Perspectives of a Wanderer

For centuries, the Catholic Church was the center of life for many.  In fact, it was not uncommon for a town’s Catholic Church to be built on or near the town’s square until the Protestant Revolt either seized the church or relegated it to another part of the town.

Historically, a town square was also a meeting place where both goods and ideas were exchanged.   It is the exchange of ideas that I am more interested in.

Until recently, the exchange of ideas in the town square was, for the most part, free and open.  This seems to no longer be the case.  In fact, there is not an open hostility towards the free expression of religion ideas particularly Christian and especially Catholic ideas.

For a couple of months now, I have exploring ideas for discussion groups on-line.  These have ranged from a narrow as a single topic like Distributism to more general like Catholic Moral and Social teaching.

It was my general disgust with the current state of the town square and my disenchantment with other “Catholic Forums” to explore a more general social/discussion group that would emphasize true Catholic teachings and ideas.   Essentially, an electronic Catholic Town Square.

I am starting to put my ideas down on “paper” and, hopefully, start the design of an actual site(s).  I have not finalized where the site(s) will be (although I have a couple prime ideas in mind).  The one will be very easy and will mainly be a “discussion group” and as exposure to the final site to be developed.  That will be more expansive and will include not only a discussion forum, but also a true social and informational site.

Saying that.  I do not expect or want this “town square” to remain in cyberspace.  I fully expect this to, eventually, blossom into actual town squares.  That is, to recapture actual town squares for evangelization of people to the Catholic faith.

Yes, I know. I it is a weird title.

What has the last five hundred years gotten us? Lets see:

• The Protestant Revolt spawning the plague of Relativism.
• The Industrial Revolution spawning modern Capitalism that ultimately spawned the backlash plague of Socialism and the Global Capitalism.
• The breakdown of morality that coincided with the emergence of the plagues of Liberalism and Materialism.

What I am saying is that the last five hundred years, with all of its advancements, is not what it is all cracked up to be. Being an amateur historian, I have always been drawn to the Medieval, or Middle Age, period, especially the High Middle Ages between the 11th and 13th centuries.

Some of the things that draw me to the High Middle Ages:

• The Church was reaching, what I consider, it apex of influence which has been waning ever since.
• A revival of monasticism, especially the establishment of monastery of Cluny that served as the blueprint for other monastic revivals.
• It was a period of great religious movements including the Crusades.
• The flourishing of the Guild system that set standards for various trades.

Now, by all means, I am not saying that we should completely abandon modern society with all of its technological achievements. What I am saying is that we need to live our lives more in accordance with the morals and priorities of the High Middle Ages. We need to restore the place and influence of the Catholic Church to where it was back then.

However, we should also simplify our lives to. This does involve some abandonment of modern conveniences that drive many to the excesses of Materialism. We need to simplify everything form what we eat to what we buy. Instead of buying food that is already prepared where we just have to shove it in the microwave or into our mouths in the case of fast foods. Start making meals from scratch. Not only will it taste better, but also it will be healthier in the long run, less waste, and one will get the satisfaction of making it for themselves.

Each of need to reflect on how we live our lives and make the appropriate adjustments. Only them will we find happiness and fulfillment.  In addition, we will be better able to combat the plagues of Relativism, Socialism, Liberalism, Materialism and Global Capitalism that is threatening to implode society by eroding its foundation.

Yesterday, I wrote on self-sufficiency in an entry titled “Transforming Society – Self-sufficiency”.  This is kind of a follow-up on that post.

Today, I decided to go to the Michigan Renaissance Festival that is near where I live.  For those who have never been to a Renaissance fair, it is a themed event that loosely emulates some period in the Renaissance period (14^th – 17^th Century) usually England.  I say loosely, since it is mainly a gathering of artisans and performers whose theme based on the period.  Other than that, there is not much in common for the period.

Once you get past the bawdiness of some of the performers and crafts, you can learn a lot about different crafts that can be used for everyday living and also how small and individual businesses operate.  Some of the items I saw of interest varied from mugs, candles, honey, and even soap.

Now, I know what some will say, what does this have do with self-sufficiency.  Not much unless you look at things one can make that they normally buy in stores.  Lets concentrate on one item, soap.  The soaps there were made from various ingredients from beeswax, goats mild, olive oil, and honey.  Many of these ingredients that can be produced by the individual if they have the resources (many can come from a garden and/or small farm) and the knowledge and patience to do so.

The second thing is that many of the artisans at these Renaissance fairs own their own businesses that produce the goods they sell.  Although it is not based on Distributive principles, it does show how one can run their own business, do what they like, and make a living at it.  One can get inspiration from this to do the same thing.

Finally, a Renaissance fair shows a kind of cooperative or community atmosphere.  It takes a lot to get and organize a diverse group of relatively independent people together for a specific number of weekends each year.  Although it is a completely different concept, a community or cooperative based on a Distributive economic and rooted in Catholic Moral and Social teachings, one can learn a lot from a Renaissance fair on how to come together to start and work towards a goal.

We can learn a lot from a Renaissance fare.  However, it is how we put this knowledge to use that is important.

In “Modern Society Must be Transformed or Must Fall” and “We Need a God Based Society”, I wrote about two topics about going back to a previous timeframe to start restoring the moral foundation of society.  Now, it is time to start thinking about how to strengthen that foundation.  The first way is to restore man’s self-sufficiency.

Now, I know what some will say; “Man is a social creature”.  What I am saying is not becoming a hermit and living apart from other people (although I feel like doing that a lot these days).  What I am talking about is how we provide for our basic needs.

Three of the plagues I have written about, in my opinion, undermine self-sufficiency.  Those are Socialism, Liberalism and Global Capitalism.  Both Socialism and Global Capitalism make man depended on others for their basic needs.  And, along with Liberalism, the three say that man is incapable of fending for themselves.

In the case of Socialism, man is dependant of the state, either through the welfare system or through employment by the state.  And, in the most extreme cases like Marxist Socialism, they are dependant on the State for even the most basic needs. In the case of Global Capitalism, the dependency, except for welfare, are exactly the same except that the “corporation” replaces the role of the provider for everything.  Essentially, in both cases, man becomes a slave either of the state or corporations and undermines man’s basic ability to fend for himself in a crisis.  Couple that with the overregulation that is forced on man by Socialism and Liberalism, it even make it more difficult for man to be self-sufficient.

There are many things we can do to break the vice-grip they have on everyone’s lives.  The first thing is to learn to grow and/or raise your own food and make things that you buy in store.  A small to medium sized garden can provide you enough vegetables that, if stored properly, can provide a family with much of their needs for the whole year.  Add to that, if you have the space and constitution, raising animals like chickens, pigs, goats, can provide additional food like eggs, milk and meat.  In addition, for what you cannot grow or raise yourselves, there are many alternatives to the grocery store or those mega stores that will remain unnamed.  Food co-ops, farmer’s markets, and even going to individual farms for basic needs are all possible.

A second way is to learn to make some things that you currently buy in the store or hire others to do.  If one learns the basics of making certain items that they use a lot.  For example, if one knows basic carpentering, electrical, and/or plumbing skills, they can do about 90% (if not more) of the repairs around the house.  Yes, you will have to buy supplies, have to always pay someone to do it.

A third way is to find a way of earning a living without relying on the government or corporation.  This is one of the basic tenets of distributism.  That is, moving the production power from the big “global” corporations to the local and/or family level.

Finally, there is the subject of the overregulation that hampers the ability of man to even consider being self-sufficient.  This is probably the toughest hurdle to get over.  There must be a grass-roots organizational effort to get people elected, starting at the local level and working up to the federal level that will work to free people from the chains of overregulation.   By breaking these chains, ma will be better able to survive.

Man will never be completely self-sufficient.  Like I said in the beginning, man is, by nature, a social creature and there will be some goods that it does not make sense to try to do your self.  Relying on completely on others is not being social.  It is being a slave.  Government and corporation cannot, and must not, be sole providers of all of man’s needs.

Even in the case of “welfare”, it has not been until recent times that this has become a role of government.  In the past, it was charity provided by individuals or by charitable organizations of one sort or another.  This also must be taken away from the government and returned to its proper place.

The way society is structured now; it cannot survive due to the onerous weight placed on it by the plagues of Socialism, Global Capitalism, and Liberalism and will implode.  We must eradicate them as much as possible and return to a place where man can survive on their own as much as possible and be able to do that.

Again I am going to bring up this issue that I have brought up previously in “Why do we Procrastinate?”  In that post, I asked the question, why to we talk and not act?  Some of the possible answers I posed were:

• Is it the fear of the unknown?
• Uncertainty of the chance of success?
• Or, is it something else?

I have come to the conclusion that it may be partially something else and some will not like what I think it is.  That conclusion is that there are “wolves in sheep’s clothing” in the movement.  That is, those who do not want to see the movement succeed.

Although they are at both sides of the spectrum, the main group is on the liberal or left side of the spectrum.  I have encountered these on one particular forum that are do vehemently on the liberal side that they refuse to recognize the Socialist threat of the left to freedoms that are essential for the success of a Distributist society.  In fact, they are so openly hostile that they attack those who dare express the idea that “socialism” is even the remotest threat and refer to the socialists as other things like corporatists.  I believe they are purposely trying to derail the movement to allow for certain forms of socialism to become prominent like it was in the previous century.

But, again I digress from the purpose of this entry.  The issue is that we are still talking and not acting.   I know of a growing body of people that are getting fed up with just talking.  However, what to do is still an issue.

I see the current economic “crisis” as a prime opportunity for organizing communities on the bases of Distributive principles that are firmly ensconced in Catholic Moral and Social teachings.  We hear about who towns (mostly small towns, but whole sections of larger towns and cities) going under due to the Global Capitalists putting the “local mill” or “local retailer” out if business.  With this parasitic leaching, many are abandoning the sections (as in the case of larger towns and cities) or even whole towns (in the case of smaller towns).

Of we can get a large enough group of dedicated and (not /or) skilled (and non-skilled who are willing to learn) people to amass in one or more of these towns, I believe we can revive them to be viable and vibrant areas again.

Now, when I talk about skilled, I am not talking about just “artisans” (although they do fulfill a need) that make certain type of crafts you see at faire and “tourist type” settings.  I am talking about builders, farmers, butchers, electricians, carpenters, and manufacturers of all types of goods and services.   With a varied pool of people, the less (with the ultimate goal of complete independence) we would have to rely on the Global Capitalists and the Socialist state for survival.  In fact, we can and must get to the point were we are providing to others and setting the example for the whole world to see.

One issue is to find the appropriate area(s) that people are willing to leave everything and move to.  There are people like me, who prefer the cooler climates (like here in Michigan) and would not like to move south.  Likewise, there are some who prefer the warmer climates.  But this is minor compared to the fact that any area chosen must have capability to become viable again.  Being in the middle of nowhere (like the ghost towns of the southwest United States) are not even remotely likely to be candidates.  The area must not only have the infrastructure to sustain a population, but also have the natural resources (i.e. water, fertile soil, and climate) to support such a population.

The time for the theoretical is over.  We must move to the practical.  We must find those who are willing and able to do and that will be the hardest part.

It seems people are always talking about a second career either to supplement their, current earnings, something to do after they retire, or completely change their career completely.  That includes me.

Over the years, I have explored various ideas for a new career since the one I am in is very stressful and you need to be constantly learning to keep up.  The various careers I have explored have ranged from a religious vocation to astrophysics.

Currently, I am exploring something for the second option for when I retire.  That is to somehow combine teaching Catholic Theology (mainly Moral and Social teachings) with practical applications to everyday life.  This has gotten me into exploring getting advanced degrees in both Catholic Theology and something like Economics.  This I have discussed in the recent blog entry: “Adjusting Life to Better Serve God.”

However, this is not the only career I have exploring.   Being of a distributist mindset, I have been exploring other things ranging from farming to running a book/music store or an inn/hotel.  Yes, they seem to be very diverse, but they can be done as a small business.  In doing so, I would be applying the principles from Distribution, and maybe the Catholic Land Movement in a practical way.

However, doing these, I would want to as part of a group who want to implement a Distributist community that, although not completely separate from society, would want to be as self contained and independent as possible.  That is to be set up as a model for society to follow.  This community would also be based on restoring the moral and social foundations based on Catholic Moral and Social teachings that have been gradually crumbling of the past couple of centuries, and accelerating as of late, since the Protestant Revolt.

The thing is getting a large enough group of like-minded people together to do such and endeavor.   I know only a handful of people that could be interested and some of those are too far to the “progressive” side of the spectrum that they may not be suited.  We would need a diverse set of skills and dedication to make this really success.

Hopefully, we who do espouse the true Distributive economic model can promote our ideas to get enough people to really make this succeed.

Yes, here I go again.

I have come to the conclusion that modern society, even with all of its advancements, is not progress.  While these advancements have not been the cause of the plagues of Relativism, Socialism, Materialism, Liberalism, and Global Capitalism, some of them are complicit in their unconstrained spread.

The advancements I am talking about are directly related to the information age, that is, the ability to spread ideas and information over a wide area in a minimal time span.  While most of what is sent out is not of an immoral or harmful nature, there is a growing body of work that is either or both.

With this spread of this material has come a further breakdown of moral framework that binds society together.  Without this moral society cannot survive.  We need to transform society by not going forward, but returning to the past.  No, I am not talking about technology and other advancements; I am talking returning to societal framework that restores the moral foundations.

In my previous post, I said that “We Need a God Based Society”.  That is still true.  However, we need to look at what else we need to do.  One of the other “fruits” of the modern era is the breakdown of the family.  This, I also blame on the immorality of the plagues infecting society.  The traditional family must be restored.  With a strong family foundation society’s foundation will be also be reinforced.

Once we start rebuilding these moral foundations of society, we will be in a much better position to go after the other effects of the plagues and that includes the dissemination of immoral and harmful material.  We do not have to get rid of technology, we just have to ensure its proper use.  Yes, some will call this censorship, however even free speech ends when it harms others.

With the rebuilding of the moral foundation of society, we will start seeing the transformation of society instead of the current decline into the abyss of immorality and barbarism that is currently happening.  If this happens, society must and will fall.

Consider the following statements:

“Without God, man neither knows which way to go, nor even understands who he is.”

And

“Man cannot bring about his own progress unaided, because by himself he cannot establish an authentic humanism. Only if we are aware of our calling, as individuals and as a community, to be part of God’s family as his sons and daughters, will we be able to generate a new vision and muster new energy in the service of a truly integral humanism.”

These two statements are part of the beginning of the Conclusion for the latest encyclical, Caritas In Veritate, of Pope Benedict XVI.

We are seeing the fruits of a Godless society today with the increasingly spreading infection of the plagues of Relativism, Socialism, Liberalism, and Global Capitalism.  Although these have festered through out the past two thousand years, they have been kept in check, for the most part, by the ever present emphasis of God’s natural law in the formation of the morals and man’s “positive” law.

These checks started to crack with the Protestant Revolt and continued to grow with the Industrial Revolution.  These two events allowed the plagues of Relativism and Global Capitalism to eventually gain a foothold in society.  These, in turn eventually allowed the other plagues of Socialism (a direct reaction to Capitalism), Materialism, and Liberalism to eventually spread their infection in society.

With these plagues let loose, those who were/are infected saw the dangers of God to their plagues.  This has given rise to the outright assault on God by those infected.  It started out slowly with preventing the Church from endorsing candidates and taking prayer out of school and has grown to the point where even talking about morality based on God’s Natural Law is being criminalized.  How long are we going to take it before we say “no more”?

I say “no more” has arrived.  We must start ignoring the restraints being forced on us by those infected.  In fact, we must put God back into society any way and every way possible.

Although we must be charitable to them, we must not do anything to encourage their continued infection with these plagues.  Whenever and wherever possible, we must shun buying good and services from those infected.  We must find alternatives, including setting up a competing “white market” economy, to their businesses.

In addition, we must put forth our own candidates and/or parties for office that will promote, not hinder restoring God to society staring locally and going from there.

Finally, we must not only “talk the talk” but also “walk the walk”.  That is, we must live a life with God as its center, not just give “lip serve”.  By providing examples on how to live, we provide a much more effective witness to God.

Things must change or society will implode from the weight the plagues destroying its foundation.   This must start immediately if there is to be any hope for society.

One of the advantages of where I live is that we have not one, but two Catholic Radio stations.  One of them, Ave Maria Radio, produces a number of programs that are heard nationally on EWTN Radio.  However, I work or am busy with other obligations when many of the shows are on during the week.  Fortunately, one of the shows, Kresta in the Afternoon, rebroadcasts some of his shows on the weekends.

I heard one such broadcast today and the person, Dr. Edward Sri, was discussing his new book, The Bible Compass: A Catholic’s Guide to Navigating the Scriptures, which is to be published next month.  The book was not of interest to me, it was his life story.  Like myself, he was (I still am) out in the business world for a number of years before he went back to study theology and started teaching and writing (his book is on my “to buy” list).

This is something that I have been thinking of doing in some capacity for a number of years.  Being single, and having no desire to get married, the options for me are much broader than for him.  I have contemplated everything from the Priesthood (Religious Order mainly), to the Diaconate, to teaching and/or writing.  I have ruled out the first two for a number of reasons, but am still thinking of the third option.

On teaching and/or writing, I would love to get a degree in Theology concentrating in Moral Theology and Catholic Social Teachings.  I feel that is where there is a void, especially on the laity side, in the teaching ranks today and it is an area that I am very interested.  However, my desired goal is not to stop there and just teach Moral Theology and/or Catholic Social Teaching.  I would love to apply that to some aspect of life.   This is where my second area of interest would come in.

As you can probably tell from other entries on my blog, I am interested in three Catholic movements: Catholic Workers Movement, Catholic Land Movement, and Distributism.  It is these three that I think I can combine with the Catholic Moral and Social teaching to create a framework to apply them to aspects of everyday life.  I already have a business degree in Computers with a minor in Finance.  However, to apply it the way I want to, I have a feeling I would need to look into one other area of business and that is Economics.

With a greater knowledge of Economics, I could really apply the Catholic Social and Moral teaching to develop and or enhance the Catholic movements mentioned above.  This is especially true for Distributism.  Up to now, Distributism has been mainly, with a few minor practical applications, a theoretical economic mode.  With knowledge of both Economics and Catholic Theology, I would be better able to combine the both into a practical and coherent economic model that could be more readily implemented.

I will be studying my options in both in the next couple of months.  I know I can get both at the Masters level where I now live.  Beyond that, I may have to explore outside the area for, at least, one of the degrees.  At this point, I have no desire to move out of this area, but that is far enough down the line that I do not have to consider that at this time.

This path that I have set for myself is challenging.  The thing is, can I balance work, school and other activity without burning out or going crazy.  That is another thing I will need to consider as I go along.

In discussing Healthcare in a forum I belong to, the subject of cooperatives (or co-ops) came up as a possible alternative to the proposed government, or socialized, solution.  This has gotten me to wonder if co-ops may be part of the solution to the development, implementation, and success of a Distributist type economic model.

For those who are unfamiliar with cooperatives, they are:

An autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. It is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit.

A couple of the more familiar types of cooperatives are credit unions and agricultural co-ops.

Now I know that under some types of co-op systems, one is not independent but worker-owners of the cooperative.  The best  known example of this type of cooperative is the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation.

This, however, is not the type of cooperative that I am looking at.   The Utility cooperatives, Agricultural cooperatives, Cooperative banking, and Business and employment co-operative can best describe the types of cooperatives I am looking at.  In these types of cooperatives, individuals pull their resources to either provide goods or services to the members (i.e. energy or banking) or allow individual business to group together to market their goods and obtain raw materials needed at better prices that they would of gotten by working independently.  In addition, these type of cooperatives can also supply new and/or start-up businesses with needed capital and resources.  In the case of the latter, they could be considered associations as well as cooperatives.

What I am saying is co-operatives would allow like minded people to come together, pool their resources, and gain a level of buying and/or selling power while essentially keeping their independence in true Distributist fashion.  Essentially, gaining the power of larger businesses while staying as small or family businesses.