Lack of just wages, benefits a threat to human dignity

Lack of just wages, benefits a threat to human dignity: Distinctly Catholic: Cardinal Sean O'Malley spoke about three forces at work in American social and political life, in a talk given Jan. 10 at The Catholic University of America.

MGB:_The plight of embassy workers is very real and something must be done to make diplomatic immunity not be a license to break the law.  The workers and their passports must be subject to American legal protection, whether by treaty or American law.

Unions and minimum wages are a great interim step, but simply playing around with raising them is not enough. Ownership and control of the enterprise by workers (through their unions) is essential to move beyond where we are now.  It will be harder to undo than a minimum wage increase (which inflation erodes with time).

A larger, inflation adjusted child tax credit is also essential - even in employee-owned firms and for Church employees. Supply and demand can’t do this, so government must. Employee-owed companies should also know no borders. All workers in their firms should have the same standard of living to stop the exploitative nature of trade. As conditions overseas will change because of this, mass immigration will be less necessary, but still welcome.

The drive for moral thinking in management has no chance in capitalism. It might in the councils of employee-owned firms, especially as these will be established on a moral basis. Likewise, the moral use of technology is more likely to be considered in these firms. The same can be true of finance, which can be internalized in these firms, ending outside money for investment and consumption. The same can be true for health care.