So today in Catholic Social Teaching class we discussed that often ignored principle of "the universal destination of goods." This is not feel-good pity, but a theological claim of the Church. The Compendium, after making the point that God intends the earth's resources for all, and not just the wealthy, goes so far as to say this: "All other rights, whatever they are, including property rights and the right of free trade, must be subordinated to this norm [the unviversal destination of goods."
This reminded me of the quote by St. Basil the Great (329-379)
“The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry man; the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to the man who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the man who has no shoes; the money which you put in the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help but fail to help.”
What to make of all this... I had forgotten the money in the bank part. Whoa! Should disciples of Christ back down from this claim and get on the unfettered capitalist train, saying that the right to private property trumps universal destination of goods? Is there a "golden mean" on this issue? Are there small ways we can work against inequity, or is it a lost cause?
5 comments:
I find the principle of the "universal destination of goods" very interesting. It makes me wonder, what really belongs to me and me only? The answer is nothing. Everything on earth is intended for everyone to have and was a gift from God for everyone to utilize. This does not mean I can go and steal whatever I want from whoever I want. I believe that people do own possessions in a certain sense. The ideal situation for me would be for everyone to own what they truly needed and for people not to live in ultimate luxury while there are so many living in extreme poverty. I thought the fact that the U.S. is only 4% of the world's population but uses 40% of the world's resources is an obvious ethical problem.
I'm sure very few Catholics are aware of this teaching. How can we implement this teaching if no one knows about it? I think these teachings need to become common knowledge before we can even begin to compromise.
A byproduct of our material-obsessed culture is that most Americans measure personal success and efficacy in how much material wealth they can accumulate. Our greed is a nasty virus, contagious and spreading rapidly, and to which there is no innoculation or antidote. The illness warps our reality, as a fever-induced delirium, and we think in earnest that we need so much more material "stuff" to survive than we actually do. And yet the majority of us are so unhappy, so unfulfilled.
I believe that excess material wealth enslaves us and distracts us from true happiness, that is, finding our purposes and fulfilling them. When you own more, you have more to worry about. When you have more to worry about, you will expend more time and energy worrying. Thoreau presents a similar view in his essay "Walden" which describes his two-year social experiment of living alone at Walden Pond. Disdained by the growing materialism of his contemporary society, he retreated into the wilderness, built himself a humble but suitable home, farmed a small piece of land for his own subsistence, and spent his free time thinking and communing with nature. He proved that the best life is a simple live, free of the distraction and the burden of unnecessary material wealth. Our discussion of the principle of universal destination of goods reminded me of him. Now he was more concerned that "most men lead lives of quiet desperation," and less with equal distribution of wealth, but you get the idea. It is an interesting text for cross-reference in this disussion :D.
I wish we could all examine what we really need to survive, and be content to subsist on those key items alone. I think we would find that we don't need many of the expensive items we hold so dear, that perhaps we would be better off without them. And we do have to consider that "owning" things on earth is transitory and fleeting, that honestly we don't even own our very lives, which can be demanded of us at any instant. Money has become an evil force that perpetuates illusions and can corrupt even the most prodigiously moral of men; but it is necessary to sustain life in this country and all over the world. But ultimately it is an entity that is of the world, and in the afterlife I would imagine that we will feel foolish for allowing it to manipulate and overpower us, because it will mean nothing then. Too often we indulge corporeal or worldly "needs" and overlook spiritual needs. We need to start building up our reserve of spiritual treasure by forsaking our worldly treasures.
So, what do I think of universal destination of goods? Oh yeah! Like Griff says, it seems radical, but it might just be crazy enough to work.
This is a hard teaching. How do you help to solve the problem of unequal distribution of the goods, without becoming part of the problem yourself. For instance, if you were to give away all of your belongings, then what resources have you left to help the poor. How as one person do you practically live out this principle of CST. It is obvious that this concept is the way in which the world was meant to function. We are so disordered. How do we fix this global problem. To say that it is right and ought to be, is not good enough, it solves nothing.
Anonymous comment was B McDonald. I cant figure out how to register.
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