DOCSLIB.ORG

The US Bishops and Their Critics

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The US Bishops and Their Critics Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org THE U.S. BISHOPS AND THEIR CRITICS AN ECONOMIC AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE WALTER BLOCK TlfFRASER INSTITUTE Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Block, Walter, 1941- The U.S. Bishops and their critics A discussion of the document: Catholic social teaching and the U. S. economy. Bibliography: p. ISBN 0-88975-085-8 1. Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Catholic social teaching and the U.S. economy. 2. Church and social problems - United States. 3. Church and social problems - Catholic Church. 4. United States - Economic Policy - 1981 - I. Fraser Institute (Vancouver, B.C.) II. Title. BX1795.E27B56 1986 261.8'5'0973 C86-091481-X COPYRIGHT © 1986 by The Fraser Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org CONTENTS About the Author/vii Chapter 1: Introduction/I PART ONE: PHILOSOPHY/3 Chapter 2: Rights and Liberties/5 I. POSITIVE ECONOMIC RIGHTS/5 Environmental dependency/6 Good will/6 Alterationl7 Agencyl7 Game theory 17 Charity/8 Occam's Razor/8 Incumbency/8 Degree/9 Government/9 Punishment/1O Rights conflicts/ 10 Egalitarianism/ 10 II. THE COMMON GOOD/II III. NON-PRODUCTIVE ENTERPRISEI1I Gentrification/I2 Advertising/I2 IV. PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS/13 Notesl14 - v - Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org PART TWO: ECONOMICS/17 Chapter 3: Employment/19 I. UNIONS/19 Coercion/20 Scabs/22 II. W AGES122 III. UNEMPLOYMENT/24 Discrimination/24 Family farm125 Pricing out of market126 Inflated wage levels/27 Job training/28 Plant c1osingsl29 A vacuum/29 IV. WORKING CONDITIONS/3D A choice/31 Pay for play/32 Notes/32 Chapter 4: Poverty/37 I. INCOME DISTRIBUTION/37 Process/38 "Thou shalt not" /40 II. REDUCING POVERTY/41 Education/42 III. CHARITY /43 Loaves and fishes/44 IV. WELFARE/44 A refutation?/45 Weak family?/46 The Mormons/47 The poverty line/48 Negative income tax/48 The case worker/49 V. DISCRIMINATION/49 A paradox/51 Sexism/51 Asymmetry/52 Notes/53 - vi - Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org Chapter 5: Economic Collaboration/57 I. COOPERATION/57 Economic instruction/57 Dieting/59 II. ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY /60 III. PARTICIPATION/61 IV. "BALANCED" CENTRAL PLANNING/61 V. Employee stock ownership plans/62 Employee benefits/63 Setting terms/64 Plant closings/65 VI. SUBSIDIARITY /66 Proximity /67 Notes/68 Chapter 6: International Economic Policy173 A scandall74 I. AGRARIAN DUALISM174 Terms of trade177 Free Trade178 Fair Trade179 Balancing rights/80 A mirage/81 The cushion/82 II. DEBT/83 III. FOREIGN AID/84 Politicization/86 IV. THE MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION/87 Equity/88 Dependency /89 Exploiting workers/89 The U.N.l91 Notes/92 Chapter 7: Conclusion/101 Notes/101 - vii - Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org Appendixll03 I. Moral couragel1 03 II. Free Speechl104 Expertisel1 04 Trespass! 106 Harm! 106 Catholic economics! 107 Motive mongering! 108 III. MORAL INDIGNATIONI108 IV. PREFERENTIAL OPTION FOR THE POORI109 V. EXPLOITATIONlllO Corporate welfare bumsl111 Negative impactl112 Common sense! 112 VI. HOW NATURAL IS WEALTHI113 VII. DIALOGUE 1114 VIII. IMMORALITY OF UNEMPLOYMENTI115 IX. OVERPOPULATION!116 Notesl116 Bibliography! 125 - viii - Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org ABOUT THE AUTHOR Walter Block is Senior Economist at the Fraser Institute and Director of its Centre for the Study of Economics and Religion. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1941, Dr. Block received his B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1964 and his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1972. He has taught Micro­ economics, Industrial Organization, Urban Economics, and Political Economy at Stony Brook, State University of New York; the City College of New York, New York University; Baruch College, City University of New York; and Rutgers University, New Jersey; and has worked in various research capacities for the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Tax Foundation, and Business Week magazine. Dr. Block has published numerous popular and scholarly articles on economics and is an economic commentator on national television and radio. He lectures widely on public policy issues to university students, service, professional and religious organizations. Dr. Block is Editor of the Fraser Institute books Zoning: Its Costs and Relevance (1980); Rent Control: Myths and Realities (1981); Discrimination, Affirmative Action and Equal Oppor­ tunity (1982); Taxation: An International Perspective (1984); Morality of the Market: Religious and Economic Perspectives (1985); Reaction: The New Combines Investigation Act (1986), and is the author of Amending the Combines Investigation Act (1982); Focus: On Economics and the Cana­ dian Bishops (1983); and Focus: On Employment Equity: A Critique of the Abella Royal' Commission on Equality (1985). - ix - Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION* The U.S. Catholic Bishops are to be congratulated for their initiative in entering the treacherous waters of economic and public policy analysis. Although the present response to their Pastoral Letter (henceforth called BP, for "Bishop's Pastoral") is highly critical in many regards, the publica­ tion of this document is still most gratefully received. "Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy" comes to us in a historical context where government, despite some recent movement toward de-regulation, still takes upon itself an excessive role in economic affairs. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that the activity of the state dominates the economy. In such a situation, it is crucial that "mediating structures," institutions which lie between the citizen and government, be encouraged as much as possible. And the church is now, as it has always been, a mediating structure par excellence. BP is thus welcome if for no other reason than as a means of promoting an alternative to the voice of government in the determination of how society ought to be organized. But the bishops' letter on economics has numerous merits of its own. Among the many virtues of this communication (discussed in detail in the Appendix to the present monograph) is the moral courage which underlies it, and the fact that this exercise in free speech - despite harsh criticisms to the effect tpat it should never have been written - safeguards the right to be heard of the espousers of other unpopular opinions. In addition, BP embodies a justified measure of moral indignation, its "preferential option *The author would like to thank the following for helpful suggestions and com­ ments, not all of whose advice he had the wisdom to incorporate: Kenneth Boulding, Kenneth Elzinga, Paul Heyne, James Johnston, Dianne Kennedy, Philip Lawler, Richard John Neuhaus, Michael Novak, Michael Parkin, Robert Rogowsky, James Sadowsky, James Schall, George Stigler, Michael Walker. - 1 - Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org for the poor" focuses long overdue attention on the plight of this segment of the population, and it insightfully explores the role of the government in enriching the wealthy. As well, this missive analyses the naturalness of wealth, it quite properly deems as "immoral" the nation's falling but still significant rate of unemployment, and it courageously refuses to make con­ cessions to the latter-day Malthusians who demand massive birth control measures as a means of curing world starvation. - 2 - Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org CHAPTER 2 RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES Having very briefly noted the praiseworthy elements of BP, we are now ready to consider the errors committed by the authors of this document. In what is to follow, we shall claim that the bishops have committed many and serious mistakes of commission and omission, of fact and value, of philosophy and economics. Lest there be any misinterpretation, however, let it now be said that none ofthese lapses from logic justify a demand that the bishops remain silent. Whose work, after all, is error free - on this side of the Garden of Eden? I. POSITIVE ECONOMIC "RIGHTS" Positive economic "rights" form one of the basic building blocks of the bishops' entire philosophy. The adherence to this position appears early in the BP. It is repeated on numerous occasions, it is the mainstay of Sec­ tion II, Ethical Norms for Economic Life, and it informs much of their discussion in Part Two, which is devoted to public policy recommendations. For example, the bishops demand that the nation must take up the task of framing a new national consensus that all persons have rights in the economic sphere and that society has a moral obligation to take the necessary steps to ensure that no one among us is hungry, homeless, unemployed, or otherwise denied what is necessary to live with dignity. 1 And several of the bishops' supporters have carried this even one step fur­ ther, explicitly calling for a new "Economic Bill of Rights," to supple­ ment that which is already part of the U.S. Constitution. 2 - 5 - Copyright the Fraser Institute www.fraserinstitute.org This concept, however, is deeply flawed, and even mischievous. In order to demonstrate this, we shall compare the traditional view of negative rights with the newer "variety" urged by the bishops. The disparity between them shall be a measure of just how different are the bishops' "positive rights" from those in the traditional view. In classical philosophy, negative rights or negative liberty consist solely of the right not to have physical force, or the threat thereof, initiated against oneself. Each person, then, has the right not to be murdered, raped, rob­ bed, assaulted, battered, etc.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Winter 2009 Licata Lecture: Michael Novak Calls for Conversation About God
    WINTER 2009 LICATA LECTURE: MICHAEL NOVAK CALLS FOR CONVERSATION ABOUT GOD And yet, he told his Pepperdine audi- ence faith is a “real knowledge—a practi- cal kind of knowledge worth trusting one’s life to.” Faith was the sustaining hope of those who struggled against totalitarian- ism in the 20th century. It is the basis for a compassionate society. Rather than con- tradicting the sciences, faith is a firm sup- Victor Davis Hanson port on which reason may flourish. 2009 William E. Simon As men and women continue to ask ques- Distinguished Visiting Professor tions about faith and secularism, people in both camps may become more tolerant of Scholar of classical civilizations, author, each other. Novak echoed the prediction columnist, and historian Victor Davis Hanson of the German philosopher Habermas that is serving as the Spring 2009 William E. we are at the “end of the secular age.” Simon Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Now, “believers and unbelievers will have School of Public Policy. He is teaching the to take each other much more seriously seminar in international relations: Global Rule than they did before.” of Western Civilization? In an era when our public discourse Hanson is a Senior Fellow in Residence in “VIRTUALLY ALL THE WORLD seems to lack civility, Novak foresees “the Classics and Military History at the Hoover end of the period of condescension” and Institution at Stanford University and IS IN THE GRIP OF QUESTIONS “the beginning of a conversation that rec- Professor Emeritus of Classics at California ABOUT GOD,”… ognizes each others’ inherent dignity.” State University, Fresno.
    [Show full text]
  • The Jewish Idea: Morality, Politics, and Theology Tikvah Summer Fellowship for College Students
    THE TIKVAH FUND 165 E. 56th Street New York, New York 10022 The Jewish Idea: Morality, Politics, and Theology Tikvah Summer Fellowship for College Students June 18–July 31, 2015 Calendar The Jewish Idea: Morality, Politics, and Theology June 18–21, 2015 THE MODERN JEWISH CONDITION: A CONVERSATION Thursday, June 18 Friday, June 19 Saturday, June 20 Sunday, June 21 Candle lighting at 8:12 PM Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM 8:45 AM – 9:30 AM Travel to Glen Cove, NY Shacharit Nationhood and Vulnerability William Kristol 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM Lunch Lunch Lunch and Callings and Careers III: Abe Socher 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM Tradition and Progress Authority and Interpretation Back to NYC Ruth Wisse Abe Socher 2:15 PM 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM Callings and Careers I: Mincha William Kristol 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM 6:00 PM Welcome Dinner and Mincha, Kabbalat Shabbat, Dinner Introductions Maariv 6:30 PM Callings and Careers II: Ruth Wisse 7:00 PM – 8:15 PM 7:45 PM – 9:15 PM Dinner Havdalah 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM 8:15 PM 9:21 PM The Jewish Idea: Morality, Politics, and Theology June 22–26, 2015 REASON, REVELATION , AND MODERNITY Monday, June 22 Tuesday, June 23 Wednesday, June 24 Thursday, June 25 Friday, June 26 Candle lighting at 8:13 PM Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Writing (Tikvah is open for study and writing) 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM “Why We Remain “Progress or Return?” I Preceptorial
    [Show full text]
  • On Liberal and Democratic Nationhood
    On Liberal and Democratic Nationhood by Paul Gottfried* The consubstantiality of liberalism and democracy has become a modem religious dogma. It is a doctrine transcending established political divisions, and ever since the de-Sovietization of Eastern Europe that began last year American journalists of otherwise differing ideological persuasions-Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Robert Novak, Ben Wattenberg, Michael Kinsley, Charles Krauthammer, Richard Cohen, and Jim Hoagland, for example-have urged the American government to nume the seeds of liberal democracy in Eastem Europe.' The synthesis for export should consist of democratic elections, the availability of equal citizenship to all residents of a country, the separa- tion of church and state, markets open to foreign investment, the introduc- tion of at least limited market economies, and enthusiastic concern for the steadily expanding list of what are styled "human rights" Distinctions between "liberalism" and "democracy" have obviously grown pass;, so much so that usually intelligent political theorists blur them without hesitation. In the May 1990 issue of Society, the Polish scholar Leszek Kolakowski, who holds professorships at both Oxford and Chicago, warns against nationalism's alliance with "spurious and fraudulent" con- cepts of democracy. Among the concepts Kolakowski fears nationalists may stray into are democratic socialism and theocracy. He thus seeks to remind his readers that democracy is incompatible with these phenomena. Rather it finds its essence in the erection of a "legal system, to guarantee both the equality in law of all citizens and the basic personal rights which include . freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of associa- tion, religious freedom, and freedom to acquire property."* It may be argued that Kolakowski confounds democracy with liberalism, concepts traditionally viewed as at least discrete and possibly contradictory.
    [Show full text]
  • Liberty, Property and Rationality
    Liberty, Property and Rationality Concept of Freedom in Murray Rothbard’s Anarcho-capitalism Master’s Thesis Hannu Hästbacka 13.11.2018 University of Helsinki Faculty of Arts General History Tiedekunta/Osasto – Fakultet/Sektion – Faculty Laitos – Institution – Department Humanistinen tiedekunta Filosofian, historian, kulttuurin ja taiteiden tutkimuksen laitos Tekijä – Författare – Author Hannu Hästbacka Työn nimi – Arbetets titel – Title Liberty, Property and Rationality. Concept of Freedom in Murray Rothbard’s Anarcho-capitalism Oppiaine – Läroämne – Subject Yleinen historia Työn laji – Arbetets art – Level Aika – Datum – Month and Sivumäärä– Sidoantal – Number of pages Pro gradu -tutkielma year 100 13.11.2018 Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract Murray Rothbard (1926–1995) on yksi keskeisimmistä modernin libertarismin taustalla olevista ajattelijoista. Rothbard pitää yksilöllistä vapautta keskeisimpänä periaatteenaan, ja yhdistää filosofiassaan klassisen liberalismin perinnettä itävaltalaiseen taloustieteeseen, teleologiseen luonnonoikeusajatteluun sekä individualistiseen anarkismiin. Hänen tavoitteenaan on kehittää puhtaaseen järkeen pohjautuva oikeusoppi, jonka pohjalta voidaan perustaa vapaiden markkinoiden ihanneyhteiskunta. Valtiota ei täten Rothbardin ihanneyhteiskunnassa ole, vaan vastuu yksilöllisten luonnonoikeuksien toteutumisesta on kokonaan yksilöllä itsellään. Tutkin työssäni vapauden käsitettä Rothbardin anarko-kapitalistisessa filosofiassa. Selvitän ja analysoin Rothbardin ajattelun keskeisimpiä elementtejä niiden filosofisissa,
    [Show full text]
  • Conservative Movement
    Conservative Movement How did the conservative movement, routed in Barry Goldwater's catastrophic defeat to Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential campaign, return to elect its champion Ronald Reagan just 16 years later? What at first looks like the political comeback of the century becomes, on closer examination, the product of a particular political moment that united an unstable coalition. In the liberal press, conservatives are often portrayed as a monolithic Right Wing. Close up, conservatives are as varied as their counterparts on the Left. Indeed, the circumstances of the late 1980s -- the demise of the Soviet Union, Reagan's legacy, the George H. W. Bush administration -- frayed the coalition of traditional conservatives, libertarian advocates of laissez-faire economics, and Cold War anti- communists first knitted together in the 1950s by William F. Buckley Jr. and the staff of the National Review. The Reagan coalition added to the conservative mix two rather incongruous groups: the religious right, primarily provincial white Protestant fundamentalists and evangelicals from the Sunbelt (defecting from the Democrats since the George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign); and the neoconservatives, centered in New York and led predominantly by cosmopolitan, secular Jewish intellectuals. Goldwater's campaign in 1964 brought conservatives together for their first national electoral effort since Taft lost the Republican nomination to Eisenhower in 1952. Conservatives shared a distaste for Eisenhower's "modern Republicanism" that largely accepted the welfare state developed by Roosevelt's New Deal and Truman's Fair Deal. Undeterred by Goldwater's defeat, conservative activists regrouped and began developing institutions for the long haul.
    [Show full text]
  • Michael Novak and the Catholic
    Mickael Novak ou la légitimation catholique du capitalisme Blandine Chelini-Pont To cite this version: Blandine Chelini-Pont. Mickael Novak ou la légitimation catholique du capitalisme. Marché des religions et religions du marché aux Etats-Unis, ENS Lyon, Laboratoire TRIANGLE UMR 5206, Oct 2014, LYON, France. hal-02271339 HAL Id: hal-02271339 https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02271339 Submitted on 26 Aug 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Journée d’études Marché des religions et religions du marché aux Etats- Unis ENS Lyon, Laboratoire TRIANGLE UMR 5206 26 octobre 2014 organisée par Sabine REMANOWSKY et GILLES CHRISTOPH COMMUNICATION MICHAEL NOVAK OU LA LÉGITIMATION CATHOLIQUE DU CAPITALISME Blandine CHELINI-PONT LID2MS- Université d’Aix-Marseille Michaël Novak est un auteur néo-conservateur parmi d’autres de la droite républicaine américaine : Peter Steinfels dans une des premières recherches consacrées à la famille néo-conservatrice le cite comme un de ses penseurs majeurs, avec Nathan Glazer, Irving Kristol, Pat Moynihan ou Daniel Bell.1 De même Garry Dorrien lui consacre un chapitre entier de son ouvrage The Neoconservative Mind: Politics, Culture and the War of Ideology2.
    [Show full text]
  • Natural Law and Christian Realism Thomas C. Berg*
    Draft Sept. 8, 2005. © Thomas C. Berg John Courtney Murray and Reinhold Niebuhr: Natural Law and Christian Realism Thomas C. Berg* During the two decades after World War II, the cover of Time magazine twice featured Christian academic theologians. As you may know, framed prints of the Time cover paintings are now available for purchase online, and some are quite striking pieces of art. On the cover of the March 8, 1948 issue, Protestant ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr gazes sharply across a dark, cloudswept landscape with a small cross radiating light on a bleak hill in the background.1 The picture, captioned “Man’s story is not a success story,” dramatically captures Niebuhr’s “Christian realist” vision of human beings beckoned by the ideals of Christlike love, but beset by pride and a host of other sins in the very course of pursuing those ideals in society. Twelve years later, on Dec. 12, 1960, in the wake of the election of America’s first Catholic president, the cover on “U.S. Catholics and the State” portrayed John Courtney Murray, S.J., in front of the title page of a classic sixteenth-century theological treatise by Jesuit Cardinal Robert Bellarmine.2 The illustration no doubt aimed to reflect the claim in Murray’s newly-published collection of essays, We Hold These Truths, that America’s public philosophy necessarily rested on a set of natural-law principles nurtured and sustained to a large extent by the Catholic tradition – and that therefore Catholicism was not just compatible with the American project but essential to it.3 As their appearances on Time’s covers suggest, from World War II through the mid-1960s Murray and Niebuhr were America’s most prominent Christian theologians concerning the relation between religion and public life.
    [Show full text]
  • CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— Extensions of Remarks E1787 HON
    November 16, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E1787 was on his own, as students of Great Aca- remember accompanying him, when he vis- who have served with me over the past six demics always are. His first dissertation ited San Diego, to the Adams Avenue (used) years while I have been in office. A Member topic required him to do research at the Bookstore (where else would you entertain of Congress’ most important responsibility is to Bibliothe`que National in Paris, where he Ronald Hamowy?). While browsing the provide exceptional constituent services and found the research conditions impossible. stacks, I heard a voice muttering curses, Migrating to Oxford, which had resources somewhere else in the establishment. I found my team is second to none in providing the adequate to another topic in which he was Ronald in a side room, seated amid stacks of best assistance to all in our District. My Wash- interested, he needed the sponsorship of books he was examining, and holding a copy ington, DC office is also tasked with research- some Oxford academic, to get permission to of Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August in ing, processing, analyzing, and making rec- exploit the library. He approached Sir Isaiah his hand. Tuchman justified British inter- ommendations on an infinite number of re- Berlin, who rebuffed him. Berlin was ‘‘taking vention in World War I. ‘‘Damned British ports, policies, and legislation. I could not ask no more students.’’ crap,’’ Ronald exclaimed, putting the book for a more talented or dedicated team, and I Ronald, who was only half as tall as other down as if he were giving long-overdue pun- people, looked up at the great Sir Isaiah.
    [Show full text]
  • Rothbard's Time on the Left
    ROTHBARD'S TIME ON THE LEFT MURRAY ROTHBARD DEVOTED HIS life to the struggle for liberty, but, as anyone who has made a similar commitment realizes, it is never exactly clear how that devotion should translate into action. Conse- quently, Rothbard formed strategic alliances with widely different groups throughout his career. Perhaps the most intriguing of these alliances is the one Rothbard formed with the New Left in the rnid- 1960s, especially considering their antithetical economic views. So why would the most free market of free-market economists reach out to a gaggle of assorted socialists? By the early 1960s, Roth- bard saw the New Right, exemplified by National Review, as perpet- ually wedded to the Cold War, which would quickly turn exponen- tially hotter in Vietnam, and the state interventions that accompanied it, so he set out looking for new allies. In the New Left, Rothbard found a group of scholars who opposed the Cold War and political centralization, and possessed a mass following with high growth potential. For this opportunity, Rothbard was willing to set economics somewhat to the side and settle on common ground, and, while his cooperation with the New Left never altered or caused him to hide any of his foundational beliefs, Rothbard's rhetoric shifted distinctly leftward during this period. It should be noted at the outset that Rothbard's pro-peace stance followed a long tradition of individualist intellectuals. Writing in the early 1970s, Rothbard described the antiwar activities of turn-of-the- century economist William Graham Sumner and merchant Edward Atkinson during the American conquest of the Philippines, and noted: In taking this stand, Atkinson, Surnner, and their colleagues were not being "sports"; they were following an anti-war, anti-imperial- ist tradition as old as classical liberalism itself.
    [Show full text]
  • Advanced Institute, Fall 2014 CAPITALISM and the FUTURE of DEMOCRACY Instructors: Christopher Demuth and Yuval Levin New York, New York
    Advanced Institute, Fall 2014 CAPITALISM AND THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY Instructors: Christopher DeMuth and Yuval Levin New York, New York What is the relationship between capitalism and democracy? Does economic liberty serve and strengthen political freedom, or does the pursuit of self-interest undermine the moral qualities necessary for self-government? Does modern democracy ensure a free and flourishing economy, or do the egalitarian ideals of democratic man require limitations on market competition and lead to an ever-expanding welfare state? In the modern age, capitalism and democracy emerged together as two ideas of how human beings should govern themselves. It is no coincidence of history that Adam Smith’s classic The Wealth of Nations, the foundational text for the modern idea of the free economy, was published in the same year (1776) that a new democracy was founded in America. This vision of the good society was dedicated to protecting the rights of man to choose one’s leaders and to pursue one’s economic interests. The role of government was to ensure that all citizens could exercise these self-evident rights and liberties forever and always. From the beginning, democratic and capitalist societies have inspired great moral and political opposition. Modern welfare-state democracies have chosen to set significant limits on the free economy and to redistribute wealth in the name of equality. We have also seen many democratic societies whose origins were not capitalist at all—like modern Israel; and we have seen societies attempting to combine the wealth that only capitalism creates with autocratic governments that no friend of liberty could ever condone.
    [Show full text]
  • Does John Courtney Murray's Defense of Freedom Extend To
    Journal of Markets & Morality Volume 5, Number 2 (Fall 2002): 425–438 Copyright © 2002 Does John Courtney Murray’s Defense of Freedom Extend to Economics? An Austrian William R. Luckey Perspective Christendom College Theologian John Courtney Murray was the primary motivator behind the Vatican II document, The Declaration on Religious Liberty. Murray and that document held that man had an inherent dignity that does not allow coercion in religious belief by public or private groups or institutions. Only religious actions detri- mental to public order were to be subject to State regulation. Despite his insis- tence on human dignity and freedom in religious matters, Murray seems to accept the pre-Centesimus Annus Catholic view that the free economy, while a good thing in essence, is a dangerous entity requiring heavy governmental super- vision. Various authors, some with approval, some with dismay, use this view to prove that Murray, and the older Catholic view as well, are Socialist. This paper argues that Murray, who admitted that he was not an economist and who used the views of another noneconomist, Adolph Berle, as his starting point, is incon- sistent with his own views. This means that if Murray followed his own teach- ing on religious liberty, and if he was instructed in the discipline of economics in order to correct badly understood concepts, he would have accepted the free market without the qualifications he added. Introduction: Catholicism and Socialism In his book Socialism, originally published in 1922,1 Ludwig von Mises dis- cusses the prevailing attitude of the major religions of Europe toward the free market and pays special attention to Catholicism.
    [Show full text]
  • Implementation of the Helsinki Accords
    IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HELSINKI ACCORDS HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE NINETY-NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION BERN HUMAN CONTACTS EXPERTS MEETING MARCH 18 AND JUNE 18, 1986 Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 59-121 0 WASHINGTON: 1986 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE ALFONSE M. D'AMATO, New York, Chairman STENY H. HOYER, Maryland, Cochairman JOHN HEINZ, Pennsylvania DANTE B. FASCELL, Florida JAMES A. McCLURE, Idaho SIDNEY R. YATES, Illinois MALCOLM WALLOP, Wyoming TIMOTHY E. WIRTH, Colorado GORDON J. HUMPHREY, New Hampshire EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts CLAIBORNE PELL, Rhode Island DON RITTER, Pennsylvania PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey RUSSELL B. LONG, Louisiana JACK F. KEMP, New York DENNIS DECONCINI, Arizona JOHN E. PORTER, Illinois EXECUTIVE BRANCH Hon. RICHARD NORMAN PERLE, Department of Defense Vacancy, Department of Commerce Vacancy, Department of State MICHAEL R. HATHAWAY, Staff Director MARY SUE HAFNER, General Counsel ROBERT HAND, Hearing Coordinator RONALD MCNAMARA, Hearing Coordinator (11) CONTENTS MARCH 18, 1986 WITNESS Page Novak, Ambassador Michael, head of delegation to the Bern Human Contacts Experts Meeting ............................................................ 5 JUNE 18, 1986 Ridgway, The Hon. Rozanne L., Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs ............................................................ 22 Novak, Ambassador Michael, head of U.S. delegation to the Bern Human Contacts Experts Meeting ............................................................. 30 Korey, William, public member to the U.S. delegation to the Bern Human Contacts Experts Meeting ............................................................. 53 Epstein, Mark, executive director of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews ......
    [Show full text]