About Me

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I am a Roman Catholic convert from Protestantism. My wonderful wife Tenille and I live in Louisville, Ky., with our daughter Esther, and two sons, William and Ezra. We attend Mass at the beautiful St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church on Broadway Street.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Anti-Capitalist's Creed

"Have I made myself clear? If not, I will repeat for the third time, and in its briefest terms, the formula which is the kernel  of my whole thesis. 
The Capitalist State breeds a Collectivist theory which in action produces something utterly different from Collectivism: to wit, the Servile State." 
(Hilaire Belloc The Servile State)


1. I believe in property.
2. I believe in the right of private citizens to own  property.
3. I do not believe that a healthy economy can exist in any society when the majority of its citizens are dispossessed of  ownership.
4. I believe that not only property, but also the tools of production, should be as widely distributed to, and owned by as many private citizens as possible.
5. I believe that the control of the majority of private property and the tools of production by a few rich and powerful people or corporations is detrimental to the economy and opposed to the dignity of the private citizen.
6. I do not believe that Capitalism is good.
7. I believe that Capitalism is rooted in greed.
8. I believe that Capitalism, unchecked, leads automatically to the dispossession of the majority of private ownership, and instead vests the ownership and control of property and the tools of production in the hands of a few wealthy individuals and corporations.
9. I believe that Capitalism, by creating a Proletarian State, breeds, in Belloc's words, a Collectivist theory.
10. I believe that Capitalism is opposed to freedom and the native dignity of the human person.
11. I believe that Capitalism is an inherently unstable economic theory, which automatically tends toward self-destruction.
12. I do not believe that Capitalism is the economic savior of the world.
13. I do not believe that Capitalism is divinely inspired.
14. I believe that Capitalism is bad.

***
There, I have said it: "I believe that Capitalism is bad." And I choose to make this statement here, within the context of this post, hoping that those who read this statement will also read far enough to understand precisely what I mean, and why I am opposed to Capitalism. If I were to make such a statement on my Facebook page, or on some other public forum, I would no doubt be harshly criticized by many and generally misunderstood on all sides.

I remember once having dinner with some family members, and making a comment which was critical of our present abusive, laissez-faire, mega-corporate Capitalism. A family member retorted quickly, and somewhat accusingly, "Well! Socialism doesn't work very well, either." The obvious assumption was that if I was not a Capitalist, then I must be a Socialist.

I sincerely hope that those of you reading this post will have read the preceding lines carefully enough, that the clear statements of my firm belief in the widespread ownership of private property will be sufficient to dispel any misconception that I am a Socialist. I am emphatically not a Socialist. If further clarification is needed, allow me to add one more clause to my creed:

15. I believe that Socialism is bad.

Nonetheless, the assumption is an easy one to make, and the unfortunate notion still persists that there are only two viable economic theories in the world--Socialism and Capitalism-- and that if one is not a Capitalist, one must automatically be a Socialist. 

There may be many reasons why this artificial dilemma exists, but surely the events of the last century, in particular the revolutions, political and social upheavals that have marked the last one hundred years of world history, are sufficient to explain  this erroneous dichotomy. The Marxist economic theories of the late nineteenth century, the Bolshevist Revolution of 1917, two World Wars, Cuba, the Russian missile crisis and the Cold War, Vietnam and Korea: all these tumultuous events have forced upon our consciousness in various ways the great evils of Communist Collectivism. And each time we see the the victorious foes of Communism in the Capitalist nations of the West. There is an old adage that says that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. This statement, however, is dangerously false. The enemy of my enemy may not be my friend at all, and may at times be little more than an uneasy ally. However, this battle between Capitalism and Communism has cast these two ideas into ever sharper relief, drowned out any voice that calls for a third option, and left most of us with the dreadfully false idea that Capitalism is our friend, and the friend of all those who would be politically, socially, and economically free.

I should pause to note here that I am not confusing Communism with Socialism (or else I shall be soundly condemned for ignorance!), but I shall clarify my interchangeable use of these terms in a later post.
Had the events of last century been different, we might have found ourselves living in a very different world today. Prior to, and for some decades after the Bolshevist Revolution, many writers, thinkers, and workers raised clear and intelligent voices against the evils of Capitalism, while simultaneously condemning Socialism, and offering a viable third alternative.

Unfortunately, the momentous events cited above, coupled with Capitalist greed and political control, have relegated these clear voices and intelligent thinkers to oblivion, and left us with an artificial choice between to evils.

However, I firmly believe that whenever we are presented with two courses, both of which are bad, and both of which lead to destruction, it is incumbent upon us, before trying to determine which is the lesser of two evils, to first strive to ascertain whether or not there might be some third way, unknown to us; perhaps untried, perhaps long forgotten.

I listen to the arguments of fellow citizen, political legerdemain, presidential debates, the rhetoric and ideas of liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, right and left, Socialists and Capitalists; and I feel convinced that both sides are utterly missing the point.

Do we really have only two options, or is there a third option? Not only is there a third option, but is it perhaps possible that this option may not even be new? An option that may have in various ways been tried in the past, and to varying degrees been been proved successful? And is it not imperative now, that we earnestly search out this third option, adapt it as necessary, and apply it to our present situation?

More on this to come.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Mea Maxima Culpa

"'Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again'.
'I wish it need not have happened in my time' said Frodo.
'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not up to them to decide. All we have  to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.'"
(J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring)

In the midst of all the confusing feelings (fear, anger, helplessness, frustration) that have marked for me the outcome of last night's Presidential election, one clear thought continues to force its way to the surface of my consciousness. That one thought is not the sense of bitter frustration that all recent efforts seem to have dissipated in failure like a breath of wind in the night. (That thought would be a lie.) It is not anger towards those whom I deem as blind to facts, or else too self-centered to see any future past their own desires. (Such a thought would lay a road of blame that leads to vengeance.) Nor is it the thought of fear and despair in the face of the coming storm of government control, religious intolerance, and persecution of conscience. (Despair is sin against the Greatness of God, and excessive fear is weakness of Faith.) No, that one clear thought is none of these. That one clear thought is this: Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
"Through my fault,
Through my fault,
Through my most grievous fault."
(Here strike the breast three times.)

We must in this time come to grips, as Catholics, that by and large the American Catholic Church has long failed the American people. And more precisely, it has failed Catholics. We have failed ourselves. It will do us no good at all now to point fingers and lay blame. It will benefit us nothing to wring our hands and say, "How could they? How could this have happened?" It has not happened through ignorance, bad candidate image, or poor campaign strategy. Backlash against Bush had nothing to do with it. The economy had nothing to do with it. Hurricane Sandy and the media cannot be our scapegoats now. It has happened because our culture is ill, and all too little of the true Light has entered its darkness. And were we not the ones charged with the task of changing the cultures in which we live? Were we not supposed to be light and salt and witness for all the world? Must we not now shoulder some measure of the burden and responsibility?

Mea culpa.

When I say that the American Church has failed the American people, I do not principally mean now. We have many marvelous priests, and numerous courageous bishops (Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop Charles Chaput, etc.). There are growing tides of converts, there are young and conservative families, there is a change in the wind. But for far too long now the Church has failed her own children. For nearly fifty years (or more) the seminaries have fostered liberalism, agnosticism, and rebellion. Liberal priests and bishops, eagerly misapplying Vatican II have condoned birth control, spurned the importance of confession, made a mockery of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, discouraged traditional prayers such as the Rosary, and rebelled against our Holy Father. Good catechesis  nearly disappeared, homosexual priests continued in their clerical duties, pedophiles were hidden, and increasing numbers of Catholics  became cultural Catholics with no understanding of the great Faith of their fathers. Self-declared Catholic politicians have supported abortion policies. "Good" Catholics have pushed for the ordination of women priests. Fr. Matthew Fox performed his New Age techno masses. And a majority (52%) of American Catholics just voted President Barack Obama into a second term in office. This is man who has divisively and arrogantly given the middle finger to Catholic Church for over a year now in the matter of the HHS mandate. And we voted him back in.

Mea culpa.

If we fail ourselves, we fail the world. All of our recent efforts have not been in vain, but they have not brought about the result which we desired. We have finally stood up to fight, and knelt down to pray; but it has been a little too little, a little too late. We could not even carry half the vote of our own people. Until prayer and repentance take more root, we will not convert the minds and hearts of others. Until our catechesis is strengthened, and our seminaries are purified we will not be able to change our culture. Until our shepherds lead us once more in strength and holiness, we will not be able to lead the world in which we live to light. Until we become salt, we will season nothing. Yes, the American Catholic Church has failed America, but first it has failed American Catholics. Until we are healed of our own sickness, we will not be able to bring healing to the United States. Let us not be surprised to find that the world around us is in shambles, when we are in shambles, too. Let us, with great humility, recognize at last the lessons of history, accept our own responsibility, and begin the long, slow path to rebuilding. Let us not point the finger, but let us admit our own fault. To whom much has been given, much shall be required.

Mea maxima culpa.

So at the close of this election, I pray the we do not give up the fight or fall into despair. This is not the end. The time to start is now. We know now where we stand and what it is that we are up against. We may not have chosen this, but we know now the work we have to do. And it begins at home. It starts in our Church and in our families. The first dread passes now, and I find my mind not so much despairing as clarified and focused. Here we are, let us begin. May we be purified and purged. May we be lowly and lifted up. May we hunger for holiness and find our fill. May we become once more the pillar and ground of truth, the salt of the earth, a city set on a hill, and a kingdom of peace and righteousness to whom all the nations of the earth come streaming. May the Holy Spirit descend upon us as at Pentecost and give fire to our tongues.

"And I ask Blessed Mary, Ever-Virgin, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God."
"And may Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and lead us to light everlasting."
In Nomine Patri, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Amen.