Happy Labor Day

We must first of all recall a principle that has always been taught by the Church: the principle of the priority of labor over capital. This principle directly concerns the process of production: in this process labor is always a primary efficient cause, while capital, the whole collection of means of production, remains a mere instrument or instrumental cause. …

This gigantic and powerful instrument-the whole collection of means of production that in a sense are considered synonymous with “capital” — is the result of work and bears the signs of human labor. … Obviously, it remains clear that every human being sharing in the production process, even if he or she is only doing the kind of work for which no special training or qualifications are required, is the real efficient subject in this production process, while the whole collection of instruments, no matter how perfect they may be in themselves, are only a mere instrument subordinate to human labor. …

We must emphasize and give prominence to the primacy of humanity in the production process, the primacy of humanity over things. Everything contained in the concept of capital in the strict sense is only a collection of things. … Humans alone are persons.

Yeah, I like me some Laborem Exercens.

I quote this a lot, but not nearly as often as I hear the opposite repeated — the lie that wealthy investors and inheritors constitute “the productive class,” while working people are just dependent leeches feeding off of the Randian übermenschen.

John Paul II thought that idea was backwards, upside-down, stupid and evil. He was right about that.

So happy Labor Day to those who work for a living.