Light On Dark Water

The Problem with Distributism

Or rather a problem, I should say, but a fairly big one. I brought it up the other day to someone who has studied economics and worked in that field. She had never heard of it, so later I went looking around on the web for some sort of quick intro. And almost everything I found gave the impression that it is some sort of specifically Catholic idea. Search for "what is distributism?" and Google immediately gives you this definition, from the Wikipedia article: 

Distributism is an economic philosophy that developed in Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century based upon the principles of Catholic social teaching, especially the teachings of Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Rerum Novarum and Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo Anno....

And the first of the search results is this FAQ from The Distributist Review, which begins:

Distributism finds its roots in the social and economic theories articulated in the documents of the Catholic pontiffs, beginning with Pope Leo XIII’s “Rerum Novarum.”

The page is a good summary, and I don't mean this as a criticism; after all, what it says is true. But it, and everything else on the first page of search results (including a couple of pieces arguing against it), leaves the impression that distributism is some Catholic thing, based mainly on the authority of the Church and of interest mainly to Catholics, and rather traditionalist Catholics at that. If I were a non-Catholic, possibly not well disposed toward the Church,  I'd certainly think that, and probably pay no more attention.

But although the ideas have been propounded mainly by Catholics, there's no intrinsic reason for that. And it's certainly not a doctrine of the faith. It's a tribute to the general good sense of Catholicism that distributism emerged from it, but there's nothing in it that isn't accessible and acceptable to ordinary reason and common sense.

I know this is all pretty obvious, but it just struck me forcibly when I brought up the subject with a non-Catholic. I don't know how it can be done, but I doubt distributism will ever gain much influence until or unless it can break out of this Catholic ghetto.

This Is My Opinion of Evangelii Gaudium

Actually, I still haven't quite finished it, but I'm close, and I'm impatient to say what I think: this is a wonderful document. 

I mostly kept to my intention of avoiding commentary about the work, wanting to encounter it with as little preconception as I could manage, but it was impossible to avoid hearing the sounds of right and left clashing over it. It's a shame, and a measure of how much our poisonous political culture dominates everything, that a document which is above all a passionate challenge to all Catholics to live their faith more fully and to actively communicate it, should be treated as a weapon to be wielded in political combat. A document which deplores disunity has been made an occasion of it.

The Catholic left apparently is happy that EG has some harsh words for capitalism, for economic theories and practices which rely excessively on market forces. But the more important fact is that it poses a challenge for everyone, regardless of politics and beyond politics. I'd say that anyone who reads it and does not feel a profound personal challenge is missing its most important message.

I do have a few quibbles here and there, and I have to say that in its effort to cover a great deal of ground it begins to seem diffuse, and to lose energy somewhat toward the end. I may write something longer about it. But for now I only want to say how fine it is, and that it should inspire all of us to put it into practice. There is an Anglican collect which Fr. Matt mentioned a few weeks ago which urges us "to hear..., read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest [the scriptures]." Those words kept coming to mind as I read Evangelii Gaudium. It may not be scripture, but that's what we should be doing with it. 

 

Glenn Gould's humming sometimes makes it seem like there was a lunatic lurking in the recording studio.

Rorate Caeli

Advent Weekend Music

I was actually looking for the English hymn based on the traditional Latin, and ran across this, which is quite lovely.

 

A Couple of Anglican-Related Things

I guess I should say "Ordinariate-related." "Anglican" is both more and less accurate, as it isn't in the name of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, on the face of which designation you would not know that its purpose is the preservation of the Anglican patrimony in union with the Catholic Church. 

Anyway: here is William Oddie in the Catholic Herald UK on the subject of our new liturgy, which has been described as "the Extraordinary Form [i.e. the old Latin Mass] in Cranmerian English." Last Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, was the date of its inaugural use across the Ordinariate.

"The ordinariate, that is, isn’t now just for ex-Anglicans; it’s for us all. This isn’t an ex-Anglican ghetto."

I certainly hope so.

And here is our priest, Fr. Matthew Venuti, interviewed on our local Catholic radio station. This is better than listening to it on the radio, because you can see the participants. This is an hour long and I've only listened to about three-fourths of it, but that's enough for me to say I think you'll enjoy it.

 

Oh, by the way

There are probably going to be a number of these brief reviews of mostly old movies over the next month or so. We are about to cancel our "cable" TV service (actually over the phone lines--AT&T's TV+Internet service).  It's crazy for us to keep it, since we almost never watch anything but PBS, TCM, and in the fall college football. I'm a little hazy now about why we did it in the first place--had something to do with consolidating phones, Internet, and TV. But it includes a DVR, and in the several years we've had it I've recorded an awful lot of stuff. Right now I think there are around 120 (!) programs on the DVR, and at least two-thirds of them are old movies recorded from TCM. So, since it will be going away with the subscription, we're trying to watch some of the ones that look most interesting. I'll miss TCM, but a lot of what they show can be found on Netflix, and we can get the PBS shows either broadcast or on the net.

The other third is music programs like Austin City Limits and a few things from EWTN.