Social Justice: Intersecting Catholicism, Citizenship, and Capitalism.

• Author: Moore, John A.
• Position: Viewpoint essay

I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him.... I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.

--Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, December 10, 1964

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

--U.S. Declaration of Independence

This process of Creative Destruction is the essential fact about capitalism.

--Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy

Without doubt, social justice is one of the most politically charged issues in American politics today. Social justice essentially looks toward attending to the needs of individual citizens. Contemporary commentators and activists see social justice through a variety of different perspectives. Although most current American policies address the material needs of less-fortunate citizens, this paper argues that any effective approach to the social justice question must also encompass spiritual and civic elements that go well beyond a simple materialist response.

Any consideration of social justice should address the whole of each individual human experience rather than simply the redirection of the goods and services of economic production. Social justice is about individual human beings, not about the distribution of economic output. This is precisely why consideration of individual life purpose, political activity, and economic well-being potentially serves as a useful lens to consider how social justice can be achieved as fully as possible in light of humanity's inherent limitations.

Technical dictionary definitions of the term social justice include examples such as "a state or doctrine of egalitarianism" (Webster's) or "justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities and privileges within a society" (Oxford Dictionary). However, these technical definitions do not necessarily provide clarity given the number of competing interpretations. For example, Michael Novak notes that "[s]ocial justice is really the capacity to organize with others to accomplish ends that benefit the whole community" (2000, 13). He adds that "[o]ne happy characteristic of this definition of the virtue of social justice is that it is ideologically neutral.... [However] we must rule out any use of 'social justice' that does not attach to the habits (that is, virtues) of individuals. Social justice is a virtue, an attribute of individuals, or it is a fraud" (2009, 1). At the opposite end of the spectrum, Catholic theologian Gustavo Gutierrez states in his work A Theology of Liberation that "[c]harity is today a 'political charity.' ... [I]t means the transformation of a society structured to benefit a few who appropriate to themselves the value of the work of others. This transformation ought to be directed toward a radical change in the foundation of society, that is, the private ownership of the means of production" (1988, 116).

Novak's and Gutierrez's definitions represent starkly different interpretations of social justice. Novak's view rests upon a broader definition of social justice that addresses the needs of community members in terms of a state of well-being that is both tangible and intangible. Crucially, he considers the process to successfully achieving social justice as a voluntary one premised on free will exercised by the individual within the parameters of a market economy. Gutierrez, in contrast, views justice in almost purely economic terms. He entertains the position that social justice might likely be incompatible with capitalism. He also asserts that coercive redistribution of economic wealth is justified in the name of attaining social justice.

How has social justice been viewed in the past? If we look far back in history, we find a world contending with great uncertainty. Attaining the basic human needs of food, shelter, and clothing was far from easy. Famine occurred with great frequency, and there was more violence. In this context, many great thinkers categorically rejected a materialist explanation for both justice and ultimate human happiness. Aristotle in Nichomachean Ethics and Boethius in Consolation of Philosophy spoke to the question of human happiness. Aristotle (2012) concluded that a contemplative life is the pathway to personal happiness and fulfillment rather than fame, honors, or wealth. Boethius (2005) determined that happiness must come from within one's heart and soul and that one's own experiences of earthly power are of no importance as one faces one's own death.

In light of this brief introduction, how can we achieve social justice within the context of the American experience? Even as the United States has experienced significant economic, demographic, social, and cultural changes since its founding, there remain strong strands of continuity within our traditions of individual life purpose, politics, and economics. In the American experience, these three traditions have been more specifically represented by Judeo-Christian thought, concepts of citizenship, and the impact of capitalism.

All three of these "continuities" have evolved over time, but their foundational impact on the present American way of life remains quite strong. Even as fewer Americans belong to organized religious denominations and fewer regularly attend church services, the nation continues to reflect a significant Judeo-Christian worldview in its attitudes and behavior. Present American views on citizenship and the mutual responsibilities between government and citizens to each other remain foundationally similar to ideas circulating during the early-republic era even as Supreme Court decisions, constitutional amendments, and presidential addresses have shaped those ideas to be more inclusive and more clearly defined. Although the United States has never practiced unbridled laissez-faire capitalism, even in the wake of the New Deal and the Great Society, it remains fundamentally capitalist in its economic structure.

Catholicism

Catholicism has deeply influenced American thought and culture since the nineteenth century. Today the largest single religious denomination in the United States is Roman Catholicism. The Catholic Church has addressed the issue of social justice, and its proclamations have had an impact both in the United States and throughout the world.

Two significant Catholic papal encyclicals address the related issues of social justice and capitalism. Pope Leo XIII issued Rerum novarum in 1891, and Pope John Paul II issued Laborem exercens ninety years later in 1981. At the heart of both documents are considerations of the human experience and right relationships in the world. Rerum novarum was written at a time when the Second Industrial Revolution was in full swing in western Europe and the United States and...