu trabajo; comerás de ellas entre fatigas todos los días de tu vida». Y de igual modo, el fin de las demás adversidades no se dará en la tierra, porque los males consiguientes al pecado son ásperos, duros y dificiles de soportar y es preciso que acompañen al hombre hasta el último instante de su vida. Así, pues, sufrir y padecer es cosa humana, y para los hombres que lo experimenten todo y lo intenten todo, no habrá fuerza ni ingenio capaz de desterrar por completo estas incomodidades de la sociedad humana. Si algunos alardean de que pueden lograrlo, si prometen a las clases humildes una vida exenta de dolor y de calamidades, llena de constantes placeres, ésos engañan indudablemente al pueblo y cometen un fraude que tarde o temprano acabará produciendo males mayores que los presentes. Lo mejor que puede hacerse es ver las cosas humanas como son y buscar al mismo tiempo por otros medios, según hemos dicho, el oportuno alivio de los males.
14. Es mal capital, en la cuestión que estamos tratando, suponer que una clase social sea espontáneamemte enemiga de la otra, como si la naturaleza hubiera dispuesto a los ricos y a los pobres para combatirse mutuamente en un perpetuo duelo. Es esto tan ajeno a la razón y a la verdad, que, por el contrario, es lo más cierto que como en el cuerpo se ensamblan entre sí miembros diversos, de donde surge aquella proporcionada disposición que justamente podríase Ilamar armonía, así ha dispuesto la naturaleza que, en la sociedad humana, dichas clases gemelas concuerden armónicamente y se ajusten para lograr el equilibrio. Ambas se necesitan en absoluto: ni el capital puede subsistir sin el trabajo, ni el trabajo sin el capital. El acuerdo engendra la belleza y el orden de las cosas; por el contrario, de la persistencia de la lucha tiene que derivarse necesariamente la confusión juntamente con un bárbaro salvajismo.
15. Ahora bien: para acabar con la lucha y cortar hasta sus mismas raíces, es admirable y varia la fuerza de las doctrinas cristianas. En primer lugar, toda la doctrina de la religión cristiana, de la cual es intérprete y custodio la Iglesia, puede grandemente arreglar entre sí y unir a los ricos con los proletarios, es decir, llamando a ambas clases al cumplimiento de sus deberes respectivos y, ante todo, a los deberes de justicia. De esos deberes, los que corresponden a los proletarios y obreros son: cumplir íntegra y fielmente lo que por propia libertad y con arreglo a justicia se haya estipulado sobre el trabajo; no dañar en modo alguno al capital; no ofender a la persona de los patronos; abstenerse de toda violencia al defender sus derechos y no promover sediciones; no mezclarse con hombres depravados, que alientan pretensiones inmoderadas y se prometen artificiosamente grandes cosas, lo que Ileva consigo arrepentimientos estériles y las consiguientes pérdidas de fortuna.
Y éstos, los deberes de los ricos y patronos: no considerar a los obreros como esclavos; respetar en ellos, como es justo, la dignidad de la persona, sobre todo ennoblecida por lo que se llama el carácter cristiano. Que los trabajos remunerados, si se atiende a la naturaleza y a la filosofa cristiana, no son vergonzosos para el hombre, sino de mucha honra, en cuanto dan honesta posibilidad de ganarse la vida. Que lo realmente vergonzoso e inhumano es abusar de los hombres como de cosas de lucro y no estimarlos en más que cuanto sus nervios y músculos pueden dar de sí. E igualmente se manda que se tengan en cuenta las exigencias de la religión y los bienes de las almas de los proletarios. Por lo cual es obligación de los patronos disponer que el obrero tenga un espacio de tiempo idóneo para atender a la piedad, no exponer al hombre a los halagos de la corrupción y a las ocasiones de pecar y no apartarlo en modo alguno de sus atenciones domésticas y de la afición al ahorro. Tampoco debe imponérseles más trabajo del que puedan soportar sus fuerzas, ni de una clase que no esté conforme con su edad y su sexo. Pero entre los primordiales deberes de los patronos se destaca el de dar a cada uno lo que sea justo.
Cierto es que para establecer la medida del salario con justicia hay que considerar muchas razones; pero, generalmente, tengan presente los ricos y los patronos que oprimir para su lucro a los necesitados y a los desvalidos y buscar su ganancia en la pobreza ajena no lo permiten ni las leyes divinas ni las humanas. Y defraudar a alguien en el salario debido es un gran crimen, que llama a voces las iras vengadoras del cielo. «He aquí que el salario de los obreros... que fue defraudado por vosotras, clama; y el clamor de ellos ha llegado a los oídos del Dios de los ejércitos»(4).
Por último, han de evitar cuidadosamente los ricos perjudicar en lo más mínimo los intereses de los proletarios ni con violencias, ni con engaños, ni con artilugios usurarios; tanto más cuanto que no están suficientemente preparados contra la injusticia y el atropello, y, por eso mismo, mientras más débil sea su economía, tanto más debe considerarse sagrada.
16. ¿No bastaría por sí solo el sometimiento a estas leyes para atenuar la violencia y los motivos de discordía? Pero la Iglesia, con Cristo por maestro y guía, persigue una meta más alta: o sea, preceptuando algo más perfecto, trata de unir una clase con la otra por la aproximación y la amistad. No podemos, indudablemente, comprender y estimar en su valor las cosas caducas si no es fijando el alma sus ojos en la vida inmortal de ultratumba, quitada la cual se vendría inmediatamente abajo toda especie y verdadera noción de lo honesto; más aún, todo este universo de cosas se convertiría en un misterio impenetrable a toda investigación humana. Pues lo que nos enseña de por sí la naturaleza, que sólo habremos de vivir la verdadera vida cuando hayamos salido de este mundo, eso mismo es dogma cristiano y fundamento de la razón y de todo el ser de la religión. Pues que Dios no creó al hombre para estas cosas frágiles y perecederas, sino para las celestiales y eternas, dándonos la tierra como lugar de exilio y no de residencia permanente. Y, ya nades en la abundancia, ya carezcas de riquezas y de todo lo demás que llamamos bienes, nada importa eso para la felicidad eterna; lo verdaderamente importante es el modo como se usa de ellos.
Jesucristo no suprimió en modo alguno con su copiosa redención las tribulaciones diversas de que está tejida casi por completo la vida mortal, sino que hizo de ellas estímulo de virtudes y materia de merecimientos, hasta el punto de que ningún mortal podrá alcanzar los premios eternos si no sigue las huellas ensangrentadas de Cristo. Si «sufrimos, también reinaremos con El»(5). Tomando El libremente sobre sí los trabajos y sufrimientos, mitigó notablemente la rudeza de los trabajos y sufrimientos nuestros; y no sólo hizo más llevaderos los sufrimientos con su ejemplo, sino también con su gracia y con la esperanza del eterno galardón: «Porque lo que hay al presente de momentánea y leve tribulación nuestra, produce en nosotros una cantidad de gloria eterna de inconmensurable sublimidad»(6).
17. Así, pues, quedan avisados los ricos de que las riquezas no aportan consigo la exención del dolor, ni aprovechan nada para la felicidad eterna, sino que más bien la obstaculizan(7); de que deben imponer temor a los ricos las tremendas amenazas de Jesucristo(8) y de que pronto o tarde se habrá de dar cuenta severísima al divino juez del uso de las riquezas.
Sobre el uso de las riquezas hay una doctrina excelente y de gran importancia, que, si bien fue iniciada por la filosofía, la Iglesia la ha enseñado también perfeccionada por completo y ha hecho que no se quede en puro conocimiento, sino que informe de hecho las costumbres. El fundamento de dicha doctrina consiste en distinguir entre la recta posesión del dinero y el recto uso del mismo. Poseer bienes en privado, según hemos dicho poco antes, es derecho natural del hombre, y usar de este derecho, sobre todo en la sociedad de la vida, no sólo es lícito, sino incluso necesario en absoluto. «Es lícito que el hombre posea cosas propias. Y es necesario también para la vida humana»(9). Y si se pregunta cuál es necesario que sea el uso de los bienes, la Iglesia responderá sin vacilación alguna: «En cuanto a esto, el hombre no debe considerar las cosas externas como propias, sino como comunes; es decir, de modo que las comparta fácilmente con otros en sus necesidades. De donde el Apóstol díce: "Manda a los ricos de este siglo... que den, que compartan con facilidad"»(10).
A nadie se manda socorrer a los demás con lo necesario para sus usos personales o de los suyos; ni siquiera a dar a otro lo que él mismo necesita para conservar lo que convenga a la persona, a su decoro: «Nadie debe vivir de una manera inconveniente»(11). Pero cuando se ha atendido suficientemente a la necesidad y al decoro, es un deber socorrer a los indigentes con lo que sobra. «Lo que sobra, dadlo de limosna»(12). No son éstos, sin embargo, deberes de justicia, salvo en los casos de necesidad extrema, sino de caridad cristiana, la cual, ciertamente, no hay derecho de exigirla por la ley. Pero antes que la ley y el juicio de los hombres están la ley y el juicio de Cristo Dios, que de modos diversos y suavemente aconseja la práctica de dar: «Es mejor dar que recibir»(13), y que juzgará la caridad hecha o negada a los pobres como hecha o negada a El en persona: «Cuanto hicisteis a uno de estos hermanos míos más pequeños, a mí me lo hicisteis»(14). Todo lo cual se resume en que todo el que ha recibido abundancia de bienes, sean éstos del cuerpo y externos, sean del espíritu, los ha recibido para perfeccionamiento propio, y, al mismo tiempo, para que, como ministro de la Providencia divina, los emplee en beneficio de los demás. «Por lo tanto, el que tenga talento, que cuide mucho de no estarse callado; el que tenga abundancia de bienes, que no se deje entorpecer para la largueza de la misericordia; el que tenga un oficio con que se desenvuelve, que se afane en compartir su uso y su utilidad con el prójimo»(15).
18. Los que, por el contrario, carezcan de bienes de fortuna, aprendan de la Iglesia que la pobreza no es considerada como una deshonra ante el juicio de Dios y que no han de avergonzarse por el hecho de ganarse el sustento con su trabajo. Y esto lo confirmó realmente y de hecho Cristo, Señor nuestro, que por la salvación de los hombres se hizo pobre siendo rico; y, siendo Hijo de Dios y Dios él mismo, quiso, con todo, aparecer y ser tenido por hijo de un artesano, ni rehusó pasar la mayor parte de su vida en el trabajo manual. «¿No es acaso éste el artesano, el hijo de María?»(16)
19. Contemplando lo divino de este ejemplo, se comprende más fácilmente que la verdadera dignidad y excelencia del hombre radica en lo moral, es decir, en la virtud; que la virtud es patrimonio común de todos los mortales, asequible por igual a altos y bajos, a ricos y pobres; y que el premio de la felicidad eterna no puede ser consecuencia de otra cosa que de las virtudes y de los méritos, sean éstos de quienes fueren. Más aún, la misma voluntad de Dios parece más inclinada del lado de los afligidos, pues Jesucristo llama felices a los pobres, invita amantísimamente a que se acerquen a El, fuente de consolación, todos los que sufren y lloran, y abraza con particular claridad a los más bajos y vejados por la injuria. Conociendo estas cosas, se baja fácilmente el ánimo hinchado de los ricos y se levanta el deprimido de los afligidos; unos se pliegan a la benevolencia, otros a la modestia. De este modo, el pasional alejamiento de la soberbia se hará más corto y se logrará sin dificultades que las voluntades de una y otra clase, estrechadas amistosamente las manos, se unan también entre sí.
20. Para los cuales, sin embargo, si siguen los preceptos de Cristo, resultará poco la amistad y se unirán por el amor fraterno. Pues verán y comprenderán que todos los hombres han sido creados por el mismo Dios, Padre común; que todos tienden al mismo fin, que es el mismo Dios, el único que puede dar la felicidad perfecta y absoluta a los hombres y a los ángeles; que, además, todos han sido igualmente redimidos por el beneficio de Jesucristo y elevados a la dignidad de hijos de Dios, de modo que se sientan unidos, por parentesco fraternal, tanto entre sí como con Cristo, primogénito entre muchos hermanos. De igual manera que los bienes naturales, los dones de la gracia divina pertenecen en común y generalmente a todo el linaje humano, y nadie, a no ser que se haga indigno, será desheredado de los bienes celestiales: «Si hijos, pues, también herederos; herederos ciertamente de Dios y coherederos de Cristo»(17).
Tales son los deberes y derechos que la filosofia cristiana profesa. ¿No parece que acabaría por extinguirse bien pronto toda lucha allí donde ella entrara en vigor en la sociedad civil?
21. Finalmente, la Iglesia no considera bastante con indicar el camino para llegar a la curación, sino que aplica ella misma por su mano la medicina, pues que está dedicada por entero a instruir y enseñar a los hombres su doctrina, cuyos saludables raudales procura que se extiendan, con la mayor amplitud posible, por la obra de los obispos y del clero. Trata, además de influir sobre los espíritus y de doblegar las voluntades, a fin de que se dejen regir y gobernar por la enseñanza de los preceptos divinos. Y en este aspecto, que es el principal y de gran importancia, pues que en él se halla la suma y la causa total de todos los bienes, es la Iglesia la única que tiene verdadero poder, ya que los instrumentos de que se sirve para mover los ánimos le fueron dados por Jesucristo y tienen en sí eficacia infundida por Dios. Son instrumentos de esta índole los únicos que pueden llegar eficazmente hasta las intimidades del corazón y lograr que el hombre se muestre obediente al deber, que modere los impulsos del alma ambiciosa, que ame a Dios y al prójimo con singular y suma caridad y destruya animosamente cuanto obstaculice el sendero de la virtud.
Bastará en este orden con recordar brevemente los ejemplos de los antiguos. Recordamos cosas y hechos que no ofrecen duda alguna: que la sociedad humana fue renovada desde sus cimientos por las costumbres cristianas; que, en virtud de esta renovación, fue impulsado el género humano a cosas mejores; más aún, fue sacado de la muerte a la vida y colmado de una tan elevada perfección, que ni existió otra igual en tiempos anteriores ni podrá haberla mayor en el futuro. Finalmente, que Jesucristo es el principio y el fin mismo de estos beneficios y que, como de El han procedido, a El tendrán todos que referirse. Recibida la luz del Evangelio, habiendo conocido el orbe entero el gran misterio de la encarnación del Verbo y de la redención de los hombres, la vida de Jesucristo, Dios y hombre, penetró todas las naciones y las imbuyó a todas en su fe, en sus preceptos y en sus leyes. Por lo cual, si hay que curar a la sociedad humana, sólo podrá curarla el retorno a la vida y a las costumbres cristianas, ya que, cuando se trata de restaurar la sociedades decadentes, hay que hacerlas volver a sus principios. Porque la perfección de toda sociedad está en buscar y conseguir aquello para que fue instituida, de modo que sea causa de los movimientos y actos sociales la misma causa que originó la sociedad. Por lo cual, apartarse de lo estatuido es corrupción, tornar a ello es curación. Y con toda verdad, lo mismo que respecto de todo el cuerpo de la sociedad humana, lo decimos de igual modo de esa clase de ciudadanos que se gana el sustento con el trabajo, que son la inmensa mayoría.
22. No se ha de pensar, sin embargo, que todos los desvelos de la Iglesia estén tan fijos en el cuidado de las almas, que se olvide de lo que atañe a la vida mortal y terrena. En relación con los proletarios concretamente, quiere y se esfuerza en que salgan de su misérrimo estado y logren una mejor situación. Y a ello contribuye con su aportación, no pequeña, llamando y guiando a los hombres hacia la virtud. Dado que, dondequiera que se observen íntegramente, las virtudes cristianas aportan una parte de la prosperidad a las cosas externas, en cuanto que aproximan a Dios, principio y fuente de todos los bienes; reprime esas dos plagas de la vida que hacen sumamente miserable al hombre incluso cuando nada en la abundancia, como son el exceso de ambición y la sed de placeres(18); en fin, contentos con un atuendo y una mesa frugal, suplen la renta con el ahorro, lejos de los vicios, que arruinan no sólo las pequeñas, sino aun las grandes fortunas, y disipan los más cuantiosos patrimonios. Pero, además, provee directamente al bienestar de los proletarios, creando y fomentando lo que estima conducente a remediar su indigencia, habiéndose distinguido tanto en esta clase de beneficios, que se ha merecido las alabanzas de sus propios enemigos.
Tal era el vigor de la mutua caridad entre los cristianos primitivos, que frecuentemente los más ricos se desprendían de sus bienes para socorrer, «y no... había ningún necesitado entre ellos»(19). A los diáconos, orden precisamente instituido para esto, fue encomendado por los apóstoles el cometido de llevar a cabo la misión de la beneficencia diaria; y Pablo Apóstol, aunque sobrecargado por la solicitud de todas las Iglesias, no dudó, sin embargo, en acometer penosos viajes para llevar en persona la colecta a los cristianos más pobres. A dichas colectas, realizadas espontáneamente por los cristianos en cada reunión, la llama Tertuliano «depósitos de piedad», porque se invertían «en alimentar y enterrar a los pobres, a los niños y niñas carentes de bienes y de padres, entre los sirvientes ancianos y entre los náufragos»(20). De aquí fue poco a poco formándose aquel patrimonio que la Iglesia guardó con religioso cuidado, como herencia de los pobres. Más aún, proveyó de socorros a una muchedumbre de indigentes, librándolos de la vergüenza de pedir limosna. Pues como madre común de ricos y pobres, excitada la caridad por todas partes hasta un grado sumo, fundó congregaciones religiosas y otras muchas instituciones benéficas, con cuyas atenciones apenas hubo género de miseria que careciera de consuelo. Hoy, ciertamente, son muchos los que, como en otro tiempo hicieran los gentiles, se propasan a censurar a la Iglesia esta tan eximia caridad, en cuyo lugar se ha pretendido poner la beneficencia establecida por las leyes civiles. Pero no se encontrarán recursos humanos capaces de suplir la caridad cristiana, que se entrega toda entera a sí misma para utilidad de los demás. Tal virtud es exclusiva de la Iglesia, porque, si no brotara del sacratísimo corazón de Jesucristo, jamás hubiera existido, pues anda errante lejos de Cristo el que se separa de la Iglesia.
Mas no puede caber duda que para lo propuesto se requieren también las ayudas que están en manos de los hombres. Absolutamente es necesario que todos aquellos a quienes interesa la cuestión tiendan a lo mismo y trabajen por ello en la parte que les corresponda. Lo cual tiene cierta semejanza con la providencia que gobierna al mundo, pues vemos que el éxito de las cosas proviene de la coordinación de las causas de que dependen.
23. Queda ahora por investigar qué parte de ayuda puede esperarse del Estado. Entendemos aquí por Estado no el que de hecho tiene tal o cual pueblo, sino el que pide la recta razón de conformidad con la naturaleza, por un lado, y aprueban, por otro, las enseñanzas de la sabiduría divina, que Nos mismo hemos expuesto concretamente en la encíclica sobre la constitución cristiana de las naciones. Así, pues, los que gobiernan deber cooperar, primeramente y en términos generales, con toda la fuerza de las leyes e instituciones, esto es, haciendo que de la ordenación y administración misma del Estado brote espontáneamente la prosperidad tanto de la sociedad como de los individuos, ya que éste es el cometido de la política y el deber inexcusable de los gobernantes. Ahora bien: lo que más contribuye a la prosperidad de las naciones es la probidad de las costumbres, la recta y ordenada constitución de las familias, la observancia de la religión y de la justicia, las moderadas cargas públicas y su equitativa distribución, los progresos de la industria y del comercio, la floreciente agricultura y otros factores de esta índole, si quedan, los cuales, cuanto con mayor afán son impulsados, tanto mejor y más felizmente permitirán vivir a los ciudadanos. A través de estas cosas queda al alcance de los gobernantes beneficiar a los demás órdenes sociales y aliviar grandemente la situación de los proletarios, y esto en virtud del mejor derecho y sin la más leve sospecha de injerencia, ya que el Estado debe velar por el bien común como propia misión suya. Y cuanto mayor fuere la abundancia de medios procedentes de esta general providencia, tanto menor será la necesidad de probar caminos nuevos para el bienestar de los obreros.
24. Pero también ha de tenerse presente, punto que atañe más profundamente a la cuestión, que la naturaleza única de la sociedad es común a los de arriba y a los de abajo. Los proletarios, sin duda alguna, son por naturaleza tan ciudadanos como los ricos, es decir, partes verdaderas y vivientes que, a través de la familia, integran el cuerpo de la nación, sin añadir que en toda nación son inmensa mayoría. Por consiguiente, siendo absurdo en grado sumo atender a una parte de los ciudadanos y abandonar a la otra, se sigue que los desvelos públicos han de prestar los debidos cuidados a la salvación y al bienestar de la clase proletaria; y si tal no hace, violará la justicia, que manda dar a cada uno lo que es suyo. Sobre lo cual escribe sabiamente Santo Tomás: «Así como la parte y el todo son, en cierto modo, la misma cosa, así lo que es del todo, en cierto modo, lo es de la parte»(21). De ahí que entre los deberes, ni pocos ni leves, de los gobernantes que velan por el bien del pueblo, se destaca entre los primeros el de defender por igual a todas las clases sociales, observando ínviolablemente la justicia llamada distributiva.
25. Mas, aunque todos los ciudadanos, sin excepción alguna, deban contribuir necesariamente a la totalidad del bien común, del cual deriva una parte no pequeña a los individuos, no todos, sin embargo, pueden aportar lo mismo ni en igual cantidad. Cualesquiera que sean las vicisitudes en las distintas formas de gobierno, siempre existirá en el estado de los ciudadanos aquella diferencia sin la cual no puede existír ni concebirse sociedad alguna. Es necesario en absoluto que haya quienes se dediquen a las funciones de gobierno, quienes legislen, quienes juzguen y, finalmente, quienes con su dictamen y autoridad administren los asuntos civiles y militares. Aportaciones de tales hombres que nadie dejará de ver que son principales y que ellos deben ser considerados como superiores en toda sociedad por el hecho de que contribuyen al bien común más de cerca y con más altas razones. Los que ejercen algún oficio, por el contrario, no aprovechan a la sociedad en el mismo grado y con las mismas funciones que aquéllos, mas también ellos concurren al bien común de modo notable, aunque menos directamente. Y, teniendo que ser el bien común de naturaleza tal que los hombres, consiguiéndolo, se hagan mejores, debe colocarse principalmente en la virtud. De todos modos, para la buena constitución de una nación es necesaria también la abundancia de los bienes del cuerpo y externos, «cuyo uso es necesario para que se actualice el acto de virtud»(22). Y para la obtención de estos bienes es sumamente eficaz y necesario el trabajo de los proletarios, ya ejerzan sus habilidades y destreza en el cultivo del campo, ya en los talleres e industrias. Más aún: llega a tanto la eficacia y poder de los mismos en este orden de cosas, que es verdad incuestionable que la riqueza nacional proviene no de otra cosa que del trabajo de los obreros. La equidad exige, por consiguiente, que las autoridades públicas prodiguen sus cuidados al proletario para que éste reciba algo de lo que aporta al bien común, como la casa, el vestido y el poder sobrellevar la vida con mayor facilidad. De donde se desprende que se habrán de fomentar todas aquellas cosas que de cualquier modo resulten favorables para los obreros. Cuidado que dista mucho de perjudicar a nadie, antes bien aprovechará a todos, ya que interesa mucho al Estado que no vivan en la miseria aquellos de quienes provien unos bienes tan necesarios.
26. No es justo, según hemos dicho, que ni el individuo ni la familia sean absorbidos por el Estado; lo justo es dejar a cada uno la facultad de obrar con libertad hasta donde sea posible, sin daño del bien común y sin injuria de nadie. No obstante, los que gobiernan deberán atender a la defensa de la comunidad y de sus miembros. De la comunidad, porque la naturaleza confió su conservación a la suma potestad, hasta el punto que la custodia de la salud pública no es sólo la suprema ley, sino la razón total del poder; de los miembros, porque la administración del Estado debe tender por naturaleza no a la utilidad de aquellos a quienes se ha confiado, sino de los que se le confian, como unánimemente afirman la filosofía y la fe cristiana. Y, puesto que el poder proviene de Dios y es una cierta participación del poder infinito, deberá aplicarse a la manera de la potestad divina, que vela con solicitud paternal no menos de los individuos que de la totalidad de las cosas. Si, por tanto, se ha producido o amenaza algún daño al bien común o a los intereses de cada una de las clases que no pueda subsanarse de otro modo, necesariamente deberá afrontarlo el poder público.
Ahora bien: interesa tanto a la salud pública cuanto a la privada que las cosas estén en paz y en orden; e igualmente que la totalidad del orden doméstico se rija conforme a los mandatos de Dios y a los preceptos de la naturaleza; que se respete y practique la religión; que florezca la integridad de las costumbres privadas y públicas; que se mantenga inviolada la justicia y que no atenten impunemente unos contra otros; que los ciudadanos crezcan robustos y aptos, si fuera preciso, para ayudar y defender a la patria. Por consiguiente, si alguna vez ocurre que algo amenaza entre el pueblo por tumultos de obreros o por huelgas; que se relajan entre los proletarios los lazos naturales de la familia; que se quebranta entre ellos la religión por no contar con la suficiente holgura para los deberes religiosos; si se plantea en los talleres el peligro para la pureza de las costumbres por la promiscuidad o por otros incentivos de pecado; si la clase patronal oprime a los obreros con cargas injustas o los veja imponiéndoles condiciones ofensivas para la persona y dignidad humanas; si daña la salud con trabajo excesivo, impropio del sexo o de la edad, en todos estos casos deberá intervenir de lleno, dentro de ciertos límites, el vigor y la autoridad de las leyes. Límites determinados por la misma causa que reclama el auxilio de la ley, o sea, que las leyes no deberán abarcar ni ir más allá de lo que requieren el remedio de los males o la evitación del peligro.
27. Los derechos, sean de quien fueren, habrán de respetarse inviolablemente; y para que cada uno disfrute del suyo deberá proveer el poder civil, impidiendo o castigando las injurias. Sólo que en la protección de los derechos individuales se habrá de mirar principalmente por los débiles y los pobres. La gente rica, protegida por sus propios recursos, necesita menos de la tutela pública; la clase humilde, por el contrario, carente de todo recurso, se confia principalmente al patrocinio del Estado. Este deberá, por consiguiente, rodear de singulares cuidados y providencia a los asalariados, que se cuentan entre la muchedumbre desvalida.
28. Pero quedan por tratar todavía detalladamente algunos puntos de mayor importancia. El principal es que debe asegurar las posesiones privadas con el imperio y fuerza de las leyes. Y principalísimamente deberá mantenerse a la plebe dentro de los límites del deber, en medio de un ya tal desenfreno de ambiciones; porque, si bien se concede la aspiración a mejorar, sin que oponga reparos la justicia, sí veda ésta, y tampoco autoriza la propia razón del bien común, quitar a otro lo que es suyo o, bajo capa de una pretendida igualdad, caer sobre las fortunas ajenas. Ciertamente, la mayor parte de los obreros prefieren mejorar mediante el trabajo honrado sin perjuicio de nadie; se cuenta, sin embargo, no pocos, imbuidos de perversas doctrinas y deseosos de revolución, que pretenden por todos los medíos concitar a las turbas y lanzar a los demás a la violencia. Intervenga, por tanto, la autoridad del Estado y, frenando a los agitadores, aleje la corrupción de las costumbres de los obreros y el peligro de las rapiñas de los legítimos dueños.
29. El trabajo demasiado largo o pesado y la opinión de que el salario es poco dan pie con frecuencia a los obreros para entregarse a la huelga y al ocio voluntario. A este mal frecuente y grave se ha de poner remedio públicamente, pues esta clase de huelga perjudica no sólo a los patronos y a los mismos obreros, sino también al comercio y a los intereses públicos; y como no escasean la violencia y los tumultos, con frecuencia ponen en peligro la tranquilidad pública. En lo cual, lo más eficaz y saludable es anticiparse con la autoridad de las leyes e impedir que pueda brotar el mal, removiendo a tiempo las causas de donde parezca que habría de surgir el conflicto entre patronos y obreros.
30. De igual manera hay muchas cosas en el obrero que se han de tutelar con la protección del Estado, y, en primer lugar, los bienes del alma, puesto que la vida mortal, aunque buena y deseable, no es, con todo, el fin último para que hemos sido creados, sino tan sólo el camino y el instrumento para perfeccionar la vida del alma con el conocimiento de la verdad y el amor del bien. El alma es la que lleva impresa la imagen y semejanza de Dios, en la que reside aquel poder mediante el cual se mandó al hombre que dominara sobre las criaturas inferiores y sometiera a su beneficio a las tierras todas y los mares. «Llenad la tierra y sometedla, y dominad a los peces del mar y a las aves del cielo y a todos los animales que se mueven sobre la tierra»(23). En esto son todos los hombres iguales, y nada hay que determine diferencias entre los ricos y los pobres, entre los señores y los operarios, entre los gobernantes y los particulares, «pues uno mismo es el Señor todos»(24). A nadie le está permitido violar impunemente la dignidad humana, de la que Dios mismo dispone con gran reverencia; ni ponerle trabas en la marcha hacia su perfeccionamiento, que lleva a la sempiterna vida de los cielos. Más aún, ni siquiera por voluntad propia puede el hombre ser tratado, en este orden, de una manera inconveniente o someterse a una esclavitud de alma pues no se trata de derechos de que el hombre tenga pleno dominio, sino de deberes para con Dios, y que deben ser guardados puntualmente. De aquí se deduce la necesidad de interrnmpir las obras y trabajos durante los días festivos. Nadie, sin embargo, deberá entenderlo como el disfrute de una más larga holganza inoperante, ni menos aún como una ociosidad, como muchos desean, engendradora de vicios y fomentadora de derroches de dinero, sino justamente del descanso consagrado por la religión. Unido con la religión, el descanso aparta al hombre de los trabajos y de los problemas de la vida diaria, para atraerlo al pensamiento de las cosas celestiales y a rendir a la suprema divinidad el culto justo y debido. Este es, principalmente, el carácter y ésta la causa del descanso de los días festivos, que Dios sancionó ya en el Viejo Testamento con una ley especial: «Acuérdate de santificar el sábado»(25), enseñándolo, además, con el ejemplo de aquel arcano descanso después de haber creado al hombre: «Descansó el séptimo día de toda la obra que había realizado»(26).
31. Por lo que respecta a la tutela de los bienes del cuerpo y externos, lo primero que se ha de hacer es librar a los pobres obreros de la crueldad de los ambiciosos, que abusan de las personas sin moderación, como si fueran cosas para su medro personal. O sea, que ni la justicia ni la humanidad toleran la exigencia de un rendimiento tal, que el espíritu se embote por el exceso de trabajo y al mismo tiempo el cuerpo se rinda a la fatiga. Como todo en la naturaleza del hombre, su eficiencia se halla circunscrita a determinados límites, más allá de los cuales no se puede pasar. Cierto que se agudiza con el ejercicio y la práctica, pero siempre a condición de que el trabajo se interrumpa de cuando en cuando y se dé lugar al descanso.
Se ha de mirar por ello que la jornada diaria no se prolongue más horas de las que permitan las fuerzas. Ahora bien: cuánto deba ser el intervalo dedicado al descanso, lo determinarán la clase de trabajo, las circunstancias de tiempo y lugar y la condición misma de los operarios. La dureza del trabajo de los que se ocupan en sacar piedras en las canteras o en minas de hierro, cobre y otras cosas de esta índole, ha de ser compensada con la brevedad de la duración, pues requiere mucho más esfuerzo que otros y es peligroso para la salud.
Hay que tener en cuenta igualmente las épocas del año, pues ocurre con frecuencia que un trabajo fácilmente soportable en una estación es insufrible en otra o no puede realizarse sino con grandes dificultades. Finalmente, lo que puede hacer y soportar un hombre adulto y robusto no se le puede exigir a una mujer o a un niño. Y, en cuanto a los niños, se ha de evitar cuidadosamente y sobre todo que entren en talleres antes de que la edad haya dado el suficiente desarrollo a su cuerpo, a su inteligencia y a su alma. Puesto que la actividad precoz agosta, como a las hierbas tiernas, las fuerzas que brotan de la infancia, con lo que la constitución de la niñez vendría a destruirse por completo. Igualmente, hay oficios menos aptos para la mujer, nacida para las labores domésticas; labores estas que no sólo protegen sobremanera el decoro femenino, sino que responden por naturaleza a la educación de los hijos y a la prosperidad de la familia. Establézcase en general que se dé a los obreros todo el reposo necesario para que recuperen las energías consumidas en el trabajo, puesto que el descanso debe restaurar las fuerzas gastadas por el uso. En todo contrato concluido entre patronos y obreros debe contenerse siempre esta condición expresa o tácita: que se provea a uno y otro tipo de descanso, pues no sería honesto pactar lo contrario, ya que a nadie es lícito exigir ni prometer el abandono de las obligaciones que el hombre tiene para con Dios o para consigo mismo.
32. Atacamos aquí un asunto de la mayor importancia, y que debe ser entendido rectamente para que no se peque por ninguna de las partes. A saber: que es establecida la cuantía del salario por libre consentimiento, y, según eso, pagado el salario convenido, parece que el patrono ha cumplido por su parte y que nada más debe. Que procede injustamente el patrono sólo cuando se niega a pagar el sueldo pactado, y el obrero sólo cuando no rinde el trabajo que se estipuló; que en estos casos es justo que intervenga el poder político, pero nada más que para poner a salvo el derecho de cada uno. Un juez equitativo que atienda a la realidad de las cosas no asentirá fácilmente ni en su totalidad a esta argumentación, pues no es completa en todas sus partes; le falta algo de verdadera importancia.
Trabajar es ocuparse en hacer algo con el objeto de adquirir las cosas necesarias para los usos diversos de la vida y, sobre todo, para la propia conservación: «Te ganarás el pan con el sudor de tu frente»(27). Luego el trabajo implica por naturaleza estas dos a modo de notas: que sea personal, en cuanto la energía que opera es inherente a la persona y propia en absoluto del que la ejerce y para cuya utilidad le ha sido dada, y que sea necesario, por cuanto el fruto de su trabajo le es necesario al hombre para la defensa de su vida, defensa a que le obliga la naturaleza misma de las cosas, a que hay que plegarse por encima de todo. Pues bien: si se mira el trabajo exclusivamente en su aspecto personal, es indudable que el obrero es libre para pactar por toda retribución una cantidad corta; trabaja volúntariamente, y puede, por tanto, contentarse voluntariamente con una retribución exigua o nula. Mas hay que pensar de una manera muy distinta cuando, juntamente con el aspecto personal, se considera el necesario, separable sólo conceptualmente del primero, pero no en la realidad. En e
Far too many time we hear coming out of all politician's mouths;
'We walk the walk and Talk the talk' Correctly understood this statement,as is, means we'll say one thing and do another
What this country needs is someone that will;
WALK THEIR TALK', meaning they back up their speak with actions. You do what you say you will. If you say you're going to end wars,then you set up policies that do just that. If you say you're for the working person and the poor,then don't make life harder on them by keeping slumlords in business,You don't give huge tax breaks to multi-millionaires. You support the people by bailing out the foundation of our society,the workers,the poor. If you put 700 billion into the poor there would be a great upwelling in the economy. Many of the poor are barely holding onto their homes,their children have little if any chance at a higher education. If we shuttled funding into these folks two things will happen. First their houses will get paidoff,freeing up vast sums of money. Secondly,the money given to minor children for schooling would sit in bank accounts until they go to college. Giving local banks the money to do business through these college savings accounts, The children that are already college age would have the funding to go to the school of their choice because there would be enough money to attain an undergrad degree.
If you could do these things,Barack you truly would become the greatest uniter and rebuilder of America there ever was. I believe you want to bring people together. I believe you want to heal the old wounds of the past so we can move forward as a society,unified and free. I also know we have a lot of old dirty business we have to get rid of before we can move into the sunlight of this better day and to do this there's only one way. WALK YOUR TALK.
Someone forwarded this parable to me and I thought it is worth thinking about in this atmosphere of panic,loss, and fear brought on by decades of greed and material excesses:
A holy man was having a conversation with God one day and said.'God, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.Suddenly he found himself in front of two doors.He opened one of the doors and looked inside. In the middle of the room was a large round table with a large pot of stew in the center. The aroma was intoxicating and made the holy man's mouth water.
However the people sitting around the table were sad, pale and emaciated. They appeared to be starving. They had spoons with very long handles strapped to their arms.It was possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. So they sat there starving.The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.God said, 'You have seen Hell.The wise man then opened the door to the second room. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew, the aroma of which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but in this room the people were well-nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
The holy man said, 'I don't understand.It is simple,' God said.'The difference between these two groups requires but one skill. You see these people have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.'
http://locationofcontestation.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/virgin-mother-whore-the-impossible-triangle-of-modern-femininity-2/
The paradox is immediately clear. A woman cannot simultaneously be a virgin, a mother and a whore. But the idea that a successful woman must be at least two out of the three is pervasive in modern society. Ubiquitous advertising images reflect the widespread cultural emphasis on physical perfection and sexiness in the way we view and judge our girls and ourselves. At the same time, purity and virginity are celebrated in churches, schoolrooms, and in charity programs all over the country.
One of the most beautiful gifts that America gives (or was originally intended to give) is the freedom of choice. Does anyone these days even remember why we came to America in the first place? We were sick of England forcing their own beliefs on us as the one and only truth. Although i have my set beliefs, who am i to judge or condemn someone for theirs?? I am in no position to tell a gay couple that what they have isnt love! Or what they have isnt "socially acceptable". I am in no position to tell a woman that was brutally raped that the only acceptable choice that she has is to have that baby. I live in a ultra-conservation region of Northwestern Mississippi and am criticized regularly for my outlook on social justice and universal equality. But the really disturbing thing i have noticed is not what they believe, but why they believe it. The most common answer that i get is either "thats what my parents have told me" or "that just fits with my moral beliefs", but even when asked about their moral beliefs I recieve no definate answer. It greatly disturbs me that todays youth and society is so comfortable with their complaceny and completely abandons the quest to find out what they truely believe. So my challenge is to lay aside your biased pressuppositions and embark on the quest to discover what YOU believe!
"I Accept": Obama Nomination Speech Watching Party (Convention Watch Party)
http://donate.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4wczf
The event team that brought you the Obama events featuring Kelly Hu in January and Maya Soetoro-Ng in June invites you to another special gathering on Thursday, August 28, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Roe Restaurant, 651 Howard Street, in San Francisco to watch Senator Barack Obama's historic speech as he accepts the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States of America. It's been widely noted that Sen. Obama will accept the nomination on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. Let's also not forget that the date is also the eve of the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall on the Gulf Coast. These three milestones together gives us both an opportunity to rejoice and to acknowledge that our country and our communities still have a long way to go in order to achieve a society where equal opportunity is more reality than promise. So as we work together to help Barack Obama become our President, let's join together to support our friends at the local level who creating the Change We Can Believe In. To that end, this fundraiser will also support Eric Mar, a longtime Obama supporter, in his bid for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and Jenn Pae and Brian Wang, two convention delegates pledged to Sen. Obama. Eric will be at the event and Jenn and Brian will call in from Denver shortly before Sen. Obama delivers his speech.
We're asking for a $20 donation. Please RSVP on this event listing or email speech@apaforobama.com.
More info - http://www.ericmar.comJoin our FACEBOOK PAGE -http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eric-Mar/12068760165?ref=ts
Back in December last year, while his candidacy still looked pretty iffy, I first heard Barack Obama speak the words "Yes We Can" and, like so many others, became immediately inspired. As he himself is the first to realize, his whole life is an example of how the most seemingly impossible things can and do happen. We can each and all of us make a difference and I believe that we must, if America and the planet as a whole are to keep the various looming catastrophes that we face from becoming a terrible legacy for our children.
So I sat down to write a book, something I had always wanted to do but had never found the motivation and the discipline to get started on. As an international consulting economist, I have been able to see a lot in many parts of the world during the last 30+ years. Like Barack Obama, I am bicultural, having been born to a Latin American Mother and American Father who was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer at the time. My upbringing and early childhood spent in places as diverse as Nicaragua, Lebanon and Holland gave me the opportunity to broaden my horizons from the start, and both the inherent goodness of all peoples and the senselessness of so much avoidable human suffering and so much destruction around the world made an early impression on me.
The book is entitled "YES WE MUST! Fix Our Broken System" and it is available for purchase online on LULU.COM. Proceeds from the first 1,000 copies are going to be donated entirely to the FairShare Foundation, an organization that makes small loans to poor people in different parts of the world.
I urge you to read it. Let's then get together with Barack Obama and with one another to make the real and lasting changes that are needed to bring justice, health and happiness to all the people that share the Earth and the marvelous gift of life with us.
We CAN do it. I know that for a fact. www.lulu.com/content/2485478
Join in asking Senator Obama to lead on Gore's challenge of 100% carbon free power in ten years.
Choose a coal-free running mate, please!
The upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is 350 ppm. We're above that now. An international grassroots climate movement, 350.org, is spreading the word: we need to get back to 350.
Everyone can help, with creative ideas, inspiring actions, beautiful art.
Comment below to join in asking: Senator Obama, what's your 350 action?
One of our fellow Obama supporters asked whether this FISA/immunity issue matters at all. "Is anybody going to die?" "What does this have to do with my bills, gas, healthcare?"
As a rough and quick response, I offer two preliminary answers – one short (and more short term) and one a bit more distant/long-term:
The short/short-term answer: I've visited a number of dictatorships, both before and after the fall of the Berlin wall. Ubiquitous spying can cause lots of people and entire societies serious, depressing, meaningful psychological harm; it tends to result in arbitrary, conflict-producing, brittle governments resorting to unfair practices including political repression, stifled dissent, and discrimination against vulnerable groups or dissenters/creative types/artists/intellectuals. Societies that take that approach (e.g. East Germany, where a significant portion of the populace were employed by or informants for the Stasi secret police) tend not to do very well in terms of achieving the economic prosperity that allows them to pay bills, buy gas, get health care, etc. Beyond that, the individuals affected often have no way to challenge the justness of the actions taken against them -- just ask those trying to get off the terrorist watch or no-fly lists -- and some often even suffer physical harm (including arbitrary imprisonment). Again, this isn't speculation: US citizens and many others have already been imprisoned for years without due process or rights to contest the (secret) evidence against them. In the USA (!) as well as at Gitmo and other prisons, secret and overt, abroad.
Illusory measures like this FISA Amendments Bill, which like the “shoes off” routine at the airport give you the false comfort of feeling secure (while being easily evaded by genuine terrorists), and that avoid the truly effective fact-based, hard, detailed intelligence gathering that's proved empirically successful against terrorists, will also mean that you, yours, and the nation are more (not less) vulnerable to risk of a terror attack, because of the inevitable mission creep and diversion of resources involved and the false feeling that we've taken effective action when we've actually taken only the easy, false-comfort, self-defeating route that actually alienates the populations most able to provide actionable intelligence.
Such spying is also is of a piece with the same theory of untrammeled executive power that underlies other arbitrary and unfair, counterproductive actions we've seen in recent years from the Bush administration: it renews a precedent for, and encourages the slippery slope of e.g. torture, indefinite detention, secret and lawless prisons, kidnapping, and extraordinary rendition. These actions have indisputably left us less powerful and less safe in the world -- despite the fatuous, illogical, and self-serving Bush/McCain rhetoric that "well, at least there's been no attack since 9/11!" [It's another subject, but in addition to confusing correlation with causation, that argument reveals ignorance of al Qaeda and its modus operandi (multi-years between attacks, striving for the spectacular, etc), of memos from al Qaeda that have been captured and say that the strategy is not to attack the US right now, and of the adversary’s morphing (according to Rand Corporation and other sources) into a stronger, more decentralized, global franchise.]
An answer more for the long-term: if these FISA amendments pass, with or without the telecom immunity envisaged, the amended law enshrining the hi-tech Bush surveillance and datamining approach will change America in subtle but profound and enduring ways, to the point that we simply won't be the same country we've been or share many of the vital, core principles that we've shared essentially since the founding (although it's those principles more than anything else that bind us together). Recall that on that other July 4th, in 1776, a major reason for the revolution was King George's assertions of arbitrary, unchecked power, including the "general" (unspecified) warrants that resulted in searches of the colonists' homes without any sort of notice, specific fact-based warrant or probable cause/individualized suspicion.
That arbitrary, unfair, and tyrannical practice without checks and balances tore the social fabric then, and today’s updated techno-version will just as surely tear the social fabric in insidious ways now and in the future. This effect won't be immediately apparent or visible, but it will matter tremendously for your long-term future and that of any children, grandchildren, or those of relatives you may have. At least that's my grave concern.
Re-read Orwell.
