In his Encyclical Letter Quadragesimo Anno, Pope Pius XI warned that, "Whether considered as a doctrine, or an historical fact, or a movement, Socialism, if it remains truly Socialism, even after it has yielded to truth and justice on the points which we have mentioned, cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Catholic Church because its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to Christian truth.
For, according to Christian teaching, man, endowed with a social nature, is placed on this earth so that by leading a life in society and under an authority ordained of God he may fully cultivate and develop all his faculties unto the praise and glory of his Creator; and that by faithfully fulfilling the duties of his craft or other calling he may obtain for himself temporal and at the same time eternal happiness. Socialism, on the other hand, wholly ignoring and indifferent to this sublime end of both man and society, affirms that human association has been instituted for the sake of material advantage alone." (Nos. 117, 118).
As Dr. Germain Grisez explains, the Church, "Insisting on social solidarity...proposes a nonindividualistic alternative to collectivism. It is that larger societies, with resources (such as revenues from taxation) unavailable to the smaller communities within them, can and should help these smaller communities survive and pursue their own purposes. The ideal relationship is analogous to that of good parents to their growing children: rather than trying to live their children's lives, the parents provide the regulation, support, and encouragement that children need to live their own lives. This relationship of political parties to the smaller communities within them, which involves both respecting their liberty and helping them, is called 'subsidiarity." The principle of subsidiarity, which resists centralization and excludes collectivism, can be formulated this way: the larger society should not absorb the functions of smaller communities when the latter, given suitable help, can fulfill these functions; rather, the larger society should help smaller communities within it to carry out their proper functions. Here subsidiarity (drawn from the Latin word subsidium, which means help) does not mean the smaller community is politically or juridically subordinate to the larger, although that may be so. Rather, it means that the larger community supports smaller ones within it in their proper activities (in practice, supports often means subsidizes with grants of money, but in principle it refers to any kind of help, including regulation and coordination with other segments of the society)."
The ultimate goal of organized socialism is the fully socialized state. A society in which all the means of production are taken from private hands and turned over to the state. There is only one way in which the fully socialized state can succeed. And that is through a total and complete submersion of individual human rights and the institution of a totalitarian regime.
As Robert H. Bork notes in his book "Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline," "In our time...left-wing politics..offers a comprehensive world view and a promise of ultimate salvation in a utopia that conventional politics cannot offer. The religious impulse underlying left radicalism has often been noted. Weber remarked that when certain types of German intellectualism turned against religion, there occurred 'the rise of the economic, eschatological faith ofsocialism.' Not only communism but fascism and Naziism were faith systems of the left, offering transcendental meaning to their adherents.....Modern liberalism, the descendant and spiritual heir of the New Left, is what fascism looks like when it has captured significant institutions, most notably the universities, but has no possibility of becoming a mass movement or of gaining power over government or the broader society through force or the threat of force. Power must then be sought in increments and by indirection.." (p. 85).
And this is precisely what is occurring even now. Incremental socialism is making its advance. It is obtaining power gradually, incrementally. And when it has obtained sufficient power and control of government, we will have the New Order, the totalitarian regime which will serve the Man of Sin.
Elena Kagan, President Obama's choice for the Supreme Court, wrote approvingly of socialists who "wish to change America." And that is precisely what the New Left intends to do.
For, according to Christian teaching, man, endowed with a social nature, is placed on this earth so that by leading a life in society and under an authority ordained of God he may fully cultivate and develop all his faculties unto the praise and glory of his Creator; and that by faithfully fulfilling the duties of his craft or other calling he may obtain for himself temporal and at the same time eternal happiness. Socialism, on the other hand, wholly ignoring and indifferent to this sublime end of both man and society, affirms that human association has been instituted for the sake of material advantage alone." (Nos. 117, 118).
As Dr. Germain Grisez explains, the Church, "Insisting on social solidarity...proposes a nonindividualistic alternative to collectivism. It is that larger societies, with resources (such as revenues from taxation) unavailable to the smaller communities within them, can and should help these smaller communities survive and pursue their own purposes. The ideal relationship is analogous to that of good parents to their growing children: rather than trying to live their children's lives, the parents provide the regulation, support, and encouragement that children need to live their own lives. This relationship of political parties to the smaller communities within them, which involves both respecting their liberty and helping them, is called 'subsidiarity." The principle of subsidiarity, which resists centralization and excludes collectivism, can be formulated this way: the larger society should not absorb the functions of smaller communities when the latter, given suitable help, can fulfill these functions; rather, the larger society should help smaller communities within it to carry out their proper functions. Here subsidiarity (drawn from the Latin word subsidium, which means help) does not mean the smaller community is politically or juridically subordinate to the larger, although that may be so. Rather, it means that the larger community supports smaller ones within it in their proper activities (in practice, supports often means subsidizes with grants of money, but in principle it refers to any kind of help, including regulation and coordination with other segments of the society)."
The ultimate goal of organized socialism is the fully socialized state. A society in which all the means of production are taken from private hands and turned over to the state. There is only one way in which the fully socialized state can succeed. And that is through a total and complete submersion of individual human rights and the institution of a totalitarian regime.
As Robert H. Bork notes in his book "Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline," "In our time...left-wing politics..offers a comprehensive world view and a promise of ultimate salvation in a utopia that conventional politics cannot offer. The religious impulse underlying left radicalism has often been noted. Weber remarked that when certain types of German intellectualism turned against religion, there occurred 'the rise of the economic, eschatological faith ofsocialism.' Not only communism but fascism and Naziism were faith systems of the left, offering transcendental meaning to their adherents.....Modern liberalism, the descendant and spiritual heir of the New Left, is what fascism looks like when it has captured significant institutions, most notably the universities, but has no possibility of becoming a mass movement or of gaining power over government or the broader society through force or the threat of force. Power must then be sought in increments and by indirection.." (p. 85).
And this is precisely what is occurring even now. Incremental socialism is making its advance. It is obtaining power gradually, incrementally. And when it has obtained sufficient power and control of government, we will have the New Order, the totalitarian regime which will serve the Man of Sin.
Elena Kagan, President Obama's choice for the Supreme Court, wrote approvingly of socialists who "wish to change America." And that is precisely what the New Left intends to do.
Related reading: Father John Corapi on the evils of socialism.
