One of the most exciting memories from my lifetime was the rise of the Solidarity movement in Poland. The Communist regime–which came from a so called worker’s revolution–was itself overturned by a genuine worker’s revolution. The ironic justice of it was exquisite. The shipyard workers of Gdansk rose up in a grass roots movement which eventually overturned not only Poland’s communist regime, but once that domino fell, the rest of the Soviet empire soon followed.
That Pope John Paul II was in the middle of it, shrewdly maneuvering the situation without ever overplaying his hand was another exciting aspect to this momentous event. When he visited Poland in June 1979–eight months after his election for his triumphant return– in his speech to millions he addressed the relationship between two principles of Catholic social teaching: solidarity and subsidiarity. (You can read a contemporary New York Times report on his amazing visit here.) Solidarity is the simple concept that no man is an island and we are our brothers’ keeper. This corrects the tendency towards extreme individualism and the tyranny of individual rights. The principle of subsidiarity is that problems are best solved and initiatives most effectively taken at the lowest level of society possible. In other words, top down bureaucratic solutions are not an expression of solidarity. They are an expression of tyranny.
Socialism (and her ugly sister communism) show us the distortion of the principle of solidarity while unrestrained Capitalism shows us the distortion of the principle of subsidiarity. It is interesting to note that these two economic systems invariably produce a culture that matches the economic theory. A Socialist system will produce a top heavy, bureaucratic government led tyranny that suppresses the little guy. In such a system subservience to the state is exalted and the only virtue that remains is patriotism. Meanwhile a Capitalistic system will produce a culture of complete and total individual freedom where self interest is exalted and the only virtue that remains is tolerance.