Solidarity and Subsidiarity

Justice is the virtue where we give to others what we owe them. To live justly we live two principles: Subsidiarity and Solidarity

Subsidiarity is the principle of taking personal responsibility and making a specific contribution to the common good.

There are certain things that individuals do better than groups like being innovative and making breakthroughs. No committee ever invented anything. Subsidiarity or personal responsibility protects us against the danger of socialism or communism where the government takes over and does for the individual what they should be doing.

Solidarity is the principle that reminds us we are all in this together. We need one another and help one another by sharing our material and spiritual gifts through generosity, mercy and forgiveness.

Solidarity protects us against selfish individualism. If every individual is only looking out for themselves then society,  becomes a nightmare. Unrestricted or unregulated capitalism, otherwise known as Laissez-Faire Capitalism in a fallen world becomes greed run amuck and the exploitation of workers and the poor. The Gov’t is there to provide limits to freedom and step in when the limit of right and wrong is crossed and the individual or common good is harmed. But the Gov’t should not take over and do what Individuals or families or small businesses could do, thus destroying their freedom, initiative, creativity and responsibility.

So There are two extremes to be avoided. The first is for the state to ignore solidarity, and to just let the market go its own way. Then the rich will continue to get richer, the poor will continue to get poorer, and before long you’ll have a system of domination and control instead of a healthy, innovative market. Or, extreme two, the government can just take over everything, from personal paychecks to business creation to employment opportunities – thus ignoring subsidiarity. Then we’ll get a horrible, inefficient, and depersonalizing nightmare, not unlike the former Soviet bloc. Either way, a healthy economy will go down the tubes, and with it a significant part of human fulfillment. That’s why the balance of subsidiarity and solidarity must be kept both in mind and in practice.