2021-09-15 12:52:12 +00:00
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<p>Perhaps one of my favorite Catholic Apologists is Trent Horn. He does an
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amazing job at calmly and concisely explaining Catholic doctrines on Faith &
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Morals in a very rational manner. He has been fundamental in my formation as a
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Catholic, and I pray God will provide him with what he needs to continue his
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wonderful work.</p>
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<p>All this being said, there is one area where I have a small discrepancy with
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Mr. Horn, which lies in his understanding and personal definitions for the terms
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<i>Socialism</i> and <i>Capitalism</i>. This is not because I disagree with his
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position - that no good Catholic can be a Socialist - but rather that, in
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misunderstanding and misrepresenting what Socialism is, we give way for
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confusion in what the Church actually teaches. So I'd like to make some
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clarifying statements on his definitions, basing myself on a segment from an
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interview he did on the channel
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<i>Pints with Aquinas</i>.<sup><a href="#r1" >[1]</a></sup></p>
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<p>The best place to start, as it will later help us in defining Capitalism, is
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with Mr. Horn's definition of Socialism. He defines Socialism as "give the
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government what you have and they will give you what they think you need." I
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will concede that Mr. Horn was probably looking for a simplified definition,
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this definition oversimplifies it, and not in a manner that it is too broad, but
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quite the opposite: it leaves out other forms of Socialism. This is because Mr.
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Horn is (understandably) thinking about Planned/Command Economy
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Socialism,<sup><a href="#r2" >[2]</a></sup> which is the most common form in
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which Socialism has been implemented. However, because of this
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oversimplification, his definition fails to include a very real form of
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Socialism named Market Socialism.<sup><a href="#r3" >[3]</a></sup> This is also
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Socialist, and therefore condemned by the Church, and yet it will not fall under
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Mr. Horn's definition of Socialism. Yet, if we're going to understand Socialism,
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we should take it from real Socialists. As Marx himself defined it, "the theory
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of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private
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property."<sup><a href="#r4" >[4]</a> <a href="#n1" >(1)</a></sup> To change
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this negative definition into a positive one, what a Communist/Socialist defends
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is the collectivization of the means of production. Therefore, although this may
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take form of collectivization into a State apparatus, as Mr. Horn is referring
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to, it does not necessitate such. This is an important point, since the Church
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condemns the very foundation of Socialism, which is Collectivism, meaning that
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even these <i>lighter</i> forms of Socialism remain condemned by the Holy
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Church.<sup><a href="#n2" >(2)</a></sup></p>
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<p>Perhaps the reason why Mr. Horn creates such a limited definition for
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Socialism is because he gives too wide of a definition for Capitalism. In the
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video Mr. Horn starts by recognizing that Capitalism is a term coined by
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Socialists, and most notably influenced by Karl Marx, and goes on to equivocate
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Capitalism with Free Markets, saying that this is what he defends. The issue is
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that this definition is actually much too broad, and therefore would actually
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2021-09-24 14:26:35 +00:00
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end up encompassing forms of Socialism that we have mentioned earlier. What's
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2021-09-15 12:52:12 +00:00
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more, if this is your definition of Capitalism, then truly Capitalism has
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existed since the very beginnings of human trade & commerce. Yet, if Mr.
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Horn acknowledges that the term is of Socialist origin, would it not make sense
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to use its Socialist meaning, especially when trying to explain it in relation
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2021-09-24 14:26:35 +00:00
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to Socialism? For Marx, we could say that Capitalism is a socio-economic system
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which tends towards the accumulation of capital (i.e. means of production),
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concentrated in the hands of a class of Capitalists, while the rest
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(Proletarians) are forced to sell their labour. Taking this into consideration,
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we can see that this does not include Market Socialism, and at the same time it
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also means that there are possible free market economies which are neither
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Socialist nor Capitalist (e.g. Feudalism, Distributism, etc.).</p>
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<p>Taking this into consideration, I believe that Mr. Horn should reconsider the
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definitions he's using. For in using a very restrictive definition of Socialism,
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he leaves out models of Socialism, and in using a broad definition of
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Capitalism, he includes forms of Socialism as well as other economic systems
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which are not strictly Capitalist. Overall, his definitions cause confusion.</p>
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2021-09-15 12:52:12 +00:00
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<h3>Notes</h3>
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<ol class="notes" >
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<li id="n1">
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What is meant in this quote by the terms "Communists" and "private
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property". In this time the term "Communist" was used mostly
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interchangeably with the term "Socialist". As for "private property",
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Marx states earlier in that same chapter that he is referring solely to
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what he calls "bourgeois property", and "not the abolition of property
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in general", which is a common misconception.
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</li>
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<li id="n2" >
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This does not mean that forms of Capitalism with State intervention, or
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other systems such as Distributism are condemned by the Church, as these
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do not fall under the category of Socialists as they both respect Man's
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right to private property.
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</li>
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</ol>
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<h3>References</h3>
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<ol class="refs" >
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<li id="r1" >
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkSsKcE5ZP4"
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target="_blank" >
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"1 Thing Ben Shapiro & St. Paul Agree On... w/ Trent Horn" from Pints
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with Aquinas on YouTube
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</a>
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</li>
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<li id="r2" >
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_planning#In_socialism"
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target="_blank" >
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"Economic Planning: In Socialism" on Wikipedia
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</a>
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</li>
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<li id="r3" >
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_socialism"
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target="_blank" >
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"Market Socialism" on Wikipedia
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</a>
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</li>
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<li id="r4" >
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The Communist Manifesto, Ch. II: Proletarians and Communists, by Karl
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Marx & Friedrich Engels
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</li>
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</ol>
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