Socialism is wrong. Pure capitalism unrestrained is wrong.
Has the Catholic Church ever taught what is the ideal point between the two?
At what point along the continuum does one get to wrongness?
Maximum freedom is a necessary requirement. That is what Subsidiarity is about. Subidiarity gives us the Freedom to choose God, or not. Freedom to choose how one will live one’s own life, and the direction that that life will take, while still being a member of a community of Godly people.
Free association is the heart and soul of Catholic Social Justice Teaching. Which is why the original poster was dead wrong . . . these teachings have nothing to do with specifying the role or form of government (because all government is by its nature coercive, and thus must be used sparingly and correctly). These teachings have everything to do with the formation of the individual’s conscience.
A Catholic who follows the teaching of the Church is not required to bankrupt his business in order to pay a “living wage.” Said Catholic is required, however, not to cheat his workers out of a just and equitable share of the business income. This teaching is an abstraction, and can be implemented in many ways, with the exception of externally applied force (IE, government, slavery, false systems of class or simple theft).
It is incumbent on government to enforce agreements freely entered into by both parties, and also to limit contracts (agreements) to be moral (for example: one may not sell oneself into slavery, even if both parties freely agree to enter into such a contract).
The external force interpretation of Catholic Social Justice teaching is irrational, and thus CAN NOT BE what the Church intends. Catholicism IS ALWAYS REASONABLE.
This can be demonstrated by falsifying the Democratic Socialist interpretation of the teaching on “Just Wage”.
The DemoSocialist maintains that government must force businesses to pay a “minimum wage that allows a worker to live on said wage” and further specifies what “living wage” means.
But if government forces a business to pay more than the value the worker produces, the company is running at a loss. The only reasonable thing for such a company is then to do either 1) Fire some workers, thus depriving them of ALL of their wage or 2) Go bankrupt, thus depriving ALL of its workers of ALL of their wages. In a regulatory environment that creates artificial classes of employees, a third option exists: re-categorize some workers so as to reduce their wages (which is what business is doing in the face of the irrational requirements of Obamacare . . . cutting worker hours to the point where they are re-categorized in such a way as to allow the business to pay them a fair and just wage).
The Catholic who follows Church Social Teaching correctly will instead offer jobs to those who wish them, jobs that contribute to the human good (IOW, a business will not offer jobs whose essential functions, when fulfilled, are detrimental to the good of the worker or society as a whole), and will offer a fair and just wage to the worker. This wage may not be sufficient for the worker to live on, but is none the less proper, just and fair (because the value of the work supplied by the worker is fairly compensated). If a worker produces in one hour ten hours worth of value, government takes 40% of every dollar earned, and the business can only be viable at a profit of 20 cents on the dollar, then the worker should be paid four dollars for that hour of work. If they business is paying two dollars an hour, then that wage is not just or fair. The other side of the coin is unjust demands by workers. A group of workers who force a business to employ them, and threaten the business with destruction unless they are paid more than they are worth is in violation of Catholic Social Justice teaching.
In other words, just how much is “fair” and “just” is not specified, but it is clear that if the business can still make a reasonable profit while paying a higher wage to its workers, it should raise its wage scales. It is equally clear that if the business may not make a reasonable profit at a higher wage scale, it is not required to raise said wage scale. To do so would destroy the business, thus not only reducing the workers wage to nothing, but also destroying the good of work for those who would then loose their jobs.
To read Social Teaching in any other way is to destroy the good of work for those who could work, but who are either not capable of earning a living wage, or who do not require a living wage (teenagers working their first job do not need to earn a living wage, but they should have access to the good of work), or to damage or destroy the ability of society to generate wealth, or to quite simply partially enslave some (the “Rich”, for example).
These people who cannot earn a living wage are usually someone else’s dependents, and as such, familial care takes care of some of them, while charity takes care of some of those who do not have the blessings of family. Charity, of course, can only exist in the presence of profit. No profit, no charity.
In short, a good Catholic will generate as much wealth as is possible while following God’s teachings and precepts, will pay a fair and just wage to his workers, and will give as much of his profit to charity as is reasonable, and as God move’s his heart.
None of that requires government.
