Thomas Storck has been keeping up a lively debate with Ryan Shinkel over at Ethika Politika, one which helpfully demarcates the border between authentic Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and liberalism. Storck’s most recent entry, “Markets, Liberalism, and G.K. Chesterton,” throws a bucket of cold water on the idea—often touted by Catholics intoxicated with economic liberalism—that individual good will and private initiative are sufficient for checking capitalism. Storck asks:
Why should economic activity be handed over to Satan while the health of society is guarded merely by good will and private initiative? We must indeed erect buffers against human greed; this is done not simply by private institutions and good morals, but by the way in which we structure and regulate economic life.
Go read the entire article. Read it twice.
