CUA's Business School's First Conference, Part III | National Catholic Reporter

CUA's Business School's First Conference, Part III | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The remarks by (and reaction by MSW) ot the talk by Edward Hadas are interesting. Essentially, he said to behave ethically in the Catholic mindset or the collectivist government will do it for them.  Libertarians saying the word collectivist imply that this would be bad.  As a collectivist, I would respond that the Popes are much more willing for a governmental role in providing real equality than most in the government do, aside from Bernie Sanders.  I suspect if I had been asked to give a presentation on a collectivist response to capitalism, the crowd would either throw things or run from the room.



The third afternoon speaker was Samuel Gregg of Acton.  As you might guess, no one from Catholic Worker or the Green Party was on the agenda (MSW lists Catholics for Choice - although I suspect that they would be better received than my suggestions).  Once you invite Ave Maria, there is no where to go up up.  Gregg wrote a book called The Tea Party Catholic - I guess you can go lower.  He spoke on the dangers of crony capitalism (a libertarian code word for monopoly gone too far).  Gregg does not get the joke he is making - that all capitalism is crony capitalism because it restrains both product markets (making them less free) and labor markets (subverting them to hierarchy and despotism).  His audience were simply stealth crony capitalists who don't think what they are doing is at all wrong.  Perhaps it is apt that this is at CUA and that confessions were offered - sadly the biggest sinners did the teaching.



CUA Law's George Garvey spoke on organized labor (and exception to what I just said) and how it relates to solidarity and subsidiarity, with state functions growing as these have declined - sadly in my opinion, President Bush tried his utmost to kill those functions too.



CUA Business School Dean (and conference organizer) Andrew Abela spoke at some point (chronology by either MSW or me went away long ago).  His vision is to have this be the Pope's Business School, although I am not seeing how these speakers lead to that end. Having a course on marriage and family (is it mandatory?) may stop a CEO from not considering a candidate who was getting divorced because he would be "distracted" (except that in my experience, MBA students, like MPA students, while being oriented to the issues will not be making corporate policy until much later in their careers, if ever).  Abela spoke on putting virtue in "hiring, coaching and evaluation and leadership" in his course of study. Again, new MBAs, if they do these things, must listen to policy, not what they learned at CUA.  He cites a Koch Industries practice as an example.  You can fill in the blanks from there yourself, although I have two words to describe this - tone deaf.  He also mentions Hobby Lobby, which is funny to advocate libertarianism in one breath and religious hierarchism the next (in reiterating that corporations are people - more so then the employees).  Of course, that is the schizophrenia which is Catholic thought on the right.



One of MSW's major complaints about the Conference was no Q&A.  Of course, I am not sure how adding input from conservative or libertarian businessmen would have added anything - and if MSW tried to talk as a member of the media, I am sure the police in attendance would have removed him.  The other is that no one seemed to mention Catholic Social teaching (including the latest piece which follows the tradition of not saying nice things about business ("The Economy kills).  Again, if MSW had mentioned this, the police would have escorted him out.  The sad fact about any Catholic University is that it runs on donations from people like those who went to and were pandered to at this conference - of course, this may or may not say anything about what happens in class.  Those are hiring and admissions decisions, although it is telling that none of the CUA teaching faculty spoke.

Silk on Pew Findings | National Catholic Reporter

Silk on Pew Findings | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Silk's comments seem to indicate that the people the White Evangelicals don't like and those Democrats who don't think their party is moderate enough could probably form a new party and be the majority, although the people who think the Democrats need to be more liberal could join forces with some of the independent Socialist and Green voices and give the moderates a run for their money.  I suspect that a new majority, even in the South, of moderates may finally quiet the Tea Party vote, or sideline it as they die off, both physically and as a political force.  After the Scopes trial, the went into the woods.  I suspect in the future that they will go back.

Kasper's Amazing Interview | National Catholic Reporter

Kasper's Amazing Interview | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: A very good interview and I expect more charitable than what was lobbed his way.  The take away lines are the terms "Gospel as a penal code" and a fear among conservatives that any change will make the dominos fall.  Of course, the liberals hope that this is the case.

CUA Business School's First Conference, Part II | National Catholic Reporter

CUA Business School's First Conference, Part II | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Day two began with Ave Maria University's Catherine Pakaluk.  It is at this point that I usually say "next!" but I must slow down and look at this accident. She brought up Starbucks fair trade campaign in her piece on solidarity - but mentioned that the Barista needs a bit of solidarity too.  I think I agree with Starbucks - that every part of the chain is to be dealt with in solidarity.  In other words, it people in peonage pick your oranges, it is not enough to shop at a union grocery - everything matters.  See Walmart and China.  MSW made some interesting comments relating the virtue of the markets and Federalist 51 (if people were angels...). Sounds like an invitation for government action to me!  How is the creative part - and as most of my readers know, I have some definite views on that.



Mary Hirschfeld of  Villanova spoke next.  She is both an economist and theologian (credentialed, unlike yours truly).  She examined self interest, and how that shakes out in modernity (and needs satisfaction, which sounds like consumerism to me). The constant push for more has us work too hard, in her view, and has us look for ways to keep turning resources into products.  I would add that the most important resources are the human ones. The irony of capitalism is that consumerism prevents workers from seeking a good old Marxist revolution.  While we have workers who don't get enough who sound radical - give them more and they won't be.  This is why I am leery about guaranteed income schemes that don't also change who controls work (the correct answer, by the way, even for non-Marxists, is the workers - with pay following control.

Pope Francis on Authenticity of Prayer | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis on Authenticity of Prayer | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Very Ignatian advise on prayer from our very Ignatian pope.  He hits it on the nail.  Prayer is not about telling God what too do (magnified by prayer chains).  Its about being ready to respond to what God wants us to do - and sometimes the first step is to cuss God out.  I have it on the highest authority that God can take it.

Contra Glenn Greenwald | National Catholic Reporter

Contra Glenn Greenwald | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Interesting read.  Not sure why Greenwald thinks that just because his sources no nothing, that there is nothing there.  It is more likely that Glenn's sources were silenced then that the Aleppo attack's targets really did not exist.  Sometimes people of Greenwald's ilk get caught up in conspiracy theories involving the government either fabricating or covering up knowledge.  I usually ignore such nonsense.

CUA Business School's First Conference | National Catholic Reporter

CUA Business School's First Conference | National Catholic Reporter by On the prelims, first, on the police detail, the members are not supposed to tell you.  Probably one or two city officials in the audience.  Second, Cigar Receptions - how 19th Century!.Third, on the availability of Confession - the plutocrats need more than a few Our Fathers, or should, to wipe away some of their sins.  I hope he confessors agreed.



I suspect the Cardinal's talk on the vocation of businessmen was playing good cop. Saw nothing about a discussion of just wages, although the whole citing of the Logic of the Gift may have been hinting at that - the Gift in this context is to pay wages and benefits to employees over and above what the accountants say that they are worth in productivity terms (although in my experience, such calculations are very subjective - indeed, if someone's job is essential then they are as productive as anyone else in any other job, but the accountants don't see it that way).  Of course, because the gift probably breaks the budget (if the budget includes huge CEO bonuses), then we have the logic of public involvement in supporting salary adjustments for children.  Sadly, there was no Q&A to rock the boat, because the Napa Institute sponsored the event.  Politeness in pace of truth, it seems.



Professor Hittinger extended the talk on the vocation of business - and how it was more than just profit maximization or innovation. He spoke of people and actions being more important than things, how hard it is to escape the utilitarian ethic, and the reluctance to invoke moral authority on business issues.  My experience, of course, is that the left have no such qualms.  One of the points made was that business is not one of the big three institutions (not sure about that, but he is an academic), but that business is part of them all.  I would disagree - work is a biggie - church vocations? not so much.MSW.  MGB: