Dispatch Faith: Flourishing Is About More Than Just Power, by Fr. Robert Sirico (Co-Founder, Acton Institute):
In the current era of constant debate, shifting ideologies, and intense elections, it may be that holiday get-togethers can offer something more than a continuation of the same. Among people who love one another, it might also be a time of more quiet and amiable reflection about gratitude and reminiscing, a stepping back from the daily give-and-take and looking at the bigger picture. It might be a time to return to the first principles we remember as we recall the arrival of the pilgrims to our shores. It may even be an opportunity to think about how we might craft public policies on a different footing, to move us to conduct electoral politics that are both coherent and morally sound.
Our age of expediency and internet-assembled-philosophy encourages the notion that winning is the highest civic goal. It too easily results in a superficial culture that neglects the rigorous and honest thinking required to move from where we are now to where we should be: a good, fair, and prosperous people. To build a society that truly honors human dignity, we must first understand what allows human beings to flourish. Without this, how can we form intelligent, morally consistent policies that correspond to our deepest values? …
At the heart of this lies a principle from my own faith tradition but that has parallels in others: subsidiarity. Though the word may sound lofty, subsidiarity is based on the commonsense idea that society is best governed at the most local level possible, at the most proximate level of social organization possible. This principle affirms that higher levels of government should only step in when lower levels—families, communities, local governments—are unable to address a particular issue. This approach protects against centralization and bureaucratic overreach, which often leads to inefficiency and a loss of personal freedom. The subsidium (help or subsidy) aids, it does not replace or absorb society into the state.
Alexis de Tocqueville observed this dynamic in action during his visit to the U.S. in the early 19th century and documented it in Democracy in America. He noted how the principles of decentralization, embodied in the American founding documents like the Federalist Papers, were reflected in the culture that promoted habits of problem-solving. This bottom-up approach fosters accountability and promotes individual freedom, avoiding the pitfalls of centralized planning and the inefficiencies of bureaucratic agencies and centralized planning.
Yet subsidiarity is not just about efficiency. It is rooted in an understanding of human nature—recognizing that while we are social beings, we are also individuals. Throughout our entire existence we are shaped by relationships, but we also possess unique and creative minds and aspirations. This delicate balance requires that humans be free to make their own choices and shape their own communities. Too much state intervention undermines this balance and stifles the natural formation of communities based on cooperation, mutual support, and shared responsibility. Basically, it fights the given of human nature, which is not moldable in the hands of technicians and politburo members or politicians. It is something that reveals the nature of things as they are, that with prudent policy making in accordance with this reality, can build societies worthy of human beings. …
Ultimately, these principles—subsidiarity and balanced secularism—are critical to building a society that honors human dignity. Much of our civic momentum seems to be to drift toward centralized power on every side, but returning to these foundational ideas is key to renewing our political culture. The American experiment, with its unique combination of divided power and individual liberty, is too precious to be abandoned to irrationality and polarization, bureaucracy and politicization.
It falls to us to preserve this legacy, ensuring that it is handed down, intact, to future generations. In doing so, we will not only preserve the unique insights of the American experiment so inspiringly instantiated, if not in the specific historical details of the first Thanksgiving, certainly in the traditions and values that have emerged from it. We will build a culture of generosity and authentic inclusion, fostering a society where human beings can truly flourish—free, responsible, and empowered to build communities that reflect the highest ideals of justice and virtue.
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