A Selection of Peter Maurin's Easy Essays
Blowing the Dynamite
Writing about the Catholic Church,
a radical writer says:
“Rome will have to do more
than to play a waiting game;
she will have to use
some of the dynamite
inherent in her message.”
To blow the dynamite
of a message
is the only way
to make the message dynamic.
If the Catholic Church
is not today
the dominant social dynamic force,
it is because Catholic scholars
have failed to blow the dynamite
of the Church.
Catholic scholars
have taken the dynamite
of the Church,
have wrapped it up
in nice phraseology,
placed it in an hermetic container
and sat on the lid.
It is about time
to blow the lid off
so the Catholic Church
may again become
the dominant social dynamic force.
No Recourse
Politicians used to say:
"We make prosperity
through our wise policies."
Business men used to say:
"We make prosperity
through our private enterprise."
The workers did not have anything to say
about the matter;
They were either put to work
or thrown out of employment
And when unemployment came
the workers
had no recourse
against the professed makers
of prosperity,
politicians and business men.
Politics Is Politics
A politician is an artist
in the art of following the wind
of public opinion.
He who follows the wind
of public opinion
does not follow
his own judgement.
And he who does not follow
his own judgement
cannot lead people
out of the beaten path.
He is like the tail of a dog
that tries to lead the head.
When people stand behind their president
and their president
stands behind them
they and their president
go around in a circle
getting nowhere.
Classes And Clashes
Business men say
that because everybody is selfish
business must necessarily
be based on selfishness.
But when business
is based on selfishness
everbody is busy
becoming more selfish.
And when everybody is busy
becoming more selfish,
you have classes and clashes.
Business men create problems;
they do not solve them.
Teachers Of Subjects
Our business managers
don't know how to manage
the things they try to manage,
because they don't understand
the things they try to manage.
So they turn to college professors
in the hope of understanding
the things they try to manage.
But college professors
do not profess anything,
they only teach subjects.
As teachers of subjects,
college professors
may enable people
to master subjects,
but mastering subjects
has never enabled anyone
to master situations.
The Age Of Treason
Pope Pius IX and Cardinal Newman
consider liberalism,
whether it be
religious, philosophical, or economic,
the greatest error of the nineteenth century.
Modern liberalism
is the logical sequence
of the so-called age of Enlightenment-
the age of Voltaire, Rousseau, Thomas Paine-
sometimes called the Age of Reason
in opposition to the Age of Faith.
By sponsoring nationalism and capitalism
modern liberals
have given up the search for truth
and have become paid propagandists.
Modern liberals have ceased to appeal to reason,
and have chosen to appeal to prejudice.
So the Age of Reason
has become the age of Treason,
as Julien Benda points out
in his book entitled:
"The treason of the Intellectuals".
Church And State
Modern Society
believes in the separation
of Church and State.
But the Jews
did not believe in it.
The Greeks
did not believe in it.
The Romans
did not believe in it.
The Mediaevals
did not believe in it.
The Puritians
did not believe in it.
Modern society
has separated Church and State
but it did not separate the State
from business.
The State is no longer
a Church's State.
The State is now
a Business Men's State.
Getting Stuck
Ethical teachers seem to wish
every worker to be a stockholder
and every stockhoulder to be a worker.
As a stockholder
the worker wants bigger dividends.
As a worker
he wants bigger wages.
And the stock promoters
stock him with stocks
till he gets stuck.
And labor organizers
promise him better conditions
and exact bigger dues.
And the worker
finds himself exploited
both by stock promoters
and labor organizers.
A Modern Pest
"What ails modern society
is separation
of the spiritual
from the material",
says Glenn Frank.
"Secularism is a pest",
says Pius XI.
When religion
has nothing to do
with education,
education,
education is only
information;
plenty of facts,
but no understanding.
When religion
has nothing to do
with politics,
politics is only
factionalism:
"Let's turn the rascals out
so our good friends
can get in."
When religion
has nothing to do
with business,
business is only
commercialism:
"Let's get what we can
while the getting is good."
Shouting With Rotarians
The modern man looks for thought
so that he can have light,
and he is unable to find it
in our modern schools.
According to Professor Meiklejohn,
"Students go school
not to be directed
but to become business men."
According to Glenn Frank,
President of the University of Wisconsin,
"Schools reflect the environment,
they do not create it."
Which explains why
shortly after their graduation,
school graduates could be heard
shouting with Rotarians:
"Service for profits",
"Time is money",
"Keep Smiling",
"Business is business",
"How are you making out?"
"The law of supply and demand",
"Competition is the life of trade",
"Your dollar is your best friend".
Catholic Worker Philosophy
Christianity Untried
The Duty of Hospitality
Feeding the Poor at a Sacrifice
A Radical Change
Historical Background
Thirteenth-Century France
Henry Adams, who had in his ancestry
two Presidents of the United States,
says in his autobiography
that one cannot get an education
in modern America.
And the reason he gives is,
that there is
no unity of thought
in modern America.
So he went to England
and found that modern England
is too much like America.
So he went to France
and found that modern France
is too much like England and America.
But in France, Henry Adams found
that one could get an education
in thirteenth-century France.
And he wrote a book concerning
the Cathedral of Chartes
and the Mount Saint-Michel,
where he points out
that there was unity of thought
in thirteenth-century France.
Guild System – 1200 A.D.
In 1200 A.D.
there was no Capitalist System,
there was the Guild System.
The doctrine of the Guilds
was the doctrine
of the Common Good.
The people used to say
as they do now:
"What can I do for you?"
but they meant what they said.
Now they say one thing
and they mean another.
They did not look for markets,
they let markets
look for them.
Roman Law – 1300 A.D.
In 1300 A.D.
the Roman Law
took place
of the Canon Law.
The Roman Law
enables rich men
to live among the poor men.
The Canon Law
enables good men
to live among bad men.
"Divide to rule"
became the slogan
of the politicians.
In his book "The Prince",
Machiavelli
taught them how.
So politics
ceased to be policy
and became
just politics.
Middle-Man – 1400 A.D.
Around 1400 A.D.
appears the middle-man.
He offers to buy the goods
and to find a market.
The guild's man
thinks about the money
offered for his goods
and forgets the Common Good.
And the middle-man
is not interested
in selling useful goods
but in making money
on any kind of goods.
And the consumer
never meets the producer
and the producer
ceases to think
in terms of service
and begins to think
in terms of profits.
Calvinism – 1530 A.D.
American Puritanism
was to a great extent
an outgrowth of Calvinism.
Andre' Siegfried says:
"The Puritan
is proud to be rich.
"If he makes money,
he likes to tell himself
that Divine Providence
sends it to him.
"His wealth itself
becomes in his eyes
as well as the eyes of others
a mark of God's blessing.
"A time comes
when he no longer knows
if he acts for duty's sake
or for interest's sake.
"It becomes difficult
in those conditions
to make a demarcation
between religious aspiration
and the pursuit of wealth."
Banker – 1600 A.D.
Before John Calvin
people were not allowed
to lend money at interest.
John Calvin decided
to legalize
money-lending at interest
in spite of the teachings
of the Prophets of Israel
and the Fathers of the Church.
Protestant countries
tried to keep up with John Calvin
and money-lending at interest
became the general practice.
And money ceased to be
a means of exchange
and began to be
a means to make money.
So people lent money on time
and started to think of time
in terms of money
and said to each other:
"Time is money."
Manufacturer – 1700 A.D.
With the discovery of steam
the factory system
made its appearance.
To take drudgery out of the home
was suppose to be
the aim of the manufacturer.
So the guildsman
left his shop
and went to the factory.
But the profit-making manufacturer
found it more profitable
to employ women
than to employ men.
So the women left the home
and went to the factory.
Soon the children
followed the women
into the factory.
So the men have to stay at home
while women and children
work in the factory.
Economist – 1800 A.D.
The Laissez-Faire Economists
told everybody
that competition
is the life of trade
and that it is a case
of survival of the fittest.
So since 1800
looking for markets
has engaged men's activities.
And since trade follows the flag
industral nations
have also become
imperialst nations.
The fight for markets
between two industrial nations,
England and Germany,
was the main cause
of the World War.
World War – 1914
As President Wilson said,
the World War
was a commercial war.
But a commercial war
had to be idealized,
so it was called
a War for Democracy.
But the War for Democracy
did not bring Democracy:
it brought
Bolshevism in Russia,
Fascism in Italy,
Nazism in Germany.
World Depression – 1929
After the World War
people tried to believe
that a New Era
had dawned upon the world.
People thought
that they had found a solution
to the problem
of mass-distribution.
People thought
that the time had come
for the two-car garage,
a chicken in every pot,
and a sign "To Let"
in front of every poor-house.
And everybody
wanted to cash in
on the future prosperity.
So stock promoters got busy
and stocked people with stocks
till they got stuck.
Legalized Usury
God And Mammon
Christ says: "The dollar you have
is the dollar you give."
The Banker says: "The dollar you have
is the dollar you keep."
Christ says: "You cannot serve two masters,
God and Mammom."
"'You cannot.' And all our education consists
in trying to find out how we can,"
says Robert Louis Stevenson.
"The poor are the true children of the Church",
says Bossuet.
"Modern society
has made the bank account
the standard of values",
says Charles Peguy.
Usurers Are Not Gentlemen
The Prophets of Israel
and the Fathers of the Church
forbade lending money at interest.
Lending at interest
was called usury
by the Prophets of Israel
and the Fathers of the Church.
Usurers were not considered
to be gentlemen
when people used to listen
to the Prophets of Israel
and the Fathers of the Church.
When people used to listen
to the Prophets of Israel
and the Fathers of the Church
they could not see anything gentle
in trying to live
on the sweat of somebody else's brow
by lending money at interest.
Wealth-Producing Maniacs
When John Calvin
legalized money-lending at interest,
he made the bank account
the standard of values.
When the bank account
became the standard of values,
people ceased to produce for use
and began to produce for profits.
When people began to produce for profits
they became
wealth-producing maniacs.
When people became wealth-producing maniacs
they produced too much wealth.
When people found out
that they had produced too much wealth
they went on an orgy
of wealth-destruction
and destroyed
ten million lives besides.
Mortgaged
Because John Calvin
legalized money-lending at interest,
the State has legalized
money-lending at interest.
Because the State has legalized
money-lending at interest,
home owners
have mortgaged their farms;
institutions
have mortgaged their buildings;
congregations
have mortgaged their churches;
cities, counties, States
and Federal Government
have mortgaged their budgets.
So people find themselves
in all kinds of financial difficulties
because the State
has legalized money-lending at interest
in spite of the teachings
of the Prophets of Israel
and the Fathers of the Church.
The Fallacy Of Saving
When people save money
that means money is invested.
Money invested
increases production.
Increased production
brings a surplus in production.
A surplus in production
brings unemployment.
Unemployment
brings a slump in business.
A slump in business
brings more unemployment.
More unemployment
brings a depression.
A depression
brings more depression.
More depression
brings red agitation.
Red agitation
brings red revolution.
Avoiding Inflation
Some say
that inflation is desirable.
Some say
that inflation is deplorable.
Some say
that inflation is deplorable
but inevitable.
The way to avoid inflation
is to lighten the burden
of money-borrowers
without robbing the money-lenders.
And the way
to lighten the burden
of money-borrowers
with robbing the money-lenders
is to pass two laws:
one law making immediately illegal
all interest on money lent
and another law
obligating the money-borrowers
to pay one per cent of the debt
every year
during a period
of a hundred years.
Works of Mercy
The Wisdom Of Giving
To give to the poor
is to enable the poor to buy.
To enable the poor to buy
is to improve the market.
To improve the market
is to help business.
To help business
is to reduce unemployment.
To reduce unnemployment
is to reduce crime.
To reduce crime
is to reduce taxation.
So why not give to the poor
for business' sake,
for humanity's sake,
for God's sake?
Share Your Wealth
God wants us
to be our brother's keeper.
To feed the hungry,
to clothe the naked,
to shelter the homeless,
to instruct the ignorant,
at a personal sacrifice,
is what God
wants us to do.
What we give to the poor
for Christ's sake
is what we carry with us
when we die.
As Jean-Jacques Rousseau say:
"When man dies
he carries
in his clutches hands
only that which
he has given away."
Why Not Be A Beggar?
People who are in need
and are not afraid to beg
give to people not in need
the occasion to do good
for goodness' sake.
Modern society
calls the beggar
bum and panhandler
and gives him the bum's rush.
The Greeks used to say
that people in need
are the ambassadors of the gods.
We read in the Gospel:
"As long as you did it
to one of the least
of My brothers
you did it to Me."
While modern society
calls the beggars
bums and panhandlers,
they are in fact
the Ambassadors of God.
To be God's Ambassador
is something
to be proud of.
Municipal Lodgings
People who are in need
are not invited
to spend the night
in homes of the rich.
There are guest rooms
in the homes of the rich
but they are not
for those who need them.
They are not
for those who need them
because those who need them
are no longer considered
as the Ambassadors of God.
So the duty of hospitality
is no longer considered
as a personal duty.
So people without a home
are sent to the city
where hospitality is given
at the taxpayer's expense.
Bishop-Shy
The Holy Father
appoints a man
named a Bishop
to a seat - a cathedra.
From that seat - cathedra
the Bishop
teaches the truth
to all men
so the truth
may make them free.
But some people
are Bishop-shy.
They are Bishop-shy
because they are
hungry, shivering, or sleepy.
They must be
fed, clothed, and sheltered
before they will consent
to come to listen
to Christ's Bishop.
To feed, clothe, and shelter them
at a personal sacrifice
is to participate
in the Bishop's apostolate.
Passing The Buck
In the first centuries of Christianity
the poor were fed, clothed, and sheltered
at a personal sacrifice
and the Pagans
said about the Christians:
"See how they love each other."
Today the poor are fed, clothed, and sheltered
by the politicians
at the expense
of the taxpayers.
And because the poor
are no longer
fed, clothed, and sheltered
at a personal sacrifice
but at the expense
of taxpayers
Pagans say about Christians:
"See how they pass the buck."
Hospices
We read in the Catholic Encyclopedia
that during the early ages
of Christianity
the Hospices
or Houses of Hospitality
was a shelter
for the sick, the poor,
the orphan, the old, the traveller,
and the needy of every kind.
Originally the Hospices
of Houses of Hospitality
were under the supervision
of the Bishops
who designated priests
to administer
the spiritual
and temporal affairs
of these charitable institutions.
Houses Of Hospitality
We need Houses of Hospitality
to give to the rich
the opportunity
to serve the poor.
We need Houses of Hospitality
to bring the scholars
to the workers
or the workers
to the scholars.
We need Houses of Hospitality
to bring back to institutions
the technique to institutions.
We need Houses of Hospitality
to show
what idealism looks like
when it is practiced.
Servants Of The Poor
In seventeenth-century France
there was a priest
by the name of Vincent.
Father Vincent realized
that the country
was going to the dogs.
When something goes wrong
they say in France:
"Cherchez la femme-
look for the woman."
Looking for the woman
Father Vincent found out
that many woman
were trying to be
the mistresses of the rich.
St. Vincent of Paul
gathered several women
and told them:
"If you want
to put the country on its feet
refuse to be
the mistress of the rich
and choose to be
the servants of the poor."
Scholars And Workers
By living with the workers
in Houses of Hospitality
scholars will be able
to convey to the workers
why things are
what they are,
how things would be
if they were as they should be,
and how a path can be made
from things as they are
to things as they should be.
By living with the workers
in Houses of Hospitality
scholars will be able
to win the workers' sympathy,
and therefore
keep the workers
from being influenced
by selfish demagogues.
By living with the workers
in Houses of Hospitality
ascholars will be able
to become dynamic
and therefore
be the driving force
of a new social order.
Social Workers and Workers
The training of social workers
enables them to help people
to adjust themselves
to the existing environment.
The training of social workers
does not enable them
to help people
to change the environment.
Social workers
must become social minded
before they can be
critics of the existing environment
and free creative agents
of the new environment.
In the Houses of Hospitality
social workers can aquire
the art of human contacts
and the social-mindedness
or understanding of social forces
which will make them
critical of the existing environment
and free creative agents
of a new environment.
Rich And Poor
Afraid of the poor
who don't like to get poorer,
the rich who like to get richer
turn to the State for protection.
But the State is not only
the State of the rich
it is also the State of the poor
who don't like to get poorer.
So the State sometimes chooses to help
the many poor
who don't like to get poorer,
at the expense of the few rich
who like to get richer.
Dissatisfied with the State,
the rich who like to get richer
turn to the Church
to save them from the poor
who don't like to get poorer.
But the Church can only tell the rich
who like to get richer:
"Woe to you rich
who like to get richer,
if you don't help the poor
who don't like to get poorer."
Criticism and Marxism
Not Communists
There is nothing wrong
with Communism,
but there is something wrong
with Communists.
The wrong thing with Communists is
that they are not Communists,
they are Socialists.
There is no Communism
in Soviet Russia,
there is State Socialism
in Soviet Russia.
The State has not withered away,
the wage system still prevails,
and they are selling
7% government bonds
in Soviet Russia.
By selling 7% government bonds
they are creating
a new parasitic class
in Socialist Russia.
Taking Over
The aim of the Communists
is to take over the control
of the means of production
and distribution.
The means of production
and distribution
are now in the hands
of Capitalists.
The class war is a war
between Communists
and Capitalists
over control
of the means of production
and distribution.
Patriots believe
that the way to bring about
a classless society
is a class war
between the Capitalist State
and the working class.
What Is Communism?
Communists believe
in capturing the State
so as to be able
to use it as a club
to prevent anybody
from becoming a Capitalist.
The Communist manifesto
defines Communism
as "a state of society"
where each one works
according to his ability
and gets
according to his needs."
Using the power of the State
will enable Communists
to prevent anybody
from becoming
a successful Capitalist
but it will not
make anybody
Communist at heart.
To be a Communist
according to the definition
of the Communist Manifesto
is to be willing to give one's labor
for the benefit
of a Communist Community.
I Agree
I agree with seven Bishops,
three of whom are Archbishops,
that the Communist criticism
of the rugged individualism
of bourgeois capitalism
is a sound criticism.
I agree with seven Bishops,
three of whom are Archbishops,
that the main social aim
of the communist Party
is a sound social aim.
I agree with seven Bishops,
three whom are Archbishops,
that the Communists are not sound
when they advocate class struggle
and proletarian dictatorship
as the best practical means
to realize their sound social aim.
To Be A Marxist
Before he died
Karl Marx told one of his friends:
"I have lived long enough
to be able to say
that i am not a Marxist."
To be a Marxist,
according to the logic of Das Kapital,
is to maintain
that the best thing to do
is to wait patiently
till Capitalism
has fulfilled its historic mission.
To be a Marxist
according to the logic of Das Kapital,
is to step back,
take and academic view of things,
and watch the self-satisfied Capitalists
dig their own graves.
To be a Marxist,
according to the logic of Das Kapital,
is to let economic evolution
do its work
without ever attempting
to give it a push.
Karl Marx Soon Realized
Karl Marx soon realized
that his own analysis
of bourgeois society
could not be the basis
of a dynamic revolutionary movement.
karl Marx soon realized
that a forceful Communist Manifesto
was the necessary foundation
of a dynamic Communist Movement.
Karl Marx soon realized,
as Lenin realized,
that there is no revolution
without revolutionary action;
that there is no revolutionary action
without a revolutionary movement;
that there is no revolutionary movement
without a vanguard of revolution
and that there is no vanguard of revolution
without a theory of revolution.
The Communist Manifesto
Having realized
that a Communist Manifesto
was the basis of a Communist Movement,
Karl Marx decided
to write a Communist Manifesto.
To write the Communist Manifesto
Karl marx did not use
his own analysis of Capitalism.
He took the criticism
of the bourgeois society of his time
by Victor Considerant
and made it the first part
of the Communist Manifesto.
He took the definition of Communism
by Proudhon
and made it his own.
He tried to make himself believe
that class struggle was the first step
from a Capitalist society
where man is inhuman to man
to a Communist society
where man in human to man.
Communitarianism
Five Definitions
1.A Bourgeois
is a fellow who tries to be somebody
by trying to be
like everybody,
which makes him
a nobody.
A Dictator
is a fellow
who does not hesitate
to strike you over the head
if you refuse to do
what he waants you to do.
A Leader
is a fellow
who refuses to be crazy
the way everybody else is crazy
and tries to be crazy
in his own crazy way.
A Bolshevist
is a fellow
who tries to get
what the other fellow has
and to regulate
what you should have.
A Communitarian
is a fellow
who refuses to be
what the other fellow is
and tries to be
what he wants him to be.
They And We
People say:
"They don't do this,
they don't do that,
they ought to do this,
this ought to do that."
Always "They"
and never "I".
3.People should say:
"They are crazy
for doing this
and not doing that
but I don't need
to be crazy
the way they are crazy."
The Communitarian Revolution
is basically
a personal revolution.
It starts with I
not with They.
One I plus one I
makes two I
and two I makes We.
"We" is a community
while "they" is a crowd.
Communitarian Movement
The Nazis, the Fascists,
and the Bolshevists
are Totalitarians.
The Catholic Worker
is Communitarian.
The principles of Communitarianism
are expounded every month
in the French magazine
Esprit (The Spirit).
Emmanuel Mounier,
editor of the magizine,
has a book entitled,
"La revolution personnaliste
et communitaire."
Raymond de Becker
is the leader in Belgium
of the Communitarian Movement
Dr. Kagawa
the Japanese co-operator
is truly imbued
with the communitarian spirit.
The C.P. And C.M.
The Communist Party
credits bourgeois capitalism
with an historic mission.
The Communitarian Movement
condemns it
on general principles.
The Communist Party
throws the monkey-wrench
of class struggle
into the economic machinery
and by doing so
delays the fulfilling
of the historic mission
which it credits
to capitalism.
The Communitarian Movement
aims to create
a new society
within the shell of the old
with the philosophy of the new
which is not
a new philosophy
but a very old philosophy,
a philosophy so old
that it looks like new.
The Communist Party
stands for proletarian dictatorship.
The Communitarian Movement
stands for personalist leadership.
What Labor Needs
A Communist Community
is a Community
with a common unity.
A common belief
is what makes the unity
if a community.
Norman Thomas says
that "Ramsay MacDonald
has failed to give to Labor
a philosophy of labor".
What labor needs
is not economic security.
What Labor needs
is a philosophy of labor.
Three Ways To Make A Living
Mirabeau says:
"There are only three ways
to make a living:
Stealing, begging, working."
Stealing is against the law of God
and against the law of men.
Begging is against the law of men,
but not against the law of God.
Working is neither against the law of God
nor against the law of men.
But they say
that there is no work to do.
There is plenty of work to do,
but no wages.
But people do not need
to work for wages.
They can offer their services
as a gift.
Capital And Labor
"Capital", says Karl Marx,
"is accumulated labor,
not for the benefit of the laborers,
but for the benefit of the accumulators."
And Capitalists succeed
in accumulating labor
by treating labor
not as a gift,
but as a commodity,
buying it as any other commodity
at the lowest possible price.
And organized labor
plays into the hands
of the capitalists
or accumulators of labor
by treating their own labor
not as a gift,
but as a commodity,
selling it as any other commodity
at the highest possible price.
Selling their Labor
And when the capitalists
or accumulators of labor
have accumulated so much
of the laborer's labor
that they no longer
find it profitable
to buy the labor's labor
then the laborers
can no longer
sell their labor
to the capitalists
or accumulators of labor.
And when the laborers
can no longer
sell their labor
to the capitalists
or accumulators of labor,
they can no longer buy
the products of their labor.
And that is
what the laborers get
for selling their labor
to the capitalists
or accumulators of labor.
What Makes Man Human
Better Or Better Off
The world would be better off,
if people tried
to become better.
And people would
become better
if they stopped trying
to be better off.
For when everybody tries
to become better off,
nobody is better off.
But when everybody tries
to become better,
everybody is better off.
Everybody would be rich
if nobody tried
to be richer.
And nobody would be poor
if everybody tried
to be the poorest.
And everybody would be
what he ought to be
if everybody tried to be
what he wants
the other fellow to be.
Big Shots And Little Shots
When the big shots
become bigger shots
then the little shots
become littler shots.
And when the little shots
become littler shots
because the big shots
become bigger shots
then the little shots
get mad at the big shots.
And when the little shots
get mad at the big shots
because the big shots
by becomming bigger shots
make the little shots
littler shots
they shoot the big shots
full of little shots.
But by shooting the big shots
full of little shots
the little shots
do not become big shots,
they make everything all shot.
Christianity, Capitalism, Communism
Christianity has nothing to do
with either modern Capitalism
or modern Communism,
for Christianity
has a Capitalism of its own,
and a Communism of its own.
Modern Capitalism
is based on property
without responsibility,
while Christian Capitalism
is based on property
with responsibility.
Modern Communism
is based on poverty through force,
while Christian Communism
is based on poverty through choice.
For a Christian,
voluntary poverty is the ideal
as exemplified by Saint Francis of Assisi,
while privte property
is not an absolute right,
but a trust,
which must be administered
for the benefit of God's children.
Looking At Property
Fr. Henry Carr, Superior of the Basilians, says:
Socialists and Communists
battle against
the unequal conditions
of the poor.
Presumably they would be satisfied
if all were on a level.
Do you not see
that this does not touch
the question that is vital,
namely, whether or not the people,
no matter how much
or how little they possess,
regard it and use it
in the way they should?
The right way
is to regard it
as something entrusted to us
to use for the benefit
of ourselves and others.
The wrong way
is to look on it as something we own
and can use as we desire
without any duty to others.
Good or bad conditions
will follow
good or bad use
of property.
What Saint Francis Desired
According to Johannes Jorgensen, a Danish convert, living in Assisi:
Agrarianism
On The Level
Owen Young says:
"We will never have prosperity
as long as
there is no balance
between industry
and agriculture."
The farmer sells
in an open market
and is forced to buy
in a restricted market.
When the farmer gets
a pair of overalls
for a bushel of wheat
the wheat and the overalls
are on the level.
When the farmer
has to give
two bushels of wheat
for a pair of overalls
the wheat and the overalls
are not on the level.
Wheat and overalls
must be on the level.
Industrialization
Lenin said:
"The world cannot be
half industrial
and half agricultural."
England, Germany,
Japan, and America
have become
industrialized.
Soviet Russia
is trying to keep up
with England, Germany,
Japan, and America.
When all the world
becomes industrialized
every country
will be looking
for foreign markets.
But when every country
becomes industrialized
you will not have
foreign markets.
Mechanized Labor
Gandhi says:
"Industrialism is evil."
Industrialism is evil
because it brings idleness
both to the capitalist class
and the working class.
Idleness does no good
either to the capitalist class
or the working class.
Creative labor
is what keeps people
out of mischief.
Creative labor
is craft labor.
Mechanized labor
is not creative labor.
No Pleasure In Work
1.Carlyle says:
"He who has found his work
let him look
for no other blessedness."
But workmen
cannot find hapiness
in mechanized work.
As Charles Devas says,
"The great majority
having to perform
some mechanized operation
which requires little thought
and allows no originality
and which
concerns an object
in the transformation of which
whether previous or subsequent
they have no part,
cannot take pleasure
in their work."
Industrialism And Art
Eric Gill says:
the notion of work
has been separated
from the notion of art.
The notion of the useful
has been separated
from the notion of the beautiful.
The artist,
that is to say,
the responsible workman,
has been separated
from all other workmen.
The factory hand
has no responsibility
for what he produces.
He has been reduced
to a sub-human condition
of intellectual irresponsibility.
Industrialism
has released the artist
from the necessity
of making anything useful.
Industrialism
has also released the workman
from making anything amusing.
From A Chinese
A Chinese says:
I thought I had become westernized
but now I am becoming repatriated.
The material progress of America
has dazzled me.
I wished while there
to transplant what I saw
to China.
But now that I am home again
I see that our two civilizations
have irreconcilable differences.
Yours is a machine civilization;
ours is a handicraft civilization.
Your people
work in factories;
our people
work in shops.
Your people
produce quality things
that are alike.
Our people
produce quality things
that are different.
Regard For The Soil
Andrew Nelson Lytle says:
The escape from industrialism
is not in socialism
or in sovietism.
The answer lies
in a return to a society
where agriculture is practised
by most of the people.
It is in fact impossible
for any culture
to be sound and healthy
without a proper regard
for the soil,
no matter
how many urban dwellers
think that their food
comes from groceries
and delicatessens
or their milk from tin cans.
This ignorance
does not release them
from a final dependence
upon the farm.
Up To Catholics
Ralph Adams Cram says:
What I propose
is that Catholics
should take up
this back-to-the-land problem
and put it into operation.
Why Catholics?
Because they realize
more clearly than any others
the shortcomings
of the old capitalist
industrial system.
They, better than others,
see the threat
that impends.
They alone understand
that while the family
is the primary social unit,
the community comes next.
And there is
no sound
and righteous
and enduring community
where all its members
are not substantially
of one mind.
Farming Communes
What The Unemployed Need
The unemployed
need free rent;
they can have that
on a Farming Commune.
The unemployed
need free food;
they can raise that
on a Farming Commune.
The unemployed
need free fuel;
they can cut that
on a Farming Commune.
The unemployed
need to acquire skill;
they can do that
on a Farming Commune.
The unemployed
need to improve
their minds;
they can do that
on a Farming Commune.
The unemployed
need spiritual guidance;
they can have that
on a Farming Commune.
Professors Of A Farming Commune
Professors of a Farming Commune
do not look for endowments;
they look for manual labor.
Professors of a Farming Commune
do not tell their students
what to do;
they show them
how to do it.
Professors of a Farming Commune
do not enable their students
to master subjects;
they enable them
to master situations.
Professors of a Farming Commune
do not teach their students
how to make
profitable deals;
they teach them
how to realize
worthy ideals.
Laborers Of A Farming Commune
Laborers of a Farming Commune
do not work for wages;
they leave that
to the Farming Commune.
Laborers of a Farming Commune
do not look
for a bank account;
they leave that
to the Farming Commune.
Laborers of a Farming Commune
do not look for
an insurance policy;
they leave that
to the Farming Commune.
Laborers of a Farming Commune
do not look for
an old-age pension;
they leave that
to the Farming Commune.
Laborers of a Farming Commune
do not look for
economic security;
they leave that
to the Farming Commune.
What They Say They Believe
What The Communists Say They Believe
Communists believe
that the capitalist system
has reached the point
where it no longer works.
Communists believe
that when the workers
come to the realization
of the downfall of capitalism
they will no longer tolerate it.
Communists believe
that the capitalist class
will resort to all means
that may be in their power
to maintain their existence.
Communists believe
that the Communist Party
knows how to assure
production and distribution
in an orderly manner
according to a pre-designed plan.
What The Fascists Say They Believe
The Fascists believe
in a national economy
for the protection
of national and private interests.
Fascists believe
in the regulation of industries
so as to assure
a wage for the worker
and a dividend for the investor.
Fascists believe
in class collaboration
under State supervision.
Fascists believe
in the co-operation
of employers' unions
and workers' unions.
What The Socialists Say They Believe
Socialists believe
in a gradual realization
of a classless society.
Socialists believe
in the social ownership
of natural resources
and the means of production
and distribution.
Socialists believe
in a transition period
under democratic management
between two economic systems,
the systems of production for use
and the system of production for profits.
Socialists believe
in freedom of the press,
freedom of assemblage,
freedom of worship.
What The Democrats Say They Believe
Democrats believe
in universal suffrage,
universal education,
freedom of opportunity.
Democrats believe
in the right of the rich
to become richer
and of the poor
to try to become rich.
Democrats believe
in labor unions
and financial corporations.
Democrats believe
in the law of supply and demand.
What the Catholic Worker Believes
Disarmament
Right Or Wrong
Some people say:
"My country
is always right."
Some people say:
"My country
is always wrong."
Some people say:
"My country
is sometimes right
and sometimes wrong,
but my country
right or wrong."
To stick up for one's country
when one's country is wrong
does not make
the country right.
To stick up for the right
even when the world is wrong
is the only way we know
to make everything right.
Protecting France
To protect French citizens
living in Algeria
the French took Algeria
from the natives.
To protect Algeria
the French took control
for Tunisia.
To protect Senegal
the French took Dahomey,
the Gabon, and the Congo.
To protect the isle of Reunion
the French took Madagascar.
They took Madagascar
for another reason.
The other reason was
that the English
wished to take it.
When the English
take something
the French say:
"The English do that
because they are grabbers."
When the French take something,
the French say:
"We do that
because we are
good patriots."
Protecting England
To protect the British Isles
the English took the sea.
To protect the sea
the English took Gibraltar,
Canada, and India.
To protect India
the English went to Egypt.
To protect Egypt
the English took the Sudan.
To protect the Sudan
the English forced the French
to leave Fashoda.
To protect the Cape and Natal
the English took the Transvaal.
To protect South Africa
the English prevented the French
from giving Agadir
to Germany.
So the English
are just as good
or just as bad
as the French.
Civilizing Ethiopia
The French believe
that trade follows the flag.
So do the English,
so do the Germans,
so do the Japanese,
so do the Italians.
Italy is in Ethopia
for the same reason
that the French
are in Algeria,
the English in India,
the Japanese in Manchuria.
The Italians say
thatthe Ethopians
are not civilized.
The last war proves
that Europeans
are no more civilized
than the Africans.
So Europeans
ought to find a way
to become civilized
before thinking
about the best way
to civilize Africans.
Theodore Roosevelt used to say:
"If you want peace
prepare for war."
So everybody prepared for war
but war preparations
did not bring peace;
they brought war.
Since war preparations
brought war,
why not quit
preparing for war.
If nations preparing for peace
instead of preparing for war,
they might have peace.
Aristide Briand used to say:
"The best kind of disarmament
is the disarmament of the heart."
The disarmament of Germany
by the Allies
was not the product
of a change of heart
on the part of the Allies
toward Germany.
.jpg){kind=link}
