Evolving Notions of Rights and Responsibilities Relating to Property and Work Relationships

"Living Justice"
by Thomas Massaro

Section 5: Property Ownership in Modern Society: Rights and Responsibilities

This section of the reading tackled the interlaced yet conflicting issue of the common goods and individual ownership. The Catholic Church strong supports the notion that everything in this world is a gift from God to all mankind and should therefore be available to everyone but it is also hard to ignore the benefits that are reaped by individuals who knows how to manage resources wisely. To those individuals, since they alone worked in cultivating and growing the resources, then they alone should be the only one that should get the benefits from it. But we can argue this part once again with the notion that resources are not equally divided. Not everyone worked hard for the fruits of their labor and not everyone has the tools needed for success readily available to them. The Catholic Church then argues that those who are wealthy should not just think of themselves and use the resources in ways that would make other people suffer. I think the main focus of their argument is exploitation. As we have learned in class, during the development of industrialization, exploitation was not necessarily seen as a bad thing. It was merely a necessity for businesses to profit. But as industrialization further progressed, large corporations grew bigger and bigger and labor workers became poorer and poorer. I guess what the Catholic Church wants to point out is that as the beneficiary of exploited and instigator of such poverty, those who are wealthy have the responsibility to help the exploited laborers.

Section 6: The Dignity of Work, Rights of Workers, and Support for Labor Unions

One of the greatest accomplishment during the uprising of industrialization is the development of labor union. With laborers as an organized group, they were able to fight off exploitations such as inhumane work conditions, subpar wages and unreasonable corporate demands. Corporate owners are of course in opposition of the organization and refuse to give power to the people by forming a union amongst themselves and tried to turn the table by saying that labor unions have unrealistic demands. I guess any type of power is vulnerable to abusive use but it's still hard to argue that a laborers can work in an environment that is free of exploitation without a union.

The second part of this section focused on the "need" for work for it give individuals a sense of "purpose". In theological teachings, this was addressed in that, humans are God's co-creators. It also gives people a chance to work with one another which improves human relation. And this is also the reason why laborers should not be seen as a mere commodity but as God's children that should be given opportunity to fully develop their skills and ability.

Communism in Russia and China

Communism was derived from the teaching of Karl Marx who believed that in order to get rid of inequality and division between classes within a society, land and private properties has to be equally redistributed among all members in the community and rulers elected must only have the sole purpose of serving the people and of no influence of religion and capitalism. This idea was an echo of the Frech Revolution that became very popular during the 1970's, right after World War II, and had the most significance in China and Russia.

Between Russia and China, the commencement, implementation and termination of communism differs greatly. In Russia, its initiation was like a kick start. The revolution was achieved in just one year, 1917. It started by overthrowing the ruling Romanov dynasty, followed by the upheavals of the middle-class, then the peasants seized and burned their landlord's estates, just like in the Haitian Revolution. In the end, a small socialist party called the Bolsheviks, were able to gain control of Russia and elected Vladimir Ulyanov as its leader. Even after battling several local and international forces, the Bolsheviks were able to maintain control of Russia and gained more supporters as it showed their ability to fight off exploiters.

In China, the development did not develop as quickly as it did in Russia. It was rather a long and slow, probably because they Karl Marx and his ideologies was not introduced in China until the early twentieth century. It was founded in 1921, in a small group with only sixty members, called the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) but its charismatic leader named Mao Zedong was able to expand and transform its strategy in ways that was different from its Russian counterpart. Unlike Russia, even though the foundation of communism depended on industrialization, it started in rural areas within the Chinese peasants. Along with the uprising of the peasants was the feminist revolution, where women were determined to establish their position in the society, make alterations to the constitution of marriage and pushed for better employment benefits and accommodation. Sadly, this huge uproar from women did not last long. In the end, the male dominated communist parties hushed the feminist revolution.

On the other hand, communism in both countries ended in a similar way: self-destruction. Both were scared to lose control and became almost paranoid of possible enemies within their own government. What initial purpose to seek out equality later turned into dictatorship that oppressed and violated human rights. The fruits of communism were the "Terror" or the "Great Purges" in Russia and the "Chinese Cultural Revolution" were their own government sought out and accused their own citizens as political enemies with no right for trial and were either sent to labor camps or sentenced with death. It wasn't long until their started accusing their own officials and ultimately ended the communist reign in both countries.

The Ethics of Colonial Relationship

Living Justice

Excerpt from Thomas Massaro

Section 1 and 7

The main concept of this section is the Catholic Church's strong position in addressing human rights and equality. These moral guidelines that they had set up are based on the conviction that all humans are created from the image and likeness of God and therefore should be treated like how we would treat God which is with the uttermost respect and dignity. And this rights for equal treatment will never be relinquished regardless of their background and wrong doing. In stressing inequality, the Catholic Church addressed the growing gap between the very wealthy and those who can barely survive. Not everyone is are responsible for their own success and misfortune. Just like how some people got lucky that they were born with a wealthy family or in place where there is more opportunity for a more successful life, there are also people that just happen to be born with a poor family and in poorer places where the tools that they need to improve their lives are unavailable. 

The Catholic Church may have a lot of theological documents and evidences that can back up their conviction but it is with much difficulty to claim the obligations that comes with it. And with these, Popes often address moral obligations in their encyclicals, calling people from First World countries to help those who are in need. As brothers and sisters in faith, it is within our duty to aid in elevation of world poverty and to avoid "selfishness and isolationism" (p. 99). Actions that can cause changes doesn't have to be big. It can start in simple things such as not using that are produced in sweatshops to show opposition to work injustice. In my own guideline, it's as simple as doing something good to others, even if its something small, in hopes that it might inspire them to do the same to others and hopefully it'll become a chain of good deed. 

To end this blog, here's the video of Pope Francis' homily urging to serve the weakest and the poorest.

CH. 20 CONTINUED: BELIEVING AND BELONGING, CULTURAL CHANGE AND IDENTITY

The exposure to the European culture during their colonial rule brought about cultural changes in Asian and African societies. Colonized peoples had to change their way of living. These changes might have been forced upon them at the beginning but some were by choice. I guess the best way to describe it is that it is like a cultural evolution. It was a change in a population, induced by their environment and the result of the desire to adapt.

EDUCATION

The beginning of this section began with the sentence, "For an important minority, it was the acquisition of Western education, obtained through missionary or government schools, that generated a new identity". For a while, I was fixed on the words "important minority". Why were the colonized people considered the minority when in actuality, they made up the majority of the population? I guess the identification on who is the minority or the majority at the time depended on the power and ability to rule and not on the number in a population. But moving on from that sentence, through wester education, the colonized people saw a way to improve their social status and avoid forced labor. They wanted high salaries, a position in the government, businesses and organizations. But their wants didn't stop there. They also wanted to attain an elite status and to be seen equal with the whites. And the best way to do that is to eat, dress, live in houses like the Europeans and marry in long white dresses instead of their traditional wedding dress. From the literate christians, a new group of people was formed and they were a perfect copy of their rulers, including racism but much worse because they were prejudice against their own race.

RELIGION

Europeans missionaries might have brought christianity to the colonial territories but it was the natives that carried out its spread through the remote villages and local communities. The natives were very open to the new religion and even built the churches and the schools. They were hoping that the European Gods will grant them the same achievements and social improvement. But how they will welcome christianity was still up to them. In Africa, christianity became Africanized with the combination of traditional practices which we now call "African Reformation".

Chapter 20: Colonial Encounters

Chapter Introduction: Maintaining Racial Boundaries

Chapter 20 started with a story of the author's travel experience in Ethiopia where he met an Englishman while hitchhiking across Kenya. The author observed while the children who were selling baskets and other tourist items were very capable of speaking English, the Englishman insisted on responding in Swahili. He was given a simple explanation that Europeans there generally did not speak English with the "natives" but several years later, the author found a better explanation of the action. One of them is that the Europeans were scared of the possible "dangers" that it would place on white women and girls and the other, and probably the root of all the fear, is the possibility of an uprising against the government and the Europeans. By simply depriving the natives of knowledge of English language, the Europeans are able to maintain oppression. The English language poses as a key or a foundation of the native's liberation and the Europeans are simply unwilling to share it.

A Second Wave of European Conquest

The second phase of the European colonial conquest started on 1750 and lasted until 1900 with more focus in Asia and Africa such as Germany, Italy, Belgium, United States, and Japan. It was an echo of the Industrial Revolution as their "motives and activities were shaped by the military capacity and economic power that the Industrial Revolution conveyed" (p. 590). Military force or threat was used in order to gain control. This was further strengthened by the invention of the repeating rifles and machine guns.

The Power of Guns

From this part of the reading, we can see the sudden development of courage as soon as stronger weapons are obtained. Prior to acquisition of such military power, the Europeans were less likely to get involve in direct confrontation and were said to be "less likely to provoke wars" (p. 590). It is interesting to see how quickly that changed as soon as they were armed with better weapons that can give them power over a lot of disadvantaged territories. This would be a good time to reflect on the current petition on gun control. Men usually don't have the courage and sense of power over other people's life until they are armed with weapons that can result in instant death. It is by these weapons that the Europeans were able to build their colony almost everywhere they wanted to because everywhere else had less powerful or no guns at all. At this point, I can hear gun adversaries saying that maybe had guns like the Europeans, they wouldn't have been easily colonized. But I doubt that would really stop the Europeans. In these case, they would probably proceed and the other party will try to create better weapons until it will all just be a gun show where the ones with the bigger, faster firing guns will win. It will all just be a cycle, and it won't stop until someone takes away the main cause. In may opinion, the best way to stop gun violence is for ordinary citizens to not have access to any guns at all.

Continuation of the Second Wave of Conquest
Overall, the second colonization attempt was very similar to the first one but with different players. Territories were acquired the same way: military force, diseases that eradicated 75% or more of the Aborigines in Australia and the Maori's in New Zealand, and internal rivalries. In places like the Philippines and the Hindus, their former conquerors were simply displaced by another.