In the seventeenth century
a Frenchman
by the name of Descartes
discarded Thomistic philosophy
and formulated
a philosophy of his own.
St. Thomas’ philosophy
starts with Aristotle
and helps the reason
to accept revelation.
For St. Thomas Aquinas
reason is the handmaid of faith;
not so for Descartes.
The eighteenth century
became known
as the age of enlightenment
or the age of reason.
An American
by the name of Thomas Paine
wrote a book entitled
The Age of Reason.
The use of reason
was discarded
by the intellectuals
of the nineteenth century.
Romanticism,
positivism,
pragmatism,
one after another,
became the fashion
in the nineteenth century.
In a book entitled
The Treason of the Intellectuals
Julien Benda,
a French Jew,
says the intellectuals
gave up the search for truth
and consented to become
the paid propagandists
of nationalists
as well as capitalists.
So the age of reason
of the eighteenth century
was followed
by the age of treason
of the nineteenth century.
And we are now
in the age of chaos.
In an age of chaos
people look
for a new order.
Because people are becoming aware
of this lack of order
they would like to be able
to create order
out of chaos.
The time
to create order
out of chaos
is now.
The germ of the present
was in the past
and the germ of the future
is in the present.
The thing to do
is to give up old tricks
and start to play new tricks.
If we make
the right decisions
in the age of chaos
the effect of those decisions
will be a better order.
The new order
brought about
by right decisions
will be functional,
not acquisitive;
personalist,
not socialist;
communitarian,
not collectivist;
organismic,
not mechanistic.
The thing to do right now
is to create a new society
within the shell of the old
with the philosophy of the new.
which is not a new philosophy
but a very old philosophy.
a philosophy so old
that it looks like new.
An Englishman
and an American
were flying over
the Egyptian Soudan.
Under them
was a stretch of houses
four miles long.
The American
asked the Englishman:
“What is the population
of this town?”
“Nine Englishmen,”
answered the Englishman.
A German
owned a fruit farm
in British Columbia.
He and his wife
were considered
as second-class citizens
by the British element.
His wife succeeded
in inducing him
to sell the fruit farm
and go back to Germany.
She could not stand
to be considered inferior
by the British element.
The English think
that they are superior
to the Germans
and the Germans think
they are superior
to the English.
They cannot stand
to be considered
inferiors.
They can give it
but cannot take it.
Anthropologists add
that there is nothing
in science
to prove
that one race
is superior
to another race.
Science cannot prove
that the Nordics
are superior
to another race.
Theologians say
that Christ died
for the redemption
of the Negroes
as well as
the Nordics.
The Nordics
were created
by the same Creator
and redeemed
by the same Redeemer
as the Negroes.
The redeemed Nordics
will enjoy
the beatific vision
in the same Heaven
as the Negroes.
The redeemed Nordics
receive the same Christ
at the altar rail
as the Negroes.
The redeemed Nordics
belong to the same
Mystical Body
as the Negroes.
The Holy Father
has recently selected
African Negro priests
and made them Bishops.
The Negro Bishops
of Africa
have the same powers
as the Nordic Bishops
of Germany.
Nordic Bishops
are all right
for Nordic people
and Negro Bishops
are all right
for Negro people.
The Catholic Church
wants Nordic Bishops
to lead Nordic people
and Negro Bishops
to lead Negro people.
The Catholic Church
does not differentiate
between Nordic Bishops
and Negro Bishops.
At the base
of the American spirit
is the functionalism
of frontier life,
not the acquisitivism
of the Chamber of Commerce.
The American spirit
is characterized
by the love of freedom,
the spirit of initiative
and the will to co-operate.
The American
does not like
to be pushed about
and to be sent
where he does not want
to go.
Even the business man
likes to talk about
the spirit of initiative,
which he calls
free enterprise.
When in America
some one is busy
doing something
for the Common Good
he finds people
willing to co-operate.
Freedom is a duty
more than a right.
Man has a duty
to be intelligent.
Man has a duty
to choose intelligently
between two alternatives.
Man has a duty
to act intelligently,
using pure means
to reach pure aims.
To use impure means
to reach pure aims
is to take the wrong road.
You cannot go
where you want to go
by taking a road
which does not lead you there.
Having pure aims
and using pure means
is making the right use
of freedom.
The spirit of initiative
is what business men call
free enterprise.
A private enterprise
must be carried out
for the common good.
If a private enterprise
is not carried out
for the Common Good
it turns out to be
a public nuisance.
A public nuisance
produces grievances.
Personal grievances
against public nuisances
produces demagogues
who promise to wipe out
public nuisances.
The spirit of initiative
of social-minded people
brings into existence
social institutions
that make for the welfare
of the common people.
When someone
has something
considered by the common man
to be beneficial
to the Common Good
he is admired
by the common man.
The admiration
of unselfish men
who are not afraid
to take the initiative
creates a desire
among the admirers
to climb on the bandwagon
of men of initiative.
They want to be part
of an unselfish movement.
They are willing
to make sacrifices
for the common cause.
So the will to co-operate
is the result
of the daring
of unselfish men
who are not afraid
to take the initiative.
Jules Beranger
followed Jusserand
as French Ambassador
in Washington.
Beranger was an agnostic
who could not conceive
of a democracy
without a cultural elite.
The elite in a democracy
is imbued
with what we call
the right spirit.
The democratic elite
is the spearhead
of a democratic society.
The democratic elite
is recruited
from all classes
of a democratic society.
The democratic elite
is not moved
by greed for wealth
or greed for power.
It is moved
by clear thinking.
Agnostic intellectuals
lack faith
in Christ the Redeemer
as well as
in God the Omnipotent.
And now
they are losing faith
in the power of man
to pull himself up
by his own bootstraps.
Faith in Christ the Redeemer,
hope in the life to come,
and charity toward all men
are motivating forces
in the fostering
of a democratic elite—
without which
a democratic society
becomes the laughing-stock
of totalitarian societies.
What a fine place
this world would be
if Dualist Humanists
tried to be human
to men.
What a fine place
this world would be
if Personalist Theists
tried to be
their brother’s keeper
as God
wants them to be.
What a fine place
this world would be
if Fundamentalist Protestants
tried to exemplify
the Sermon on the Mount.
What a floe place
this world would be
if Roman Catholics
tried to keep up
with St. Francis of Assisi.
As an animal,
man is an individual.
As a reasoning animal,
man is a person.
The difference
between an individual
and a person
is the power of reasoning.
Through the use of reason
man becomes aware
of the existence of God.
Through the use of reason
man becomes aware
of his rights
as well as
his responsibilities.
Man’s rights and responsibilities
come from God,
who made him
a reasoning animal.
Man’s primary duty
is to act
according to reason.
To guide himself
man has
not only reason
but also faith.
Faith
is not opposed to reason,
it is above reason.
The use of reason
leads to faith,
but reason
cannot understand
all the faith.
The truths of faith
that reason
cannot understand,
we call
the mysteries of faith.
To use reason
is to philosophize
and philosophy
is the handmaid of faith.
Some truths
we get through reason
and some truths
we get through faith.
Emmanuel Mounier
wrote a book entitled
A Personalist Manifesto.
Emmanuel Mounier
has been influenced
by Charles Peguy.
Charles Peguy once said:
“There are two things
in the world:
politics and mysticism.”
For Charles Peguy
as well as Mounier,
politics is the struggle for power
while mysticism
is the realism
of the spirit.
For the man-of-the-street
politics
is just politics
and mysticism
is the right spirit.
In his Personalist Manifesto
Mounier tries to explain
what the man-of-the-street
call “the right spirit.”
In the Middle Ages
the consumer
went to the producer
and asked the producer
to produce something
for him.
There was no middle man
between the producer
and the consumer.
When the producer
started to sell his products
to the middle man
he no longer
saw the consumer.
The producer
saw only the middle man
and the consumer
saw only the middle man
and the middle man
was only interested
in buying cheap
and selling dear.
And the functional society
ceased to exist
and the acquisitive society
came into existence.
And everybody shouted:
“Time is money!”
When the use of steam
was discovered
the middle men
started factories.
The craftsmen
deserted their craft shops
and went to work
in the factories
and became
factory hands.
Factory owners
turned out gadgets
to take drudgery
out of the home.
And then they took women
out of the home
and brought them
into factories.
And then they took children
out of the home
and brought them
into factories.
And men had to stay home
to look after young children.
With the American Civil War,
monopoly capitalism
came into existence.
With monopoly capita1ism
came the trusts.
With monopoly capitalism
came high tariffs
for the protection
of infant industries.
With monopoly capitalism
came unionism
for the protection
of proletarianized workers.
With monopoly capitalism
came trust-busting laws
for the protection
of the buying public.
With monopoly capitalism
came Federal laws
for the conservation
of raw materials.
With the first World War
finance capitalism
came into existence.
With finance capitalism
came installment buying.
In January, 1927,
the Yale Review
published an article
by a business man
in which he said
that installment buying
has the result
of booming boom years
and starving lean years.
Installment buying
gave us the New Era
and the promise
of a two-car garage,
a chicken in every pot
and a sign “To Let”
in front of every poorhouse.
But this promise
failed to materialize
and people found themselves
in the midst of the depression.
Finance capitalism
has not been able
to employ
the unemployed.
The State
has now assumed the task
of employing the unemployed.
Economic activities
are now supervised
by State bureaucrats.
State bureaucrats
can give the people
State supervision.
State supervision
is not a substitute
for personal vision.
And without personal vision
people perish.
Personalist vision
leads to personalist action.
Personalist action
means personal responsibility.
Personal responsibility
means dynamic democracy.
The founders of America
agreed in this,
that there is a God
and that God wants
to be worshipped.
The founders of America
did not agree
about the way
God wants
to be worshipped.
That there is a God
and that God wants
to be worshipped
is no longer taught
in the public schools
of America.
Religion
is no longer taught
in the public schools
of America,
but politics and business
are still taught
in the public schools
of America.
When religion
has nothing to do
with education,
education is only
information:
plenty of facts
but no understanding.
When religion
has nothing to do
with politics,
politics is only
factionalism:
let’s turn the rascals out
so our good friends
can get in.
When religion
has nothing to do
with business
business is only
commercialism:
let’s get all we can
while the getting is good.
The Marxists
and the Chambers of Commerce
agree in this,
that religion
ought to be kept
out of the public schools.
And American Protestants
keep silent
about the secularism
of the public schools.
In the nineteenth century
public schools
were the hotbeds
of bourgeois capitalism.
In the twentieth century
public schools
are the hotbeds
of Bolshevist Socialism.
In order to lay the foundations
of medieval Europe,
the Irish Scholars
established Salons de Culture
in all the cities of Europe,
as far as Constantinople,
where people could look for thought
so they could have light.
And it was
in the so-called Dark Ages
which were not so dark,
when the Irish
were the light.
But we are now living
in a real Dark Age,
and one of the reasons why
the modern age
is so dark,
is because
too few Irish
have the light.
The Irish Scholars established
free guest houses
all over Europe
to exemplify
Christian charity.
This made
pagan Teutonic rulers
tell pagan Teutonic people:
“The Irish are good people
busy doing good.”
And when the Irish
were good people
busy doing good,
they did not bother
about empires.
That is why we never heard
about an Irish Empire.
We heard about
all kinds of empires,
including the British Empire,
but never about
an Irish Empire,
because the Irish
did not bother about empires
when they were busy
doing good.
The Irish Scholars established
agricultural centers
all over Europe
where they combined
cult—
that is to say liturgy
with culture—
that is to say literature,
with cultivation—
that is to say agriculture.
And the word America
was for the first time
printed on a map
in a town in east France
called Saint-Die
where an Irish scholar
by the name Deodad
founded an agricultural center.
What was done
by Irish missionaries
after the fall
of the Roman Empire
can be done today
during and after the fall
of modern empires.
Catholic Bourgeois
used to tell the clergy
“Mind your own business
and don’t butt in
on our business.”
Catholic bourgeois
by keeping up
with non-Catholic bourgeois
have made a mess
of their own business.
And now the Holy Father
tells Catholic bourgeois
“The Bishop’s business
is your business.”
The Bishop’s business
is to teach
the Christian Doctrine.
The Holy Father
appoints a Bishop
to a seat (a cathedral)
so people may hear the truth
that will set them free.
Clergy, teachers, journalists
are the amplifiers
of the Bishop’s voice.
Fathers and mothers
must also be
the Bishop’s voice.
Bishop O’Hara
is fostering the teaching
of Christian Doctrine
by fathers and mothers.
Everything connected
with the teaching
of Christian Doctrine
can be called
Catholic Action No.1.
But the Bishop,
although he is a Bishop,
cannot teach
an empty stomach.
Some people
are Bishop-shy
because they are hungry,
shivering or sleepy.
So the Bishop
asks the faithful
to feed the hungry,
clothe the naked,
shelter the homeless
at a sacrifice.
Feeding the hungry,
clothing the naked,
sheltering the homeless
at a sacrifice
was the daily practice
of the first Christians.
The daily practice
of the Works of Mercy
is what we can call
Catholic Action No. 2.
We are asked
by the Holy Father
to reconstruct
the social order.
Reconstructing the social order
means the creation
of a Catholic society
within the shell
of a non-Catholic society
with the philosophy
of a Catholic society.
Catholic bourgeois
made the mistake
of trying to keep up
with non-Catholic bourgeois.
Catholic reconstructors
must create
a Catholic technique
in harmony
with Catholic thought.
Social reconstruction
by Catholic laymen and women
is what we can call
Catholic Action No. 3.
Catholic Action No. 1,
or the teaching
of Christian Doctrine,
must be carried out
with the Bishop’s supervision.
Catholic Action No. 2,
or the daily practice
of the Works of Mercy,
can be carried out
with or without
the Bishop’s supervision.
Catholic Action No. 3,
or the reconstruction
of the social order,
through the foundation
of new Catholic institutions,
must be left
to the initiative
of Catholic men and women.
The function of the Bishops
is to be
not directors
but moderators.
Political action
is not to be considered
as Catholic Action.
One of the slogans
of the Middle Ages
was “Honest to God.”
We have ceased to be
“Honest to God.”
We think more
about ourselves
than we do
about God.
We have ceased to be
God-centered
and have become
self-centered.
Father Denifle
was an Austrian Dominican.
In 1872,
he delivered four sermons
in Graz, Austria,
about “Humanity,
its destiny
and the means
to achieve it.”
Translated by a priest
of Covington, Kentucky,
these four sermons
were published in America
by Pustet, the editor.
Father Denifle emphasizes
that having forgotten God,
humanity
cannot realize
its own destiny.
God has not
forgotten man,
but man has
forgotten God.
The founders of America
came to America
to serve God
the way they thought
God wants to be served.
How God
wants to be served
is no longer taught
in American schools.
How to be successful
is still taught
in American schools.
Thinking of time
in terms of money
is at the base
of the thinking
of our business men.
We put on our coins:
“In God we trust,”
but persist in thinking
that everybody else
ought to pay cash.
Cardinal Gasquet
was an English Benedictine.
He was a student
of that period
of English history
that preceded
the Reformation.
In a book entitled:
The Eve of the Reformation
he points out
that externalism
—another word
for materialism—
prevailed in that period
of English history.
The externalism
of English Bishops
made them
follow the King
instead of the Pope
when the King ceased
to mind the Pope.
St. Augustine said,
“Love God
and do what you please.”
We do what we please
but we don’t love God.
We don’t love God
because we don’t know God.
We don’t know God
because we don’t try
to know God.
And man was created
in the image of God
and every creature
speaks to us
about God
and the Son of God
came to earth
to tell us
about God.
Lenin said:
“The world cannot be
half industrial
and half agricultural.”
Lenin made the mistake
of industrializing Russia.
Lenin industrialized Russia
because the Japanese
industrialized Japan.
The Japanese industrialized Japan
because the Americans
industrialized America.
The Americans industrialized America
because the Germans
industrialized Germany.
The Germans industrialized Germany
because the English
industrialized England.
It started with England.
R. H. Tawney said
that the Englishmen wear blinkers.
Because they wear blinkers
the Englishmen
lack vision.
Because they lack vision
the Englishmen
are very strong
for supervision.
And supervision
is not a substitute
for vision.
A few Englishmen
got rid of their blinkers.
Among the Englishmen
who got rid of their blinkers
one can name:
William Cobbett,
John Ruskin,
William Morris,
Arthur Penty,
Hilaire Belloc,
G. K. Chesterton,
Eric Gill.
The best of all
is Eric Gill.
“The sex problem,
the marriage problem,
the crime problem,
the problem of armaments
and international trade,
all those problems
could be solved
if we would recognize
the necessity
of abolishing
trade in money,
and especially
the international trade in money;
that is to say,
the usury,
the legalized usury,
practiced by the banks
under the protection
of their charters
with the support
of the so-called
orthodox economists.
That is the first thing
to be recognized.”
Christ says:
“The dollar you have
is the dollar you give
to the poor
for My sake.”
The banker says:
“The dollar you have
is the dollar
you lend me
for your sake.”
Christ says:
“You cannot
serve two masters,
God and Mammon.”
“You cannot,
and all our education
is to try to find out
how we can
serve two masters,
God and Mammon,”
says Robert Louis Stevenson.
Peter’s teaching was simple, so simple, as one can see from these phrased paragraphs, these Easy Essays, as we have come to call them, that many disregarded them. It was the sanctity of the man that made them dynamic.
Although he synopsized hundreds of books for all of us who were his students, and that meant thousands of pages of phrased paragraphs, these essays were his only original writings, and even during his prime we used them in the paper just as he did in speaking, over and over again. He believed in repeating, in driving his point home by constant repetition, like the dropping of water on the stones which were our hearts.
DOROTHY DAY
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