Catholicism and neoliberalism

[Black_Rose]

Does the Church condemn neoliberalism just like it condemns socialism? Neoliberalism is to socialism as night is to day.

“More and more, in many countries of America, a system known as “neoliberalism” prevails; based on a purely economic conception of the human person, this sytem considers profit and the law of the market as its only parameters, to the detriment of the dignity of and the respect due to individuals and peoples. At times this system has become the ideological justification for certain attitudes and behavior in the social and political spheres leading to the neglect of the weaker members of society. Indeed, the poor are becoming ever more numerous, victims of specific policies and structures which are often unjust.”
from Ecclesia in America (No. 56), Report of the Synod of America

cjd.org/paper/neolib.html

Before I thought about becoming a Catholic, I was greatly detested neoliberalism because I thought that it was the main ideology advocating the perpetuation of poverty and wealth inequality in the world. I accept that the Church teaching prohibits “pure” socialism because socialism restricts religious freedom and denies the dignity of the human person by treating some people as means for the state’s ends. But I am still a socialist in the sense that I still retain my strong preference for administrative competence for delivering public goods over individual liberty in the economy sphere. My opposition against neoliberalism is compatible with the Catholic faith although one can easily frame their arguments against it in secular language. Could a well-informed practicing Catholic integrate neoliberal ideology with Catholicism harmoniously?

(I may write more later but I have to go now)

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

I don’t quite get what you are saying.

The Church very rightly opposes ALL socialism. Socialism seeks nothing more than to supplant God with the State, which has already happened in the USA, to our great shame.

Father Frank Pavone gave a magnificent homily this morning on the very subject.

:sighofcross:

 

[Black_Rose]

I did not proofread what I written in the OP; when I write I usually tend to forget the exact words that were previously typed which leads to inevitable grammatical errors.

Corrections:

Before I thought about becoming a Catholic, I greatly detested neoliberalism because I thought that it was the main ideology justifying the perpetuation of poverty and wealth inequality in the world. I accept that the Church teaching prohibits “pure” socialism because socialism restricts religious freedom and denies the dignity of the human person by treating some people as means for the state’s ends. But I am still a socialist in the sense that I still retain my strong preference for a competently administered bureaucratic state whose function is to deliver public goods to the people over a limited government that respects individual liberty. My opposition against neoliberalism is compatible with the Catholic faith and I can frame my position against neoliberalism in secular language too. Could a well-informed practicing Catholic integrate neoliberal ideology with Catholic social teaching harmoniously?

A nice summary of neoliberalism:

globalissues.org/article/39/a-primer-on-neoliberalism

 

[St_Francis]

What you are calling neoliberalism (a term which is new to me) is rightly condemned because it is a naturalist view of economics.

Socialism is a word which is used rather loosely nowadays; when socialism was originally condemned, it referred to the formal idea that the state own all means of production. Now we tend to use it to refer to other things: state owning only some means of production, state-controlled but privately-owned means of production, etc.

And we use it to mean a less-than–free market which has a *great deal *of support for the poorer citizens.

Tthe Church does *not *condemn governmental aid to people as long as that aid occurs within certain boundaries. One of the most frequent problems is that the principle of subsidiarity is violated; another is that people are disincentivized from working.

The Church has quite a lot of writing on these types of issues, and the more I look into it, the more fascinating I find it all. Keep looking and asking questions; I think that as you come to better understand the Church’s teachings in this area, the better you will like it