This document discusses different economic systems and perspectives on work and the role of workers. It covers traditional and expanding economies, as well as communist and capitalist views. Key points include: Marx's view that work is the basis of human activity and that capitalism exploits workers; the Catholic Church's stance that work should serve human dignity and the common good as outlined in papal encyclicals; and implications for Filipino workers such as problems of poverty, unjust structures, and the need for government, Church and grassroots involvement.

1. MAN AS A WORKER

2. Man uses various forms of economic organizations to gain a livelihood. The contemporary world possesses a wide range of economic structures.

3. TWO TYPES OF ECONOMY

5. Land is the chief economic good and primary capital resource.

6. Technology is slow in changing.

9. In a command economy, the state virtually controls the economic life of the people.

10. This socialized enterprise type of economy is characterized by Five Year economic plans, state farms, collectivized state farms government-controlled retailing establishment, and government controlled labor organizations.

11. The economic ideologies followed by non-communist and communist countries are becoming increasingly undefined.

13. We can get a very good idea of the Church’s stand on man the worker from the following popular encyclicals:

14. RerumNovarumby Leo XIII, which champions the case of the lowly workers. (Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor ) b. Quadragesimo Annoby Pius XI, agrees with Rerum Novarum’s points on the right and duty of the Church.( On the Condition of Workers)

15. c. MATER ET MAGESTRA by John XXIII, which was issued to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the RerumNovarum teachings. d. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes),one of the documents of Vatican II, which develops the Church’s teachings on man, his world and his relations with the church, and which also deals with the problems of his world today.

16. e. CentesimusAnnus( The Hundredth Year – from RerumNovarum) by Pope John Paul II deals not only with labor and capital but the whole economy after Communism’s downfall in Russia.

17. It states that capitalism should now be a system of the countries where communism has failed, for “capitalism is meant an economic system that recognizes the fundamental and positive role of business, market, private property, and the resulting responsibility for the means of production as well as free human creativity in the economic sector.”

18. ThePastoral Constitution recognizes the hope and anguish modern man suffers because of the new technology.It recognizes the changes the social order, in attitudes, morals, and religion which create the worsening of imbalances on the levels of person, family and nations.

19. The dichotomies man finds in his world- poverty in the midst of abundance, backwardness vs. technological gains, the ideologies of democracy and communism- he also finds himself and is compelled to ask the fundamental questions of what he is and to make wrenching decisions in line with his personal vision.

20. Common in the encyclicals are the following convictions on man the worker: Man’s dignity as the image of GOD. The essential nature of his body and soul. The interdependence of person and society. The common good and the need to go beyond an individualistic mind set. Responsibility as well as participation in the body politic. Special attention on the underprivileged and the disadvantage: need for justice and equality, avoidance of exploitation.

21. 7. Economic development in the service of man.8. Special rights of workers, especially of forming unions and of the right to strike.9. Relations between employers and employees: a cooperative activity. Employers also have rights.10. The social character of private property which, as Pius XI in Quadragesimo Anno says, is the “ unquestionable need that the goods which where created by GOD for all men should flow equally to all according to the principles of justice and charity.11. The individual character of private property: one’s right to own private property is a natural right right of man, for he needs it to live, to save for the future, to marry and raise a family, to develop his talents, to receive just compensation for his work, and to retain his identity as a individual.

22. 12. On work, which is exercised in the production and exchange of goods or in the provision of economic services, surpasses all other elements of economic life, for the latter are only means to an end.

23. COMMUNISM

25. Studied at the universities of Bonn and Berlin where he joined the group of young Hegelians.

26. An admirer of Hegel, but later on disagreed with the laters teachings.

28. Marx’s theory of history is known as the dialectic materialism-materialist in the sense that the basic factor in history is for him man’s economic activity, his physical needs.

29. The Marxist Conception of Work to Plattel Martin G. Plattel compares the Marxist and Christian analogy of work. To him the main differences are: The Marxist view extols work as the highest value. He “humanizes” nature through his work, and nature “naturalizes” him by activating the forces dormant in him To the Marxist, the value of work has no imperfection, while to the Christian, it will always imply an imperfection since it belongs only to the sphere of the useful. To Marx, “in the final stage of society, everyone will work according to his capacities” and be rewarded according to his needs.” To the Christian, work is for this earth alone, though self-fulfilling and oriented towards love for others. Marx talks of work often in terms of pure love. But because he is atheistic, his love is only of this earth. The Christian regards human love as part of divine love and, therefore, goes beyond the Marxist concept.

30. Plattel cautions us though when we contrast the two ideals of work. They are different and we cannot employ the same standards for both.To the Christians, work is also an “essential category of human existence” and it is also on the level of this life, but it finds its rewards and completion in a “workless co-existence” on the level of the supra-wordly.

31. Implications for the Filipino Workers The Philippine labor is in ferment. The Philippine economy still has the vestiges of the traditional type, it is due to this that we have the following economic problems: Land reform Unemployment High prices Lowered productivity due to a number of causes. Plight of overseas contract workers. Prostitution, especially child prostitution.

32. Two main causes of the problems of the Filipino workers are: POVERTY Unjust social structure

33. Unjust structures of exploitation are still around, but there are attempts to address them. The answer comes from three sources: The government The Church the left and its different kinds

34. The Constitution on Labor Father Joaquin G. Bernas. S.J., one of the commissioners who formulated the Constitution, discusses the socio-historical context of the labor provisions. He cites the beginnings of our labor concepts in the American Constitution, where the Central ideology is liberty in its various ramifications

35. , Father Joel Tabora, S.J., an expert on Marxism, strongly urges the involvememnt of the grassroots sector. There is a need for these to be organized– along Christian Lines– interactng with the intellectuals and the bourgeoisie but nit being manipulated by the latter.

36. Thank You!!!!! Thank You!!!!! Reported by: JANET J. LAGSAC MAED-EM