Law 'n' Economics, Charity [i]n Truth

Tim Cantu, a student in my "Catholic Social Thought and the Law" seminar, shared these thoughts, prompted by Judge Posner's recent lecture at Notre Dame Law School:

Judge Richard Posner recently spoke at Notre Dame Law School to a Law & Economics Seminar and addressed the failure of the modern schools of macroeconomics to adequately predict or react to the 2008 financial crisis. The talk did not touch directly or indirectly on Catholic Social Thought—as a classics major, I’m not entirely sure what it was about—but an offhand remark by the Judge caught my attention. “The tone of political discourse,” he said, “is worse than I have ever seen it in this country.” The Judge has certainly lived through some trying times in this country, and it was notable to me that he believes our national attitude has never been as bad as it is now.

I agree with the Judge, though as a fresh-faced 23-year-old college graduate who has never written a book on Law and Economics or decided a Federal Appellate Court Case, no one cares particularly about my opinion. But the Judge and I are not alone in this opinion; indeed, there seems to be a growing national consensus that the tone of political discourse is that nasty and vitriolic. This is hardly to say it has never been worse, or that there have not been isolated incidents worse than (almost) anything said or written today (to my knowledge, no one has recently written of an opponent, as John Adams did of Alexander Hamilton, that “He’s the bastard brat of a Scotch peddler. A man devoid of every principle.”). But generally, each side of the political divide believes the other to be wholly devoid of principle and hellbent on the destruction  of America (or women’s rights, or the Civil Rights movement, or unborn children… ad infinitum.)

This is a troubling trend for Catholics. We are called, of course, to participate as faithful citizens—faithful to both our faith and our country as we seek to infuse the secular realm with Christian principles. But the title of Pope Benedict’s recent encyclical should prove highly instructive (in addition to the lessons within, of course): Caritas in Veritate. One may believe in perfect honesty that democrats (or republicans) are wrong about every single policy they propose (though one would also be mistaken in either case). Such a belief would require an effort to persuade them of their error, and work to combat evil or ill-advised policies. This correction should always presume, however, that you and your opposition are seeking the common good in good faith and with the best interest of society at heart. Charity in Truth is, I think, one of the most needed lessons in the modern political realm.