General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI'm a Catholic Worker and thought I would share this here
As followers of Jesus Christ and participants in a powerful economy, Catholics in the United States are called to work for greater economic justice in the face of persistent poverty, growing income-gaps, and increasing discussion of economic issues in the United States and around the world. We urge Catholics to use the following ethical framework for economic
life as principles for reflection, criteria for judgment and directions for action. These principles are drawn directly from
Catholic teaching on economic life.
1. The economy exists for the person, not the person for the economy.
2. All economic life should be shaped by moral principles. Economic choices and institutions must be judged by how they protect or undermine the life and dignity of the human person, support the family and serve the common good.
3. A fundamental moral measure of any economy is how the poor and vulnerable are faring.
4. All people have a right to life and to secure the basic necessities of life (e.g., food, clothing, shelter, education, health care, safe environment, economic security.)
5. All people have the right to economic initiative, to productive work, to just wages and benefits, to decent working conditions as well as to organize and join unions or other associations.
6. All people, to the extent they are able, have a corresponding duty to work, a responsibility to provide the needs of their families and an obligation to contribute to the broader society.
7. In economic life, free markets have both clear advantages and limits; government has essential responsibilities and limitations; voluntary groups have irreplaceable roles, but cannot substitute for the proper working of the market and the just policies of the state.
8. Society has a moral obligation, including governmental action where necessary, to assure opportunity, meet basic human needs, and pursue justice in economic life.
9. Workers, owners, managers, stockholders and consumers are moral agents in economic life. By our choices, initiative, creativity and investment, we enhance or diminish economic opportunity, community life and social justice.
10. The global economy has moral dimensions and human consequences. Decisions on investment, trade, aid and development should protect human life and promote human rights, especially for those most in need wherever they might live on this globe.
According to Pope John Paul II, the Catholic tradition calls for a society of work, enterprise and participation which is not directed against the market, but demands that the market be appropriately controlled by the forces of society and by the state to assure that the basic needs of the whole society are satisfied. (Centesimus Annus, 35). All of economic life should recognize the fact that we all are Gods children and members of one human family, called to exercise a clear priority for the least among us.
rug
(82,333 posts)nomorenomore08
(13,324 posts)I'm not a fan of organized religion by and large, but I try to keep things in perspective.
okaawhatever
(9,453 posts)otherone
(973 posts)peace and low stress
annabanana
(52,791 posts)A good post that gets right to the heart of the matter.
otherone
(973 posts)panader0
(25,816 posts)The ten points of economic "morality" hold true, religion or not.
otherone
(973 posts)peace and low stress
hunter
(38,264 posts)otherone
(973 posts)thanks for the reply my friend!
And may Eric Cantor be judged with these guidelines!
otherone
(973 posts)I know you have been here a while, but greetings anyway.
TxDemChem
(1,918 posts)Thank you for reminding us of our commitments to each other and society.
otherone
(973 posts)Peace and low stress
blm
(112,919 posts)Political opportunists decided to use religion to promote corporatism over the needs of the family and community.
Submariner
(12,485 posts)before leading the Bishops that supported the tea-bagger government shutdown to repeal the ACA.
Food for thought. Thank you, otherone for sharing this statement.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)I wish your church administrators walked the walk instead of just issuing lovely talking points
tclambert
(11,080 posts)But every Business School now teaches that no higher moral aspiration exists than to maximize profit.
(Just ignore all those non-profit Credit Unions that provide better service than banks . . . and the Blue Cross Blue Shield non-profit insurance companies . . . and that we invented business and trade before we invented money and couldn't really keep score of profit so well. Oh, and if anybody asks you what Jacob Marley's ghost said when Ebenezer Scrooge called him a "good man of business," just tell them to shut up.)
otherone
(973 posts)I'm looking into an MBA program right now.