Continuing in the vein of the last few days, I can't stop until I've exhausted all that I think I need to explain.
Aquinas states that after prudence (remember, one of the cardinal virtues), without which no other single virtue can exist ( a hinge), the most important among the virtues is justice. It's object is right - or - the just. Justice makes relations among men, those founded upon the respect due to existence and possession, respected. They are legitimate privileges of every human being.
He explains that natural reason, governed by natural law, tells us these things. Reason determines justice and those in office or in authority must regulate justice according to reason. When we speak of social justice we mean the duty to give those in need the "superfluity" of one's possessions (charity), or employing others, etc. "The State, in the interest of public good has the right to make levies on the goods of individuals as regards whatever it judges necessary or useful for the good of society, and individual members are bound to conform to the laws made by the state for this end; there is indeed for them an obligation to comply therewith in strict justice." Levies, or taxation, is just per se. Over-taxation is theft and deprives individuals of property and the ability to be charitable. It is unjust.
Interestingly, Aquinas says that no positive human law demands this, but natural law does. This really makes it a sacred duty, as noted in the Gospels. Reciprocally, those who receive the superfluity must respect the property of those who possess it. Theft and robbery are forbidden by individuals or groups.
The Marxist idea of class struggle goes against the virtue of justice. The lower classes are , according to that ideology, to suppress the higher classes. Property is not sacred.
Catholic doctrine has always been clear about the necessity of "just and proportional inequalities among the social classes." If we use right reason, we know that everyone should have equal rights, but that everyone is not created equal in the sense of talents, ability to earn, physical strengths, etc. There will always be those who rise above and those who subsist. Justice requires that the able help the less able. There should be peace among the classes. The Church condemns class struggle.
Pope Pius XII, in his 1944 Christmas message said: "The elementary power of the masses, deftly managed and employed, the State also can utilize; in the ambitious hands of one or of several who have been artificially brought together for selfish aims, the State itself, with the support of the masses, reduced to the minimum status of a mere machine, can impose its whims on the better part of the real people...Liberty, from being a moral duty of the individual becomes a tyrannous claim to give free rein to a man's impulses and appetities to the detriment of others. Equality degenerates to a mechanical level, a colorless uniformity the sense of true honor, of personal acitivity, of respect for tradition, of dignity - in a word all that gives life its worth - gradually fades away and disappears." Can we not see this in our country today? Pius XII also said: The people and a shapeless multitude (or, as it is called, the "masses") are two distinct concepts. 1. The people live and move by their own life energy; the masses are inert and can only be moved from outside. 2. The people live by the fullness of life in the men that compose them, each of whom - at his proper place and in his own way -is a person conscious of his own responsibility and of his own views. The masses, on the contrary, wait for the impulse from the outside, an easy plaything in the hands of anyone who exploits their instincts and impressions; ready to follow in turn, today this way, tomorrow another." All I can say is, WOW!
Look at today's entitlement mentality. The "masses" are cajoled and persuaded that they must have this and deserve that. If A does not have as much as B, then A can force B to give him his "just" due (through government coercion) in the name of Social Justice. It is materialism run amok. It is also NOT justice. This also applies to groups who have some complaint that they are not treated equally and demand that the government take property from others to give to them; or who, by violent means, seek to damage businesses or individuals who disagree morally with a viewpoint that is the antithesis of right reason, natural law and religious belief.
Thomas Aquinas fleshed out Catholic ideals of economic life, principles that were found even as far back as Aristotle. Various popes, particularly in the 20th century, as I mentioned before, have written encyclicals setting out what Social Justice consists of and the obligation to observe it in light of Christian duty. All actions, personal, political, economic, should be influenced by the final goal of man, salvation of the soul. No action is unimportant. No action is indifferent. Progress of the soul may not be impeded by any earthly action. All activity is moral activity and can be seen as a prayer.
In the book, Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism by Amintore Fanfani, there is the following quote: "For Catholics, earthly goods are a means, and as means man not only may desire them, but he must take possession of them for his corporal sustenance and for the relief of his neighbor. Wealth...becomes an evil when, instead of a means it becomes an end and absorbs human activity at the expense of his eternal goal."
Capitalism is not perfect; no economic system is, but it has the means to make a society more in harmony with natural and moral law. Socialism and Marxism take away free choice, property rights and individual freedom. Capitalism, unchecked, can be a source of injustice as well, by ignoring charity and the laws of nature and nature's God.
I have much more in my stack of readings and gleanings. Pope Benedict's speech before the German Parliament has a lot to offer. However, I think I've covered about everything that I need to.
The gist of the matter of Justice in any form, is that it must have God as its author.
9/26/11
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