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63. In the economic and social realms, too, the dignity and
complete vocation of the human person and the welfare of society as a
whole are to be respected and promoted. For man is the source, the
center, and the purpose of all economic and social life.
Like other areas of social life, the economy of today is marked by
man's increasing domination over nature, by closer and more intense
relationships between citizens, groups, and countries and their mutual
dependence, and by the increased intervention of the state. At the
same time progress in the methods of production and in the exchange of
goods and services has made the economy an instrument capable of better
meeting the intensified needs of the human family.
Reasons for anxiety, however, are not lacking. Many people,
especially in economically advanced areas, seem, as it were, to be
ruled by economics, so that almost their entire personal and social
life is pennated with a certain economic way of thinking. Such is true
both of nations that favor a collective economy and of others. At the
very time when the development of economic life could mitigate social
inequalities (provided that it be guided and coordinated in a
reasonable and human way), it is often made to embitter them; or, in
some places, it even results in a decline of the social status of the
underprivileged and in contempt for the poor. While an immense number
of people still lack the absolute necessities of life, some, even in
less advanced areas, live in luxury or squander wealth. Extravagance
and wretchedness exist side by side. While a few enjoy very great
power of choice, the majority are deprived of almost all possibility of
acting on their own initiative and responsibility, and often subsist in
living and working conditions unworthy of the human person.
A similar lack of economic and social balance is to be noticed between
agriculture, industry, and the services, and also between different
parts of one and the same country. The contrast between the
economically more advanced countries and other countries is becoming
more serious day by day, and the very peace of the world can be
jeopardized thereby.
Our contemporaries are coming to feel these inequalities with an ever
sharper awareness, since they are thoroughly convinced that the ampler
technical and economic possibilities which the world of today enjoys can
and should correct this unhappy state of affairs. Hence, many reforms
in the socioeconomic realm and a change of mentality and attitude are
required of all. For this reason the Church down through the
centuries and in the light of the Gospel has worked out the principles
of justice and equity demanded by right reason both for individual and
social life and for international life, and she has proclaimed them
especially in recent times. This sacred council intends to strengthen
these principles according to the circumstances of this age and to set
forth certain guidelines, especially with regard to the requirements of
economic development.[138]
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SECTION 1.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
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64. Today more than ever before attention is rightly given to the
increase of the production of agricultural and industrial goods and of
the rendering of services, for the purpose of making provision for the
growth of population and of satisfying the increasing desires of the
human race. Therefore, technical progress, an inventive spirit, an
eagerness to create and to expand enterprises, the application of
methods of production, and the strenuous efforts of all who engage in
production-in a word, all the elements making for such
development-must be promoted. The fundamental finality of this
production is not the mere increase of products nor profit or control
but rather the service of man, and indeed of the whole man with regard
for the full range of his material needs and the demands of his
intellectual, moral, spiritual, and religious life; this applies to
every man whatsoever and to every group of men, of every race and of
every part of the world. Consequently, economic activity is to be
carried on according to its own methods and laws within the limits of
the moral order," [139] so that God's plan for mankind may be
realized.[140]
65. Economic development must remain under man's determination and
must not be left to the judgment of a few men or groups possessing too
much economic power or of the political community alone or of certain
more powerful nations. It is necessary, on the contrary, that at
every level the largest possible number of people and, when it is a
question of international relations, all nations have an active share
in directing that development. There is need as well of the
coordination and fitting and harmonious combination of the spontaneous
efforts of individuals and of free groups with the undertakings oś
public authorities.
Growth is not to be left solely to a kind of mechanical course of the
economic activity of individuals, nor to the authority of government.
For this reason, doctrines which obstruct the necessary reforms under
the guise of a false liberty, and those which subordinate the basic
rights of individual persons and groups to the collective organization
of production must be shown to be erroneous.[141]
Citizens, on the other hand, should remember that it is their right
and duty, which is also to be recognized by the civil authority, to
contribute to the true progress of their own community according to
their ability. Especially in underdeveloped areas, where all
resources must urgently be employed, those who hold back their
unproductive resources or who deprive their community of the material or
spiritual aid that it needs-saving the personal right of
migration-gravely endanger the common good.
66. To satisfy the demands of justice and equity, strenuous efforts
must be made, without disregarding the rights of persons or the natural
qualities of each country, to remove as quickly as possible the immense
economic inequalities, which now exist and in many cases are growing
and which are connected with individual and social discrimination.
Likewise, in many areas, in view of the special difficulties of
agriculture relative to the raising and selling of produce, country
people must be helped both to increase and to market what they produce,
and to introduce the necessary development and renewal and also obtain a
fair income. Otherwise, as too often happens, they will remain in
the condition of lower-class citizens. Let farmers themselves,
especially young ones, apply themselves to perfecting their
professional skill, for without it, there can be no agricultural
advance.[142]
Justice and equity likewise require that the mobility, which is
necessary in a developing economy, be regulated in such a way as to
keep the life of individuals and their families from becoming insecure
and precarious. When workers come from another country or district and
contribute to the economic advancement of a nation or region by their
labor, all discrimination as regards wages and working conditions must
be carefully avoided. All the people, moreover, above all the public
authorities, must treat them not as mere tools of production but as
persons, and must help them to bring their families to live with them
and to provide themselves with a decent dwelling; they must also see to
it that these workers are incorporated into the social life of the
country or region that receives them. Employment opportunities,
however, should be created in their own areas as far as possible.
In economic affairs which today are subject to change, as in the new
forms of industrial society in which automation, for example, is
advancing, care must be taken that sufficient and suitable work and the
possibility of the appropriate technical and professional formation are
furnished. The livelihood and the human dignity especially of those
who are in very difficult conditions because of illness or old age must
be guaranteed.
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SECTION 2.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES GOVERNING SOCIO-ECONOMIC LIFE AS A WHOLE
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67. Human labor which is expended in the production and exchange of
goods or in the performance of economic services is superior to the
other elements of economic life, for the latter have only the nature of
tools.
This labor, whether it is engaged in independently or hired by someone
else, comes immediately from the person, who as it were stamps the
things of nature with his seal and subdues them to his will. By his
labor a man ordinarily supports himself and his family, is joined to
his fellow men and serves them, and can exercise genuine charity and be
a partner in the work of bringing divine creation to perfection.
Indeed, we hold that through labor offered to God man is associated
with the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, Who conferred an eminent
dignity on labor when at Nazareth He worked with His own hands.
From this there follows for every man the duty of working faithfully
and also the right to work. It is the duty of society, moreover,
according to the circumstances prevailing in it, and in keeping with
its role, to help the citizens to find sufficient employment.
Finally, remuneration for labor is to be such that man may be
furnished the means to cultivate worthily his own material, social,
cultural, and spiritual life and that of his dependents, in view of
the function and productiveness of each one, the conditions of the
factory or workshop, and the common good.[143]
Since economic activity for the most part implies the associated work
of human beings, any way of organizing and directing it which may be
detrimental to any working men and women would be wrong and inhuman.
It happens too often, however, even in our days, that workers are
reduced to the level of being slaves to their own work. This is by no
means justified by the so-called economic laws. The entire process of
productive work, therefore, must be adapted to the needs of the person
and to his way of life, above all to his domestic life, especially in
respect to mothers of families, always with due regard for sex and
age. The opportunity, moreover, should be granted to workers to
unfold their own abilities and personality through the performance of
their work. Applying their time and strength to their employment with
a due sense of responsibility, they should also all enjoy sufficient
rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social and
religious life. They should also have the opportunity freely to
develop the energies and potentialities which perhaps they cannot bring
to much fruition in their professional work.
68. In economic enterprises it is persons who are joined together,
that is, free and independent human beings created lo the image of
God. Therefore, with attention to the functions of each-owners or
employers, management or labor-and without doing harm to the necessary
unity of management, the active sharing of all in the administration
and profits of these enterprises in ways to be properly determined is to
be promoted.[144] Since more often, however, decisions concerning
economic and social conditions, on which the future lot of the workers
and of their children depends, are made not within the business itself
but by institutions on a higher level, the workers themselves should
have a share also in determining these conditions-in person or through
freely elected delegates.
Among the basic rights of the human person is to be numbered the right
of freely founding unions for working people. These should be able
truly to represent them and to contribute to the organizing of economic
life in the right way. Included is the right of freely taking part in
the activity of these unions without risk of reprisal. Through this
orderly participation joined to progressive economic and social
formation, all will grow day by day in the awareness of their own
function and responsibility, and thus they will be brought to feel that
they are comrades in the whole task of economic development and in the
attainment of the universal common good according to their capacities
and aptitudes.
When, however, socio-economic disputes arise, efforts must be made
to come to a peaceful settlement. Although recourse must always be had
first to a sincere dialogue between the parties, a strike,
nevertheless, can remain even in presentday circumstances a necessary,
though ultimate, aid for the defense of the workers' own rights and
the fulfillment of their just desires. As soon as possible, however,
ways should be sought to resume negotiation and the discussion of
reconciliation.
69. God intended the earth with everything contained in it for the
use of all human beings and peoples. Thus, under the leadership of
justice and in the company of charity, created goods should be in
abundance for all in like manner.[145] Whatever the forms of property
may be, as adapted to the legitimate institutions of peoples,
according to diverse and changeable circumstances, attention must
always be paid to this universal destination of earthly goods. In
using them, therefore, man should regard the external things that he
legitimately possesses not only as his own but also as common in the
sense that they should be able to benefit not only him but also
others.[146] On the other hand, the right of having a share of
earthly goods sufficient for oneself and one's family belongs to
everyone. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church held this opinion,
teaching that men are obliged to come to the relief of the poor and to
do so not merely out of their superfluous goods.[147] If one is in
extreme necessity, he has the right to procure for himself what he
needs out of the riches of others.[148] Since there are so many
people prostrate with hunger in the world, this sacred council urges
all, both individuals and governments, to remember the aphorism of the
Fathers, "Feed the man dying of hunger, because if you have not fed
him, you have killed him,"[149] and really to share and employ
their earthly goods, according to the ability of each, especially by
supporting individuals or peoples with the aid by which they may be able
to help and develop themselves.
In economically less advanced societies the common destination of
earthly goods is partly satisfied by means of the customs and traditions
proper to the community, by which the absolutely necessary things are
furnished to each member. An effort must be made, however, to avoid
regarding certain customs as altogether unchangeable, if they no longer
answer the new needs of this age. On the other hand, imprudent action
should not be taken against respectable customs which, provided they
are suitably adapted to present-day circumstances, do not cease to be
very useful. Similarly, in highly developed nations a body of social
institutions dealing with protection and security can, for its own
part, bring to reality the common destination of earthly goods.
Family and social services, especially those that provide for culture
and education, should be further promoted. When all these things are
being organized, vigilance is necessary to present the citizens from
being led into a certain inactivity vis-a-vis society or from
rejecting the burden of taking up office or from refusing to serve.
70. Investments, for their part, must be directed toward procuring
employment and sufficient income for the people both now and in the
future. Whoever makes decisions concerning these investments and the
planning of the economy-whether they be individuals or groups of public
authorities-are bound to keep these objectives in mind and to recognize
their serious obligation of watching, on the one hand, that provision
be made for the necessities required for a decent life both of
individuals and of the whole community and, on the other, of looking
out for the future and of establishing a right balance between the needs
of present-day consumption, both individual and collective, and the
demands of investing for the generation to come. They should also
always bear in mind the urgent needs of underdeveloped countries or
regions. In monetary matters they should beware of hurting the welfare
of their own country or of other countries. Care should also be taken
lest the economically weak countries unjustly suffer any loss from a
change in the value of money.
71. Since property and other forms of private ownership of external
goods contribute to the expression of the personality, and since,
moreover, they furnish one an occasion to exercise his function in
society and in the economy, it is very important that the access of
both individuals and communities to some ownership of external goods be
fostered
Private property or some ownership of external goods confers on
everyone a sphere wholly necessary for the autonomy of the person and
the family, and it should be regarded as an extension of human
freedom. Lastly, since it adds incentives for carrying on one's
function and charge, it constitutes one of the conditions for civil
liberties.[150]
The forms of such ownership or property are varied today and are
becoming increasingly diversified. They all remain, however, a cause
of security not to be underestimated, in spite of social funds,
rights, and services provided by society. This is true not only of
material property but also of immaterial things such as professional
capacities.
The right of private ownership, however, is not opposed to the right
inherent in various forms of public property. Goods can be transferred
to the public domain only by the competent authority, according to the
demands and within the limits of the common good, and with fair
compensation. Furthermore, it is the right of public authority to
prevent anyone from abusing his private property to the detriment of the
common good.[151]
By its very nature private property has a social quality which is based
on the law of the common destination of earthly goods.[152] If this
social quality is overlooked, property often becomes an occasion of
passionate desires for wealth and serious disturbances, so that a
pretext is given to the attackers for calling the right itself into
question.
In many underdeveloped regions there are large or even extensive rural
estates which are only slightly cultivated or lie completely idle for
the sake of profit, while the majority of the people either are without
land or have only very small fields, and, on the other hand, it is
evidently urgent to increase the productivity of the fields. Not
infrequently those who are hired to work for the landowners or who till
a portion of the land as tenants receive a wage or income unworthy of a
human being, lack decent housing and are exploited by middlemen.
Deprived of all security, they live under such personal servitude that
almost every opportunity of acting on their own initiative and
responsibility is denied to them and all advancement in human culture
and all sharing in social and political life is forbidden to them.
According to the different cases, therefore, reforms are necessary:
that income may grow, working conditions should be improved, security
in employment increased, and an incentive to working on one's own
initiative given. Indeed, insufficiently cultivated estates should be
distributed to those who can make these lands fruitful; in this case,
the necessary things and means, especially educational aids and the
right facilities for cooperative organization, must be supplied.
Whenever, nevertheless, the common good requires expropriation,
compensation must be reckoned in equity after all the circumstances have
been weighed.
72. Christians who take an active part in present-day
socio-economic development and fight for justice and charity should be
convinced that they can make a great contribution to the prosperity of
mankind and to the peace of the world. In these activities let them,
either as individuals or as members of groups, give a shining example.
Having acquired the absolutely necessary skill and experience, they
should observe the right order in their earthly activities in
faithfulness to Christ and His Gospel. Thus their whole life, both
individual and social, will be permeated with the spirit of the
beatitudes, notably with a spirit of poverty.
Whoever in obedience to Christ seeks first the Kingdom of God,
takes therefrom a stronger and purer love for helping all his brethren
and for perfecting the work of justice under the inspiration of
charity.[153]
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