Is Ryan a Real Catholic?

There are rumblings on the left these days that Paul Ryan cannot claim to be a good Catholic, because he is a disciple of Ayn Rand and of free markets.

So… exactly what are the Catholic social teachings?

The three basic principles, as summed up by John Paul II, are human dignity, solidarity, and subsidiarity.

On human dignity, Ryan does well. Human dignity implies a commitment to human rights, things like life, liberty, and the possession of property. On abortion, for example, Ryan is in accord with the Church. Most of his opponents tend not to be.

On subsidiarity, Ryan also does well. This is the principle that matters should always be managed at the level closest to the human individual. As Pius XI put it, "It is a fundamental principle of social philosophy, fixed and unchangeable, that one should not withdraw from individuals and commit to the community what they can accomplish by their own enterprise and/or industry." Ryan cites this principle for his economic views. It implies that government should be resorted to sparingly, and when resorted to, that local government should be preferred to national government. Basic current conservative principles.

Solidarity is the point where the leftists think they have him—despite the apparent fact that he is stronger on the other two fundamentals than they are. Solidarity means a commitment to the common good, over and above one’s personal interests. But the criticism of Ryan on this point presupposes that he does not believe, and cannot honestly believe, that his economic or political programme is for the common good. This is a serious charge, one of bad faith, and needs to be substantiated.

These are the three fundamentals as identified by John Paul II. Others add a few more: the Wikipedia entry on Catholic Social Teaching adds charity and distributism.

The meaning of charity should be fairly obvious. It is binding on us all to help the less fortunate whenever we can. It does not follow, however, that charity is the job of governments. Remember the principle of subsidiarity. In fact, the reverse seems more reasonable: if the poor and the sick and those in prison are tended to by tax dollars, this is not charity, because there is no moral choice involved in paying taxes. Charity begins where government leaves off. Ryan cannot be faulted on this ground, therefore, for reducing government payments to the poor. It is not his money.

Distributism, according to Wikipedia, “holds that social and economic structures should promote wide ownership of corporations and is the basis for anti-trust laws and economic cooperatives including credit unions.” Check—this advocates the stock market and the idea of publicly traded corporations. You know—Wall Street. The place the progressives have been trying to occupy? Is Ryan really less committed to the stock market than his Democratic rivals?

Who's the worst atheist?

Now as for Ayn Rand. Her philosophy is atheist and should be repugnant to any Catholic. However, Ryan has said that he rejects Rand’s epistemology and ontology—which means, her atheism. He embraces specifically her economic and political views. This puts him in exactly the same position as anyone on the left who rejects Marx’s atheism and materialism, yet endorses and supports Marx-inspired, i.e., New Deal-type, social programmes. It is also parallel to someone who rejects Hitler’s philosophy more or less in total, but embraces the idea of highways.