REFERENCES

• Saint Paul - Second Epistle to the Thessalonians: When we were there, we always imposed on you this rule: who does not want to work should not eat! (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

We report here on the words that St. Paul addressed to the Christians of Thessalonica, the capital of Greek Macedonia, based on a "rule" that probably drew to a popular proverb. This phrase was even hired by the constitution of the Soviet Union (obviously without the reference to the Apostle).

• Saint Josemaria Escriva: let's also report three aphorisms taken from the famous golden book titled 'Camino - The Way'

paragraph 630: 'dont forget it: he has most who needs least. Do not create needs. '

paragraph 632: 'the true poverty does not consist in not having, but being detached, in voluntarily renouncing one's dominion over things. That's why there are poor who are really rich, and vice versa.'

It's clear that the wealth referred to by St. Josemaría is that wealth obtained by honest means and with our personal commitment, because 'working' means taking the time to do something, drawing a general economic advantage. So reads the Encyclopedia, which also explains the etymology which reports to the Latin with the meaning of hard labor. But the riches that one obtains with his own work one should not stick to.

paragraph 634: 'So much affection to things of the earth! Soon you will escape from the hands, because the riches do not come down with the rich in his grave. '

PAUPERISM, which today is fashionable, definitely belongs to the broader current of Christian asceticism, but differs in some aspects. Asceticism, for example, has always placed emphasis on individual poverty, the individual Christian poverty (religious or secular it was), and other forms of penance and austerity, while rarely has put into question the possibility that the institution (the monastery, the Order, the Church itself) could possess riches.

The medieval Pauperism, however, wasn't so much a search for personal poverty, as if it were a form of penance or being finalized, but often chose to give up wealth to share the life of the most humble strata of society and join - they say - as closely to the example of Jesus Christ. We all know how it ended pauperism of Friar Dolcino. Also unlike asceticism which is a research voluntary poverty, pauperism it is philosophical acceptance.

Some points in common with the pauperism were also recognized in papal encyclicals like Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno, are part of the so-called social doctrine of the Catholic Church:the predominance given more to the spiritual wealth than the material and a willingness to understand the real conditions of the poorest.

Today, Pauperism in the sense of giving up wealth to share the life of the most humble strata of society and adhere more closely to the example of Jesus Christ, is still present in the preaching of some religious orders and the ideology of some political or cultural associations as the Catholic Worker Movement, and is taken as the fundamental basis of certain economic theories which distributism. Many political positions of this type are the result of a serious cardinal sin: the envy for those who are better than you and sloth (the desire to do nothing and be maintained by others who work better and more).
And then Jesus Christ, who was God, wasn't definitely a 'poor' because he had in his power the whole Universe which he himself had created and used it only as needed. He was the perfect man to do so! So if one wants to imitate Christ must practice the personal asceticism. Gentlemen, please read the Gospel, and throw 'The Capital' in the closet !

The effects of pauperism applied according to the concepts above are disastrous, because if there is no one having the economic possibility of,  who shall helps the poorer?

A practical example which I have had directly experienced when I was working in the 70s in Taranto as a technician and then later as a manager in the 80s and 90s: the demonization of profit made is that in the fat years, the corporate profits were intended to produce things that had nothing to do with steel. Cathedrals were built at the expense of the company, whole housing neighborhoods, and works great for the road, as the 'Punta Penna' bridge over he 'small sea'. Moreover unionism took root so as to influence the activities and management, and nobody was able to handle such 'policies' situations. As in the fable of the grasshopper and the ant. When the dark times for steel came, in the 80s, the various areas of the company, despite having reached record levels of efficiency, for lack of capital were unable to cope with the winter and were sold off to private companies, to the foreign ones too (German). Then were burned immense sums paid by taxpayers over time in favor of a few that changing the criteria did then operate the plant and enriched themselves.

The rule which states: 'give to each according his needs and get from each according to his capacity' can't work,in the real world, for two reasons:

• individual need cannot be determined but by notice of assessment and restricting freedoms. This is the real socialism, which damages the freedoms of society and will implode by efficiency lack. But one could still calculate the standard needs on the basis of plans and programs fixed by bureaucrats, accepting to limit the economical freedom and mortifying the best, for the procuction capacity it goes even worse.
• Man is not an angel, far from it. He works and is working hard only if he has an interest to do it, that is, for his own individual interest. A western worker, with  much better living conditions than those of Communist Russia's, produced several times more if compared to the norm established by Communist government. At one Stakanov, which always exceeded the daily 'norm', they did build even a monument! Today we know what were the living and working conditions in USSR! It was a story quite different of myths!

The predominance given to spiritual wealth than material, the will to understand the real conditions of the poorest, and the social solidarity are fine, but beyond a certain point they must be only individual predispositions. Woe to block by law the economic freedom beyond the limits that discourage people to work to produce wealth for its own sake! If there is no wealth, solidarity is over, there is nothing to be distributed unless the subsistence minimum, and this is not always true. The society will starve.

Another aspect relates to justice: if one actually is not really able to work should be decently maintained by the community, but if one does not have work in its own desire? It is not fair to penalize too much discouraging those who work and produce wealth.
If everyone had love of a well done job, whatever it is, it could be very good. On the one hand, therefore, the current lack of civic virtues essential to every living and organized society, those called 'cardinal virtues', causes the situation that we can see. On the other hand in today's society there is a lack of references that help us do not 'jump to the other side of the horse', that is an Absolute Reference.

God created us to work (Gen II, 15) The Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it.
So the work is not a curse or a consequence of original sin - as even some believers would be led to believe - but it is made for man, and man is made to work, how fish to swim and birds to fly. It should be done with love, therefore, whatever is, to the best of one's ability. Certainly there is work and work, but also in the most menial jobs or less profitable or more strenuous, or more difficult or dangerous one can exercise the human virtues, and above all - if you're lucky enough to have FAITH - you can sublimate the job WELL DONE dedicating it to our Creator. Beginning with us it will benefit everyone.

APPENDIX:
What then are the remedies to the problems of today? Would be useful trying to revive the education of youth and civil secular virtues?
Mockery of the idea of authority and the authority itself, the wrong idea of democracy, the neglect of rules and laws and the laxity of morals, are not these the causes of road accidents, for example, or the PLAGUE OF accidents at work ?

The lack of civic virtues essential to every organized living causes bad consequences. Once Lost the Faith, stands the lack of ideals, replaced by surrogates, unbridled pursuit of pleasure, drugs.