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Thursday, June 21, 2018

What’s Wrong with Communism? | Ascension

What’s Wrong with Communism? | Ascension: When St. John Paul II reflected upon the fall of communism, he insisted that it was a mistake to view its failure simply as a matter of economic inefficiency. On the one hand, there is some truth to the following quip: socialism distributes wealth, it doesn’t create it. And others have made the same point by rhetorically asking, “Where would you rather go to the bathroom, a public or private restroom?” Nonetheless, the real issue with communism is not merely a matter of economics, but goes much deeper. In reflecting upon earlier papal condemnations of the Marxist doctrine of class warfare, John Paul II has this to say: “[W]hat is condemned in class struggle is the idea that conflict is not restrained by ethical and juridical considerations, or by respect for the dignity of others…. As a result of this doctrine, the search for a proper balance between interests … was replaced by attempts to impose absolute domination of one’s own side through the destruction of the other side’s capacity to resist, using every possible means, not excluding the use of lies, terror tactics against citizens, and weapons of utter destruction …. Therefore, class struggle in the Marxist sense and …

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