Don't Tell the Social Justice Lefties This, But They are Really Supporting Capitalism

1 of the big things in the Social Justice Socialists who tend to see only those parts of the Gospel that uphold their version of socialism or communism is what is called FAIR TRADE. How it is promoted is that by buying fair trade products you are sidestepping those evil capitalists who make their horrible profits on the backs of the poor & downtrodden & are enabling the poor to form socialist groups to earn the money they deserve.

This is BS Pure & simple!

On the side of the Social Justice moonbats it is the food & clothing equivelent of the so called green credits that Algore is promoting. A way to ease their conscience without really doing something that might cost them time or require them to actually go among the unwashed masses that they won't admit they really feel superior to.

Beyond that, when you really look into the whole process, it is capitalism at work, pure & simple. It is just dressed up with a few words to fool the SJ Moonbats' consciences as I said.

Why do I say that? It should become apparent when we look at the actual process.

1st of all, they often use the term "worker members who own their small farms" to describe the members of the" co-ops" that are formed. By now things should be clear to most, but if not I'll clarify things a bit.

"Worker members who own their own farms" In plain English they are small farm owners. Unless you are talking about the recent phenomena of factory markets throughout history most people who owned a farm were called farmers because they actually did the farming themselves. At least that was true of my uncles & cousins who farmed as well as of friends of mine whose families owned farms. But to say farm owners reaks too much of capitalism. Using the term worker sounds much more anti-capitalist.

The other word is "co-op". Last time I looked most co-ops were a capitalist tool used by groups to either enable their member/owners to get a better price for their product (Co-ops like Ocean Spray for cranberries, Blue Diamond for almonds & Diamond for walnuts), or to get something at a better price (like the electric co-op I belong to or a retailer owned co-op like Ace Hardware to enable the independently owned stores to reap the benifits of huge purchases of products).

1 of the fair trade groups has the following on their site as a part of their commitment the following: "To work directly with democratically run farming cooperatives - businesses that are owned and governed by the farmers - so that the benefits of trade actually reach the farmers and their communities. " The last time I looked, that was how pretty much every co-op works, in a democratic fashion, electing boards to govern the co-op for the member/owners benefit. At least that is how my electrical co-op is run. Everything in that statement looks like what capitalism does when it is allowed to freely do so.

Either way the whole thing is capitalism in action, plain & simple.

What we really have is a bunch of small businesses who are using various capitalistic tools including marketing to make a profit, plain & simple. & I say, more power to them. Like any other business that is successful, they have found a market & are selling to it.

Another reality is, that if these fair trade groups didn't operate by free market principals they would be losing money & quickly going out of business. So, the products they offer have to be of a decent quality or they won't sell. If they don't sell, the group doesn't make money for themselves to pay their workers & promote their products or pay the co-op members for more product. The free market at work. Part of the beauty of capitalism is that it creates wealth, thus enabling businesses to operate & grow.

As an avowed capitalist WHO FULLY SUPPORTS THE FREE MARKET IN ACCORD WITH THE OFFICIAL TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, I will gladly buy fair trade products that I need, when they are at a price I can afford. I'll do it for several reasons. 1st of all, because in doing so I am actually undermining those SJ Moonbats ewhole agenda of creating a workers paradise. Instead I am helping with the growth & development of small businesses through the processes of the free market.

& as I said, I am acting on the REAL social teachings of the Catholic Church. The teachings that uphold & support the free market & capitalism. Don't believe me. Here is a quote from the Catholic Church's Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church: "The free market is an institution of social importance because of its capacity to guarantee effective results in the production of goods and services. Historically, it has shown itself able to initiate and sustain economic development over long periods. There are good reasons to hold that, in many circumstances, “the free market is the most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs”. The Church's social doctrine appreciates the secure advantages that the mechanisms of the free market offer, making it possible as they do to utilize resources better and facilitating the exchange of products. These mechanisms “above all ... give central place to the person's desires and preferences, which, in a contract, meet the desires and preferences of another person”.

A truly competitive market is an effective instrument for attaining important objectives of justice: moderating the excessive profits of individual businesses, responding to consumers' demands, bringing about a more efficient use and conservation of resources, rewarding entrepreneurship and innovation, making information available so that it is really possible to compare and purchase products in an atmosphere of healthy competition. " (Par 347, Quoting from Pope John Paul the Great's encyclical Centesimus Annus, supposedly a scathing attack on capitalism that is anything but, more on that later.)

"The Church's social doctrine, while recognizing the market as an irreplaceable instrument for regulating the inner workings of the economic system, points out the need for it to be firmly rooted in its ethical objectives, which ensure and at the same time suitably circumscribe the space within which it can operate autonomously." (Par 349 emphasis mine, note it talks about ethical objectives, the only kind true capitalism uses.)

"The market takes on a significant social function in contemporary society, therefore it is important to identify its most positive potentials and to create the conditions that allow them to be put concretely into effect."(Par 350, emphasis mine)

As an aside, a couple years ago I got a copy of the Compendium of Social Doctrine to be able to counter those who tried to present the Church's social teaching as something it wasn't. The more I've studied it, the more I've discovered that most of what the SJ Moonbats in the Church teach as the Church's social teaching is really the opposite of what they claim. (BIG SURPRIZE!!!!! Pardon the sarcasm.) So, whenever you read a news report that the Church has issued a scathing attack on capitalism, read that with GREAT SCEPTICISM. What the Pope has done is issued a warning to not do those unethical things done in the name of capitalism that are anything but capitalistic, not capitalism. But, they want it to appear it attacks capitalism so that they can divert attention away from the fact that the real scathing attack (which they downplay) is on their socialistic agenda. You would be amazed at what the Church really teaches about capitalism, unions, etc. The Above quotes should give you a clue. But, I doubt if the SJ Moonbats have really studied the Church's social teachings except to pick out what they see as the "spirit" of the Church's teaching. I paraphrase something I have quoted before, (that I got from Frs. Levis & Trigilio) "The spirit of the Church's social teaching is found in the letter of that teaching!"

(I recently started reading Dr. Thomas E. Woods, Jr.'s book The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy . Since I am not an economist, I can't say I fully understand everything he says & might [only might, I haven't found anything yet but I'm only a couple of chapters into the book. & I may NOT find anything either.] disagree on some of the smaller applications, overall what I have read & scanned looks like a solid orthodox study of Catholic social teaching in relation to the free market & capitalism. Another good book, although not looking at capitalism from a Catholic viewpoint is 1 that I've scanned at my local Borders & is on my & also on a friend's must get lists is The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism by Ludwig von Mises Institute colleague Robert P. Murphy. & no, I do not get a kickback for promoting these books or the other book of Dr. Woods on the Catholic Church & Western Civ that I have recommended. [I will also have more to say on the entire excellent Politically Inncorrect series by Regnery as well as more on the Austrian School of econmics & the von Mises Institute at another time.])

So next time you see something by a fair trade group, don't be so hesitant to buy some of their product, to just write it off. Check out the company, they usually have a website. & if it turns out they are capitalists that only market themselves as "social justice" (& they don't support things morally objectionable) go ahead & buy. You are really helping to fuel the growth of capitalism. & have a good laugh, knowing that the real subversing isn't those SJ Moonbats, but you for subverting their attempts to destroy capitalism by your actually upholding capitalistic free market principals.

(Note: I am not an economist & do not pretend to be an expert. All I know is what I've read & come to understand as I've studied the Church's teachings, read a few books, watching Neil Cavoto & company on Fox & learned from life's experiences. People like Dr. Woods & the Austrian School are the experts that align up with how I've come to understand things & I bow to their superior knowledge where I fall short. I will gladly listen to any criticism in my interpretation of things if Dr. Woods or others of the Austrian School should come across this, as I know Dr. Woods has in the past.)