October 15, 2011

Compare...

Milton Friedman, From Capitalism and Freedom, p.3:

...The second broad principle is that government power must be dispersed. If government is to exercise power, better in the county than in the state, better in the state than in Washington. If I do not like what my local community does, be it in sewage disposal, or zoning, or schools, I can move to another local community, and though few may take this step, the mere possibility acts as a check. If I do not like what my state does, I can move to another. If I do not like what Washington proposes I have few alternatives in this world of jealous nations...

And...

Wikipedia, on the Catholic teaching called subsidiarity :

...Functions of government, business, and other secular activities should be as local as possible. If a complex function is carried out at a local level just as effectively as on the national level, the local level should be the one to carry out the specified function. The principle is based upon the autonomy and dignity of the human individual, and holds that all other forms of society, from the family to the state and the international order, should be in the service of the human person. Subsidiarity assumes that these human persons are by their nature social beings, and emphasizes the importance of small and intermediate-sized communities or institutions, like the family, the church, and voluntary associations, as mediating structures which empower individual action and link the individual to society as a whole...
It is a fundamental principle of social philosophy, fixed and unchangeable, that one should not withdraw from individuals and commit to the community what they can accomplish by their own enterprise and industry. (Pope Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno, 79

Posted by John Weidner at October 15, 2011 9:59 PM
Comments

I'm not a theologian, but I feel fairly confident that the idea that the pursuit of self-interest is contradictory to Christian Love is baloney.

If we feel love of our neighbors, love of others, then their benefit IS our self-interest. It is in your self-interest to keep yourself alive, and then in your self-interest to care for your family, then in your self-interest to care for the wider circles of family and and friends and community. It is in your self-interest that your nation should flourish, and that the whole human race should flourish.

I think your mind has been poisoned by socialistic ideas.


Posted by: John Weidner at October 17, 2011 8:09 PM

NOTE: I seem to have accidentally deleted the comment I was answering. Sorry.

Since I upgraded my blog software, I've been inundated with spam. It's like swatting flies all the time...

Posted by: John Weidner at October 18, 2011 9:03 AM
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