From the bulletin of January 24, 2021
We saw fair wages and unions mentioned a little earlier in this document, but now Pope Leo takes a close look at the rationale behind these ideas. We’ve already pointed out that, just because someone agrees to something, it doesn’t make it fair, especially when there is a lot of pressure forcing someone into an unfair arrangement. When the agreement is about something non-essential, it isn’t really the concern of wider society, but wages are because a man’s and wages are necessary for his survival. So, sometimes intervention is required.
The pope points out that “there underlies a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man and man.” Human contracts do not void natural justice. He lays out this dictate like this: wages should be enough “to support a frugal and well behaved wage-earner.” He argues that the wage should be enough for a “sensible man” who practices “thrift” should be paid enough to be able to support his wife and children and be able to put aside some for savings. And this shouldn’t require excessive hours or skipped meals. Laws that encourage fair wages, from Pope Leo’s perspective, should help to “induce as many as possible of the people to become owners” of the property to have a decent living. In many cases, enforcing fairer wages cuts into the profits of the corporation or the extraordinarily large salaries of the company’s leadership. The pope is not unaware of this. Indeed, he says that it is better for property to “become more equitably divided.” Note that he is not saying the government should simply take away property and give it to people who aren’t working. He is saying that society in general, which includes the government and other organizations, should encourage and even require companies to distribute their earnings more fairly to every employee rather than pressuring bottom-rung employees to live in poverty while leaders earn more money than they need for 10 lifetimes. Private property is a right, but it is not a right that justifies greed. If you “earn” something unfairly, it’s not really your property. Again, bear in mind that Pope Leo is trying to prevent revolution. He knew, and history proved, that mistreating the working class for too long ends in bloodshed. His solution is not to take money away from the rich, but to enforce fairer wages and agreements up front to prevent excessive gaps between haves and have nots. And as he made clear earlier, this doesn’t mean everyone ends up with the same amount – that’s impossible. Still, there is a difference between having 100 times as much as someone else and having 100,000 times as much.
Because the state is responsible for the common good it has the right to require all members of the community to contribute to that common good. In other words, the Church has always taught, and still teaches, that the government does have the right to tax its citizens. He does, however, make it clear that “the State would be unjust and cruel if… it were to deprive the private owner of more than is fair.” As with most principles, how this is applied in particular – what is considered “fair” – will depend very much on particular circumstances. We must bear in mind that the government and economy serves human beings, not the other way around. As with wages, any kind of taxation that forces people into destitution is unjust.
Of course, not every problem is solved by the government, as the Church well knows. The employers and workers themselves can do a lot to improve conditions. Here, Pope Leo refers to an older practice of forming “guilds.” These were organizations based on the different trades which allowed members to help each other improve their craft and regulate their business. In modern society, we have unions. He makes it clear that the government cannot outright ban all unions because human beings have the right to organize in support of one another. Still, he recognizes that sometimes people organize together for evil purposes, in which case the government can fittingly shut them down. The benefit of the doubt should be given in favor of the people’s right to organize. Internally, these organizations cannot just do whatever they want. Like all human activity, justice and fairness apply. The Pope actually spends several paragraphs talking about the need to organize unions properly, emphasizing transparency, honest with money, and that their primary interest is not money, but the well-being of their members. So, such organizations need a basic moral compass. They should strive to support members to grow in virtue and be better men and women, not just wealthier ones. As he does often throughout this document, Pope Leo quotes Matthew 16:26 “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?”
After expressing some gratitude to those who already strive to help the working and living conditions of others, the pope wraps up his letter with a promise that the Church will continue to intervene on behalf of those in need because her primary motivation is charity – love of God and neighbor. As we’ll see in future documents, much of what he has said will continue to be developed and reinforced by the Church and subsequent popes, trying always to bring the light of the Gospel into the modern world.
– In Christ,
Fr. Albert