The Individual & the Economy

We too often think that someone somewhere can come up with the answer that will make things that are going wrong, right, and that is true if you are thinking eternity and God, but in the world, events and structures are created in a random yet supernaturally ordered way that is influenced by the proverbial butterfly wings and the actions of billions of people.

This article from Acton looks at that in relation to the economy.

An excerpt.

“Many people cannot get the idea into their heads that society was not created nor is run by a single authority. Now someone objected to this idea once by saying that since God created everything, He is effectively the creator of society as well.

“That is true in a sense, but one thing I have insisted on, along with the late Pope John Paul II, is that God made man a co-creator with him. This applies not only to creativity in the commonly understood sense (inventions, art, literature) but to society and the market as well. John Paul II held that we humans have self-possession and self-governance, which give us self-determination. Men are in control of their actions (assuming they are not slaves to their passions, public opinion, or something else), and therefore are responsible for those actions.

“This self-determination includes the setting up of institutions, usually occurring over long periods of time and resulting from trial and error. These institutions serve the function of human flourishing. For example, look at the way universities have evolved since the later middle ages. They began as monastic schools, gradually opened to others, developed into universities in major cities, and are now represented by the innumerable and diverse institutions we see today. Are they perfect? Of course not -- nothing man does can be so. But one cannot argue that they have not been centers of great learning and progress for the benefit of the human race.”