I am trying to grasp some of Benedict’s ideas in Caritas in Veritate. I am referring to paragraph 38 of the encyclical where he talks about the “fraternity of reciprocity” leading to “economic democracy.” He identifies three logics: economic (contractual) logic, political logic, and the logic of unconditional gift. He then goes on to discuss three subjects of these logics: the market, the State, and civil society. Economic life, then, is multi-layered, and at every level “fraternal reciprocity” must be present. He talks later in the letter about how human development can no longer be understood only in terms of a market economy generating wealth and the political system ensuring proper distribution of that wealth. He says that increasingly there needs to be the development of a “civil economy” oriented toward social welfare that embraces both the private and public spheres in which profits are used to develop a humane market and economy. This, he says, will give rise to a civilized and more competitive market. (see paragraph 46).
Amazing stuff. I have to think a lot more about it.
