Capitalism Socialism and Communism – A Catholic Perspective
Table of Contents
Capitalism, Socialism and Communism from a Catholic Perspective
In this article I am going to discuss the errors of Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism, from a Catholic perspective.
You could honestly just read the following encyclicals to understand Catholic economic teaching:
Pope Leo XIII’s Quod Apostolici Muneris and Rerum Novarum
Pope Pius XI’s Quadragesimo Anno and Divini Redemptoris
However, many people today like short summaries of things.
So click on one of these If you want a TLDR on a particular economic system:
Why Young Adults Hate Capitalism
If you didn’t click on one of the TLDR links above, you may be wondering…
Why is there even a need for this article? Don’t all Catholic Americans love Capitalism?
Well… Many young Catholics are now embracing Communism and Socialism over Capitalism. I get why.
It seems that the world wants us to be happy as an indebted wage slave that lives to consume.
The baby boomers told us that trickle down economics would help everyone.
However, us millennials just see stagnant wages, massive college debt, and the prices of everything outperforming our annual raises.
Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is riding rockets through space.
It’s pretty terrible to see that during 2020 many people struggled while the rich just kept getting richer:
But then again, the top 1% has been hoarding exponentially more wealth than the bottom 99% since around 1980:
So obviously “trickle-down economics” isn’t exactly working for us that well.
And many in our generation are seeing that. So does this mean we should embrace Socialism and Communism? No.
Just because Capitalism has proven itself to be awful, it doesn’t mean that Socialism and Communism are good.
That’s like saying that it is bad to get a papercut but good to accidentally burn or stab yourself. No.
All of those things are just different ways to hurt yourself.
Moreover, the Catholic Church condemns these things for certain reasons.
And it is a grave sin to make idols, to make saviors, out of flawed economic systems. Worship is for God alone.
The Errors of Capitalism
What does the Catholic Church say about Capitalism?
Pope Leo XIII writes:
…It has come to pass that working men have been surrendered, isolated and helpless, to the hardheartedness of employers and the greed of unchecked competition. The mischief has been increased by rapacious usury, which…is nevertheless…still practiced by covetous and grasping men. To this must be added that the hiring of labor and the conduct of trade are concentrated in the hands of comparatively few; so that a small number of very rich men have been able to lay upon the teeming masses of the laboring poor a yoke little better than that of slavery itself.
Rerum Novarum
Pope Pius XI writes:
Free competition has destroyed itself; economic dictatorship has supplanted the free market; unbridled ambition for power has likewise succeeded greed for gain; all economic life has become tragically hard, inexorable, and cruel.
Quadragesimo Anno
Both popes pretty much sum it all up right there. Let’s unpack these.
Firstly, Capitalism reduces the vast majority of people to becoming wage slaves.
In addition to men, children were also wage slaves when Pope Leo XIII wrote his encyclical.
Thankfully, many Western countries overturned child labor.
Unfortunately, second wave feminism popularized the idea of women becoming wage slaves, which I talk about here.
Secondly, the capital sin of greed motivates capitalists to pay their employees the least amount as possible.
Employers should pay a fair wage, as always taught by the Church – per the Fourth Commandment (here).
Thirdly, usury is a grave sin that cries out to Heaven for vengeance. See here.
Capitalism relies on usury through unethical practices in banking / financial institutions and the stock market.
Finally, Capitalism concentrates the means and the wealth to the few.
Even though Capitalism claims to be a competitive system, many cannot compete with elite players like Amazon, Walmart and others.
And the people in charge of things don’t care about enforcing antitrust laws to make things fairer.
They are part of the elite themselves.
The Errors of Socialism
What does the Church say about Socialism?
Pope Leo XIII writes:
Their habit…is always to maintain that nature has made all men equal…on the contrary, in accordance with the teachings of the Gospel…The inequality of rights and of power proceeds from the very Author of nature…
Quod Apostolici Muneris
Hence, it is clear that the main tenet of socialism, community of goods, must be utterly rejected, since it only injures those whom it would seem meant to benefit, is directly contrary to the natural rights of mankind, and would introduce confusion and disorder into the commonweal.
Rerum Novarum
Pope Pius XI writes:
Socialism…affirms that human association has been instituted for the sake of material advantage alone.
Quadragesimo Anno
Society, therefore, as Socialism conceives it, can on the one hand neither exist nor be thought of without an obviously excessive use of force; on the other hand, it fosters a liberty no less false, since there is no place in it for true social authority, which rests not on temporal and material advantages but descends from God alone, the Creator and last end of all things.
Ibid.
Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist.
Ibid.
Again, let’s unpack these. Firstly, Socialism, like Liberalism and Feminism, falsely teaches in temporal equality.
The Church teaches that everyone is equal in spirit and dignity, but has always condemned the we are equal temporally.
There is an order in the Church, home and society: Popes, fathers, and kings are above priests, children and peasants, respectively.
Secondly, the Church teaches that all have a right to private ownership, and to redistribute ownership is breaking the 7th Commandment (don’t steal).
Thirdly, it is not permissible by the 1st Commandment to make idols. Socialists turn the State into an idol.
Fourthly, all socioeconomic authority comes from the State, who will use violence to enforce that authority, if necessary.
Finally, Pope Pius XI makes it clear in no uncertain terms that one cannot be both a Catholic and a Socialist.
The Errors of Communism
What does the Church say about Communism (aka Marxism or Marxist Socialism)?
Pope Pius XI writes:
Communism teaches and seeks two objectives: Unrelenting class warfare and absolute extermination of private ownership. Not secretly or by hidden methods does it do this, but publicly, openly, and by employing every and all means, even the most violent. To achieve these objectives there is nothing which it does not dare, nothing for which it has respect or reverence; and when it has come to power, it is incredible and portentlike in its cruelty and inhumanity.
Quadragesimo Anno
The Communism of today, more emphatically than similar movements in the past, conceals in itself a false messianic idea. A pseudo-ideal of justice, of equality and fraternity in labor impregnates all its doctrine and activity with a deceptive mysticism, which communicates a zealous and contagious enthusiasm to the multitudes entrapped by delusive promises. This is especially true in an age like ours, when unusual misery has resulted from the unequal distribution of the goods of this world.
Divini Redemptoris
According to this doctrine there is in the world only one reality, matter, the blind forces of which evolve into plant, animal and man…In such a doctrine, as is evident, there is no room for the idea of God; there is no difference between matter and spirit, between soul and body; there is neither survival of the soul after death nor any hope in a future life…Hence they endeavor to sharpen the antagonisms which arise between the various classes of society. Thus the class struggle with its consequent violent hate and destruction takes on the aspects of a crusade for the progress of humanity. On the other hand, all other forces whatever, as long as they resist such systematic violence, must be annihilated as hostile to the human race.
Ibid.
Communism, moreover, strips man of his liberty, robs human personality of all its dignity, and removes all the moral restraints that check the eruptions of blind impulse. There is no recognition of any right of the individual in his relations to the collectivity;…In man’s relations with other individuals…Communists hold the principle of absolute equality, rejecting all hierarchy and divinely-constituted authority, including the authority of parents. What men call authority and subordination is derived from the community as its first and only font. Nor is the individual granted any property rights over material goods or the means of production…all forms of private property must be eradicated, for they are at the origin of all economic enslavement.
Ibid.
…Such a doctrine logically makes of marriage and the family a purely artificial and civil institution…There exists no matrimonial bond of a juridico-moral nature that is not subject to the whim of the individual or of the collectivity…Communism is particularly characterized by the rejection of any link that binds woman to the family and the home, and her emancipation is proclaimed as a basic principle. She is withdrawn from the family and the care of her children, to be thrust instead into public life and collective production under the same conditions as man. The care of home and children then devolves upon the collectivity. Finally, the right of education is denied to parents, for it is conceived as the exclusive prerogative of the community, in whose name and by whose mandate alone parents may exercise this right.
Ibid.
It would have only one mission: the production of material things by means of collective labor, so that the goods of this world might be enjoyed in a paradise where each would “give according to his powers” and would “receive according to his needs.” Communism recognizes in the collectivity the right, or rather, unlimited discretion, to draft individuals for the labor of the collectivity with no regard for their personal welfare; so that even violence could be legitimately exercised to dragoon the recalcitrant against their wills. In the Communistic commonwealth morality and law would be nothing but a derivation of the existing economic order, purely earthly in origin and unstable in character. In a word. the Communists claim to inaugurate a new era and a new civilization which is the result of blind evolutionary forces culminating in a humanity without God.
Ibid.
Pope Pius XII writes:
If Christians declare openly the materialist and antichristian doctrine of the communists, and, mainly, if they defend it or promulgate it, “ipso facto”, do they incur in excommunication (“speciali modo”) reserved to the Apostolic See?
Affirmative
Pope Pius XII, Decree Against Communism
As you can see in the above quotes, the Church has had a lot to say about Communism.
The Church has repeatedly condemned Communism.
Firstly, Communism rejects God and substitutes Him with a materialistic economic system, which is idolatry.
Moreover, it rejects the eternal human soul and the afterlife.
Secondly, Communism completely removes the right to private property.
There are also no other human rights nor a moral system, other than the laws of the State.
Thirdly, Communism rejects all forms of hierarchy, meaning even parents don’t have rights over their children.
Fourthly, women have to work in society, meaning that the children will be wards of the State.
Interestingly, this is where Communism agrees with Capitalism – women must work outside of the home.
Any system that wants women to work outside the home, and not raise their children, will more effectively indoctrinate people.
Finally, Communism will violently destroy any enemies (i.e. Catholics) that get in their way.
Every pope since Blessed Pope Pius IX has condemned Communism via Magisterium.
And an automatic excommunication incurs for any Catholic who professes Communism. This hasn’t changed.
If Not Capitalism, Socialism or Communism, Then What?
I understand why a lot of young people dislike our economic inequality. You’re not alone.
I am a millennial that grew up in a blue collar family. So you don’t have to convince me about socioeconomic injustices.
However, the Church has condemned Socialism and Communism for good reason. They are idols, not the solution.
You may be saying, “Well, TheCatholicState, Capitalism makes an idol of money.” I completely agree.
All 3 of these socioeconomic systems are idolatrous. They all take the focus off of God and make idols out of money, the people or the State.
So what is the solution then?
The solution is The Catholic State. That is, we need to put Christ as the King and the head of any socioeconomic system.
What that looks like exactly, I am not sure. I do know that it isn’t Capitalism, Socialism nor Communism.
I know that some Catholic thinkers, such as Belloc and Chesterton have advocated Distributism.
Belloc and Chesterton used Church teaching, particularly the writings of Pope Leo XIII, to come up with Distributism.
I have read some books by Belloc and Chesterton on Distributism, so I may write a future article on it.
If you want to know more about Distributism, then click here for a list of books.
To sum up, I hope you now realize that without God in His proper place, all socioeconomic policies are flawed.
And none of these socioeconomic ideologies are worth giving up your soul for.
May God bless you!