Online Symposium: Cochran on the Economics of Freedom

Here is a contribution to the MOJ symposium on John Paul II and the Law from Pepperdine's Bob Cochran:

John Paul's writing on subsidiarity has been very influential in my thinking.  In "Centesimus Annus, The Economics of Human Freedom," he said:

In the Christian vision, the social nature of man is not completely fulfilled in the state but is realized in various intermediary groups, beginning with the family and including economic, social, political, and cultural groups that stem from human nature itself and have their own autonomy, always with a view to the common good.

The principle of subsidiarity must be respected: a community of a higher

order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower

order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it

in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of

the rest of society, always with a view to the common good. Needs are best

understood and satisfied by people who are closest to them, and who act as

neighbors to those in need.

In my view, this strikes the right balance and Christians should be neither libertarians nor socialists.  The state has important value, but it primarily should be concerned with keeping intermediate communities healthy, rather than doing everything itself.  This has implications for almost every

area of law-family law, property law, wills, welfare policy, education law, constitutional law, etc.  I have even argued that it has an important place in Tort Law (see my "Christian Perspectives on Legal Thought" and "Law and Community").  Historically, the law did a much better job of protecting

intermediate communities, but it has tended to take responsibilities from them.

Rick