“History teaches how the most fruitful ideas advance slowly when they clash against contrary interests. Experience has shown a hundred times that to make rational solutions known, reason alone is not sufficient. He who represents the interests of others, he who fights for them, should be dominated by the will to serve. He should believe in the righteousness of his cause, and dedicate himself without reserve to a great work”
— Pius XII, June 10, 1953.
The above-mentioned quote from Pope Pius XII was emphasized by Father Lombardi in his book: Pius XII for a better world.
The Social Crediters who are surprised to see their doctrine taking time to prevail, and the legislators of their country to be informed of it, find their answer in the first sentence of that quote mentioned above, which is a fact of history: “The most fruitful ideas advance slowly when they clash against contrary interests.” We have as an example the centuries of Christianity it took before slavery was abolished from all countries, even in the Christian ones.
All the Social Crediters believe that Social Credit is a fruitful idea. How many fruits, which are impossible to obtain under the present economic-financial climate, could a civilization, blooming under the sun of Social Credit, bring<|>! Once the constant worry for material bread disappears in the “unhindered” distribution of an abundant production, the people could better enjoy — at least in the measure that they would want to — activities superior to the simple economic function.
But if Social Credit is a fruitful idea, it also clashes against contrary interests, that are also powerful.
Present the technological progress of production as a result of a common heritage, transmitted and enlarged from generation to generation, where each living person is the coheir, who should receive his part in the fruits of production, and you are immediately accused of being a dangerous theorist by those who have managed to put their claws on almost all resources. Relatively few but powerful, they possess efficient means to oppose you with a barrage of politicians, economists, sociologists, and even moralists.
And if, in the name of this common heritage, you claim a regular dividend for each citizen, liberating him from poverty and conditions that prevent him from organizing his own life: you are then accused of a grievous attempt against the established order — this so-called “order” by which those who control money and credit have become the masters of our lives, and who condition the right to breathe.
Those who wish to dominate and control others have no intention of recognizing the liberating measures proposed by Social Credit. How could they continue to dominate men who would not have to choose between submission and starvation?
Social Credit is definitively one of the fruitful ideas that clashes against contrary interests.
Yet the remarkable propositions of Social Credit are so logical! Their application would resolve, or would at least help in resolving, a multitude of problems that are especially, and almost exclusively, of the financial kind. If everything that is physically feasible and legitimately demanded by the population was automatically made financially possible, how quickly would the things that cause the most headaches in every administration, from the family to the highest of governments, disappear! This solution should be brought to the attention of all!
No doubt! But, as the second sentence of the citation says so well: “Experience has shown a hundred times that to make rational solutions known, reason alone is not sufficient.” This is why men gifted with reason are obstinately searching elsewhere for unobtainable solutions, instead of adopting the rational solution of Social Credit.
So, should we give up the fight, and leave the administrators to uselessly struggle? Should we leave people to their tribulations, because they themselves are generally so unwilling to search for a solution, and the majority remains so apathetic, even after having discovered the great light of Social Credit?
No, on the contrary! It would be like taking the yeast out of the bread while still expecting it to rise. The less help you have, the harder you have to devote yourself. The ending of the citation indicates a rule of conduct:
“He who represents the interests of others, he who fights for them, should be dominated by the will to serve. He should believe in the righteousness of his cause, and dedicate himself without reserve to a great work.”
The Louis Even Institute for Social Justice has made these recommendations its own, and always wishes to inspire its members with them.
“He who represents the interests of others” — this is what a true Social Crediter, a true Pilgrim of St. Michael, should be. He does not pursue Social Credit for himself only, but for all the community, for every family, for every person in the community. It is not a paid function like that of a politician; it is a mission of dedication that he himself embraces.
“He who fights” for others — not he who pursues his own interests nor the satisfaction of his personal ambition. Even less, not he who takes advantage of the dedicated work done by others.
This man, says the Holy Father, “should be dominated by the will to serve,” and not by the desire to be served; he should be dominated by the will to serve the cause of the entire world, the cause of Social Credit, and not to put this cause to his own service.
The real Social Crediter is then a great servant. He is an apostle who gives of himself, and not a politician who is given honors and money.
The apostle of Social Credit gives his time, his strength, his person, without pausing to say: “I did my part. Now it's someone else's turn!” He does not get discouraged, using the excuse that it takes time, or that success is doubtful. He stays firm, because he has faith in his cause. It is exactly on this note that the citation ends: “He should believe in the righteousness of his cause, and dedicate himself without reserve to a great work.”
Social Crediters have every reason to regret that Social Credit is still not being applied, since it would do so much good for everyone, especially to the most deprived. However, the idea that they carry will continue to spread, and faster than its adversaries would wish. Every new person won over to the idea, every subscription to “Michael” placed in a home, is an advancement towards the goal. It is already Social Credit, not applied in the legislation of the country, but in more of the people's spirits and hearts. Is this not how Christianity was propagated and then anchored before the official recognition from the leaders of the nations<|>? Only dictators can impose their views without this preparation, but dictators go, and only leave ruin and bad fruits after them.
Anyway, whether the conquests of Social Credit are fast or slow, Social Crediters know that their cause is just, and that it will therefore triumph, provided the lovers of Social Credit continue until the end to have faith in the cause they serve, and to thirst for the justice that they pursue. The promise is there: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their full.”
So the true Social Crediter “dedicates himself without reserve to a great work” without reserve, without seeing if he has done enough, without asking himself what this will give him.
“To dedicate oneself without reserve” —this is certainly not a language for politicians; it is a language for apostles, for unselfish and noble-hearted men and women who want to do their part for the good of all, by giving themselves to a work that they believe is truly great.
To enlighten one's fellow citizens, to unite them around an objective for the common good, to train them in taking action and personal responsibility, to take them the level they are at and make them move a step higher — all of this is to act as an educator, and this is a great work.
Because it is good and ordained for the good of all, the Social Credit Cause will advance — and will eventually triumph — through the dedication, self-denial, work and virtue of those who consecrate themselves to it, with the help of Heaven, which must be asked with humility, purity of intention, and confidence.
Social Credit is not a religion. No! However, any reform attempted towards a temporal order which would facilitate man in the pursuit of his end for which he has been created, requires, at least on the part of its promoters, the exercise of a certain degree of virtue. They must look for something beyond their own material interests, or political honors.
We wished to put the quote of Pope Pius XII under the eyes of the Social Crediters, especially because we believe it suggests the answer to the question: How to obtain the implementation of the Social Credit principles? As for any great cause, through apostolate and tenacity.
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