Erroneous Autonomy: A Conversation on Solidarity & Faith | National Catholic Reporter

Erroneous Autonomy: A Conversation on Solidarity & Faith | National Catholic Reporter  This is today, but part of being poor means I can't go (and part of being a bad scheduler).  Here is what I would have tried to say, with no guarantee that anyone would be allowed comments this long:

In defining Solidarity, let’s start by defining what it’s not.  It’s not Capitalism.  So what is Capitalism?  Capitalism is a system where the factors of production, which are wholly owned and controlled by the owners and managers of the firm (which can be either a public corporation or privately owned) are deployed to maximize profit for the owners – and since 1981, for the CEOs.

Solidarity is not that.  Indeed, it is more than the unity of a single factor.  It is unity of all the factors – including the various trade, craft and industrial workers, engineering, marketing, distribution and professional workers and even management and executives.  Going further, it could eventually include suppliers and franchisees and could even include the people who build and finance member homes, build member roads, provide power and provide education, health and social services (say, the local Archdiocese or as members of the cooperative) to what is now arguably, not just a company, but a cooperative, preferably one that is governed democratically – including the selection of leaders.  Essentially, it includes both suppliers and customers – although much of both of these categories may now be internal to the enterprise, although there would certainly be both external suppliers and external customers.

Going to the second part of the day, it would include citizens and immigrants (documented or not), but would also include members who work for an overseas subsidiary or supplier.  Rather than bringing them to America, we solidarity and cooperation brings America to them, with equal ownership rights in the enterprise and pay that provides an equal standard of living, as well as equal influence as voting members.  Of course, this would be the most subversive development yet, because the best workers would join firms that practice international solidarity (if only for the pay), requiring that capitalist firms match cooperative firms and ending the competitive abuse that makes capitalism work.  It would also change the habits of governance in the host countries, ending the rationale for the American defense complex.  Nothing says solidarity more than lowering your weapons.

Interestingly enough, if infrastructure, education, health, and social services are part of the sodality and defense is overcome by international peace, then solidarity produces the ultimate goal of liberty while pursuing its opposite, the end of government.  The fantasy that each person should, or even can, do everything by themselves is crushed when the group does it better than he ever could – so that all that is left for the libertarian is to grow up and join up.