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u Then there is ever-increasing advancements in meet the needs of all men, and must be put at the all production to each person. This would happen Pope Paul VI, in his encyclical letter Populorum
the means and methods of production; we can call disposal of all of them, as justice and charity require. without impoverishing or impacting owners. Rath- Progressio on the development of peoples, wrote
the advancements progress, achieved by past gen- “Every man indeed, as a reason gifted being, er, a service would be bestowed to owners, since that the pursuit of development called for “the deep
erations as well as the present generation. This is a has, from nature, the fundamental right to make their products (if the products are necessary) would thought and reflection of wise men in search of a
progress whose growth and transmission is due to use of the material goods of the earth, though it be easily sold in a marketplace in which consum- new humanism, one which will enable our con-
association; to life in society and of which no indi- is reserved to human will and the juridical forms ers have sufficient purchasing power to provide for temporaries to enjoy the higher values of love and
vidual or group can pretend to be the exclusive heir. of the peoples to regulate, with more detail, the their basic needs. friendship, of prayer and contemplation.”
It is this common heritage, a real capital of great practical realization of that right.” An answer to two accusations This reminds us of the remarks of French Chris-
value, that allows society to produce ever more What juridical forms or laws have ever pro- tian philosopher Jacques Maritain, who said that
An accusation has been advanced that the con-
even with fewer people employed in production. posed a method as effective as a Dividend issued to centration of wealth in the hands of a few leads to progress that is used wisely should not lead to a civil-
Suppress the community heritage and today’s each and every person; a basic income to actualize Communism. This is true because the concentra- ization of work but to a civilization of contemplation.
production would not reach one-hundredth of what the right of every man to use the material goods of tion of wealth and power can make the masses, Would not this new humanism, sought by the
it is currently, even if all available manpower were the earth? This could be done so easily, at least in the have-nots, vulnerable to communist or socialist Pope, allow man to free himself from materialism
hired and much money was invested. developed countries where the most serious eco- propaganda. State intervention to break monopol- and to “enjoy the higher values of love and friend-
This is why we say nomic problems are not ies and nationalize big industry can lead to state So- ship, of prayer and contemplation?” Would the aim
that each and every about production but cialism. One should not conclude that sound cap- not be well served by the adoption of the Social
member of society is about the sale of goods. italism is wrong because of these risks. Indeed, it is Credit financial proposals? These proposals were
born an heir and the The Pope added: the present financial system that leads to the con- conceived in 1917 by a genius, Scottish engineer
owner of real capital, “Such an individual centration of capital in the hands of a few thereby Clifford Hugh Douglas, but have been persistently
the preponderant factor right cannot, by any vitiating capitalism and opening the way to Com- denigrated, even by university professors and other
in today’s production. means, be suppressed, munism. members of the elite.
Everyone must have even by the exercise of One also hears the accusation that the present Catholic and Social Crediter
rights as a capitalist over other unquestionable capitalist system creates new artificial needs in or- The Catholic who is also a Social Crediter has all
an increasing portion of and recognized rights der to sell its abundant production and thus leads to
the fruits of production over natural goods.” consumerism and materialism just as efficiently as the tools needed to face the communist and social-
ist propaganda in both the spiritual and temporal
without affecting the These other un- do the atheistic and materialistic laws of Commun- realms.
wages and salaries of questionable and rec- ist countries.
those who directly par- ognized rights obviously A Catholic who, out of ignorance, complicity
ticipate in the productive include the right to prop- Here again, one must indict the financial system or abdication, accepts the present financial sys-
process. erty — land, production and not accuse capitalism. The financial controllers tem may possess solid spiritual arguments against
refuse to distribute purchasing power in ways other
According to Doug- concerns, means of than through employment in production: no job, Communism. However, he will be pitifully empty-
las’ teaching, an in- transportation, stores, no money. Progress, which should be a blessing handed when the time comes to present a Christian
crease in productivity etc. These goods are by freeing man from the need for employment, be- solution to the scandal of goods being destroyed
when human needs are unmet.
should be reflected in legitimately managed by comes on the contrary a curse and problem when
the Dividend comprising The fall of Marxism in Eastern Europe does their owners, who can incomes dry up because jobs become automated. How can a Catholic condone subordinating the
an increasing percent- not necessarily mean the triumph of capital- draw profit from them, One then looks for solutions in the production of real potential of both public or private production to
age of purchasing power ism, since capitalism must have its financial which is for an owner new material goods. These new goods must be the conditions imposed by a financial system that
relative to that deriving flaws corrected. equivalent to the wages sold, and to this end, artificial needs are created. has become an end in itself rather than a means,
from wages and salaries. paid to employees. The fact remains that the abso- People must be convinced that they need these a master instead of a servant? How can a financial
This is because the community heritage re- lute owner of everything is God. He is the first au- new products, which brings us to blatant material- system that consents to function only by dictator-
sults in increased productivity. The source of the thor of any potentiality of production and He wants ism. The dignity of man is ruthlessly sacrificed to ship and debt be acceptable to a Catholic? How can
this tyranny be preferred to a flexible financial sys-
increase is not the personal contribution of produ- every human being — all of His children — to enjoy the need for production to continue to roll even
cers. The increase would then be rightly distributed the fruits of His work. This is why the Church re- though what has already been produced is more tem that fits the physical possibilities of production
in the form of Dividends to all while jobs, which are minds us that private property has a social function than sufficient to meet the basic needs of all. It is with a guarantee to cover the basic needs of each
and every human person without humiliating ques-
becoming more unnecessary over time, make up a to fulfill and must serve the common good and not certainly a drive toward materialism. (Editor’s note: tions, conditions or debt?
smaller contribution. solely benefit an owner. It also contributes to the unnecessary plunder of re-
Father Thomas Landry O.P. said
In keeping with God’s plan Today, the social function has become difficult sources and destruction of the environment.) to a group of Social Crediters in a
This method of compensation for an ever-in- to fulfill because often owners must battle to save In a Social Credit financial system, human greed homily on March 7, 1937: “How good
their properties from ruin in a world of unrestrained
creasing growth in productivity would destroy any competition where financial privileges accrue to the — one of the consequences of original sin — would it is to be a Catholic when one is a
communist or socialist propaganda at its root. It powerful and where taxes are an ever-growing bu- still exist, but it would not be aggravated or imposed Social Crediter and how good it is to
would also be the most effective way to recognize rden. by the need to have purchasing power tied to em- be a Social Crediter when one is a
what Pope Pius XII called the fundamental right of ployment. The social Dividend to all would dissoci- Catholic!” Yes, Father, the Pilgrims of
every human being to the goods of the earth in his The social function of private property would ate — in an ever-growing measure — purchasing Saint Michael are convinced by per- Fr. Landry
famous radio address on June 1, 1941: be wonderfully and naturally met through a social power from employment in production and would sonal experience that this is true. v
lead society in a direction opposite to materialism.
“Material goods have been created by God to Dividend which would give a claim to the fruit of Louis Even

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