In this way labour became a commodity to be freely bought and sold on the market, its price determined by the law of supply and demand, without taking into account the bare minimum required for the support of the individual and his family. Moreover, the worker was not even sure of being able to sell "his own commodity", continually threatened as he was by unemployment, which, in the absence of any kind of social security, meant the spectre of death by starvation.
The Pope and the Church with him were confronted, as was the civil community, by a society which was torn by a conflict all the more harsh and inhumane because it knew no rule or regulation. It was the conflict between capital and labour, or — as the Encyclical puts it — the worker question. It is precisely about this conflict, in the very pointed terms in which it then appeared, that the Pope did not hesitate to speak.
5. Now, as then, we need to repeat that there can be no genuine solution of the "social question" apart from the Gospel, and that the "new things" can find in the Gospel the context for their correct understanding and the proper moral perspective for judgment on them.
6. With the intention of shedding light on the conflict which had arisen between capital and labour, Pope Leo XIII affirmed the fundamental rights of workers. Indeed, the key to reading the Encyclical is the dignity of the worker as such, and, for the same reason, the dignity of work, which is defined as follows: "to exert oneself for the sake of procuring what is necessary for the various purposes of life, and first of all for self-preservation".
The Pope describes work as "personal, inasmuch as the energy expended is bound up with the personality and is the exclusive property of him who acts, and, furthermore, was given to him for his advantage". Work thus belongs to the vocation of every person; indeed, man expresses and fulfils himself by working. At the same time, work has a "social" dimension through its intimate relationship not only to the family, but also to the common good, since "it may truly be said that it is only by the labour of working-men that States grow rich". These are themes that I have taken up and developed in my Encyclical Laborem exercens.
If we keep in mind what history tells us about the practices permitted or at least not excluded by law regarding the way in which workers were employed, without any guarantees as to working hours or the hygienic conditions of the work-place, or even regarding the age and sex of apprentices, we can appreciate the Pope's severe statement: "It is neither just nor human so to grind men down with excessive labour as to stupefy their minds and wear out their bodies". And referring to the "contract" aimed at putting into effect "labour relations" of this sort, he affirms with greater precision, that "in all agreements between employers and workers there is always the condition expressed or understood" that proper rest be allowed, proportionate to "the wear and tear of one's strength". He then concludes: "To agree in any other sense would be against what is right and just".
29. Finally, development must not be understood solely in economic terms, but in a way that is fully human.61 It is not only a question of raising all peoples to the level currently enjoyed by the richest countries, but rather of building up a more decent life through united labour, of concretely enhancing every individual's dignity and creativity, as well as his capacity to respond to his personal vocation, and thus to God's call. The apex of development is the exercise of the right and duty to seek God, to know him and to live in accordance with that knowledge. In the totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, the principle that force predominates over reason was carried to the extreme. Man was compelled to submit to a conception of reality imposed on him by coercion, and not reached by virtue of his own reason and the exercise of his own freedom. This principle must be overturned and total recognition must be given to the rights of the human conscience, which is bound only to the truth, both natural and revealed. The recognition of these rights represents the primary foundation of every authentically free political order.63 It is important to reaffirm this latter principle for several reasons:
a) because the old forms of totalitarianism and authoritarianism are not yet completely vanquished; indeed there is a risk that they will regain their strength. This demands renewed efforts of cooperation and solidarity between all countries;
b) because in the developed countries there is sometimes an excessive promotion of purely utilitarian values, with an appeal to the appetites and inclinations towards immediate gratification, making it difficult to recognize and respect the hierarchy of the true values of human existence;
c) because in some countries
new
forms of religious fundamentalism are emerging which covertly, or even
openly, deny to citizens of faiths other than that of the majority the
full exercise of their civil and religious rights, preventing them from
taking part in the cultural process, and restricting both the Church's
right to preach the Gospel and the rights of those who hear this
preaching
to accept it and to be converted to Christ. No authentic progress is
possible
without respect for the natural and fundamental right to know the truth
and live according to that truth. The exercise and development of this
right includes the right to discover and freely to accept Jesus Christ,
who is man's true good.64
It is not wrong to want to live
better; what is wrong is a style of life which is presumed to be better
when it is directed towards "having" rather than "being", and which
wants
to have more, not in order to be more but in order to spend life in
enjoyment
as an end in itself. It is therefore necessary to create life-styles in
which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others
for
the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer
choices,
savings and investments. In this regard, it is not a matter of the duty
of charity alone, that is, the duty to give from one's "abundance", and
sometimes even out of one's needs, in order to provide what is
essential
for the life of a poor person. I am referring to the fact that even the
decision to invest in one place rather than another, in one productive
sector rather than another, is always a moral and cultural choice.
Given
the utter necessity of certain economic conditions and of political
stability,
the decision to invest, that is, to offer people an opportunity to make
good use of their own labour, is also determined by an attitude of
human
sympathy and trust in Providence, which reveal the human quality of the
person making such decisions.
41. The historical experience of the West, for its part, shows that even if the Marxist analysis and its foundation of alienation are false, nevertheless alienation — and the loss of the authentic meaning of life — is a reality in Western societies too. This happens in consumerism, when people are ensnared in a web of false and superficial gratifications rather than being helped to experience their personhood in an authentic and concrete way. Alienation is found also in work, when it is organized so as to ensure maximum returns and profits with no concern whether the worker, through his own labour, grows or diminishes as a person, either through increased sharing in a genuinely supportive community or through increased isolation in a maze of relationships marked by destructive competitiveness and estrangement, in which he is considered only a means and not an end.
43. The integral development of the human person through work does not impede but rather promotes the greater productivity and efficiency of work itself, even though it may weaken consolidated power structures. A business cannot be considered only as a "society of capital goods"; it is also a "society of persons" in which people participate in different ways and with specific responsibilities, whether they supply the necessary capital for the company's activities or take part in such activities through their labour. To achieve these goals there is still need for a broad associated workers' movement, directed towards the liberation and promotion of the whole person.
48. These general observations
also
apply to the role of the State in the economic sector. Economic
activity,
especially the activity of a market economy, cannot be conducted in an
institutional, juridical or political vacuum. On the contrary, it
presupposes
sure guarantees of individual freedom and private property, as well as
a stable currency and efficient public services. Hence the principle
task
of the State is to guarantee this security, so that those who work and
produce can enjoy the fruits of their labours and thus feel encouraged
to work efficiently and honestly. The absence of stability, together
with
the corruption of public officials and the spread of improper sources
of
growing rich and of easy profits deriving from illegal or purely
speculative
activities, constitutes one of the chief obstacles to development and
to
the economic order.
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