In today's instant gratification, materialistic society, that dog don't hunt.
Many people in the media, political spectrums and religious organisations play up on wealth envy, class envy, ill-gotten gains, etc....but where did it come from?
Some say it's as old as civilisation itself.
Some say it's something Karl Marx put forth in his writings.
Some say it's something the Progressives ginned up.
I say it's more like "all of the above".
While I don't doubt that Mug-wuh the cave man was jealous that his neighbour, Wug-muh had a bigger and nicer cave, I don't really think Mug-wuh wanted Wug-muh's income taxed at a significantly higher rate.
So why is all this talk about rich paying their fair share, etc., so prominent in today's public conversation? Are we really seeing the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer because the rich are cheating the system or are just plain old jerks who want us plebes to drink dirty water, breathe dirty air and drive death-trap vehicles?
No.
The rich need us as much as we need the rich.
They need people to work to help them make money.
We need jobs, so we can get paid, to spend on food, housing, cars, bling, etc.
That money we spend goes to....erm..people who own businesses that employ people that want to get paid so they can....you get the picture.
Then along comes government....they produce no goods, add no value and make rules they themselves don't follow, but expect us to. They, with the help of their agents in the media, spread propaganda and lies to divide the population; blacks/whites/red/yellow/brown, Catholics/Protestants/Jews/Muslims, rich/middle class/poor until there's one big fuster cluck. Political anarchy ensues and the government is the only one who wins....lefties and righties. The people get screwed and don't even get kissed.
If we really wanted to get back to basics, we should take a little walk through the Ten Commandments every once in a while. Today's society is an anathema to them. Everything that is popularised is a direct cancellation of a Commandment. We need to work on reversing that. If we do, divorce goes away, gay marriage goes away, crime goes down, atheism goes down, and yes...wealth envy goes down.
Jesus said we'll always have the poor but we won't always have Him. Hmmm.....sounds different now to me than it did before. Perhaps if we have more of Him, we'll have less poor?
Deo Vindice!
Confederate Papist,
ReplyDeleteA great deal of confusion/misunderstanding among Catholic Christians (individuals, families and congregations) would be avoided if people familiarized themselves with the manner in which we are called to live our lives. This is very clearly stated both within the pages of Holy Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (a practical outworking and application of the former).
here are several pivotal pasages of Holy Scripture central to any Catholic Christian understanding of how we are to live our lives
Matt 23: 23 (note: Here jesus calls the reader to BOTH piety and practical action – we are to not neglect either but to wholeheartedly undertake both for action is skewed and incomplete without personal piety/holiness, as is personal piety/holiness skewed and incomplete if not coupled with practical action.
Matt 25: 34-40
Acts 2: 42-47
James 1: 27
James 2: 1-7, 14_23
James 5: 1-6
…And finally in terms of the way in which we utilize the bounty and resource of the Earth God has given us…Rev 11:18
All would do well to thoroughly acquaint themselves with these passages of Holy Scripture plus CCC 2424 and its surrounding paragraphs that carefully spell out the way in which a Catholic Christian is to order his employment, financial and material life both personally, and in terms of the body of Christ – the ‘assembly of believers’. This is further highlighted in the incredible encyclical Laborem Exercens
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091981_laborem-exercens_en.html
penned by Bl. JPII; released on the ninetieth anniversary of
Rerum Novarum
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum_en.html
RN and LE are best read consecutively as LE is intended to be a ‘follow-on’ from RN in light of the incredible upheavals that had taken place within the secular and ecclesial world between the release of the former and latter Papal work.
Finally, I cannot conclude my comment without mentioning G. K. Chesterton – study what he had to say, read his thoughts and works and remember…
Subsidiarity/distributism! It’s Not ‘socialism lite’. Here is an excellent summary of what it is and is not:
http://www.jesusradicals.com/on-distributism-part-1-distributism-made-ridiculously-simple/
Blessings,
Sarah,
Australia.
Miss Sarah,
ReplyDeleteRight on! I'm a big believer in Distributism and subsidarity. Unfortunately the major countries in this world, which include Australia and USA, Inc. will never go to those systems because of the entrenched elite power-hold. It's almost like we'd have to go to a deserted island and start off that way and establish that form of society from the get-go and codify it in law, never to be amended.
Confederate Papist,
ReplyDeleteYou suggest that the creation of a truly subsidiarist state whose ecconomic morality (among other things) is based upon Holy Scripture and its practical application - CCC, Encyclicals etc - is nigh on impossible to realise.
With the EU staggering under the weight of states that are terminally debt-bound and increasingly insolvent, the time for subsidiarity may well be closer than we think. Furthermore, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands cannot continue to float the rest of Europe; extended family in Germany suggest that 80% of the German people ar sick and tired of footing the bill to keep the EU experiment alive and pay for the sins of others. This has knock on effects as social engineering of ever increasing extremes is launched to bring as many 'ecconomic units' into the workplace as possible to generate the $$$ needed to foot the bill. the Biblical family (be it nuclear or extended) is coming under growing attack - all but forcing women into the workplace (home education is outright illegal in Germany) etc. Something has to give eventually.
Blessings,
Sarah,
Australia.
PS: What do you think of Birch's book (promoted by TCK) - Is it so much scaremongering (the recent article on WDTPRS covering Catholic Christian escatology for instance) or more worthy of consideration?
PPS: recent news; Xavier Society for the Blind has available the Latin mass (Pius V edition) and Latin prayers in a range of accessible formats including Braille for those who wish to utilize them - this is a wonderful 'Brick by Brick' moment for me!!