Peter
Maurin: Each person has a specific purpose in God's plan and has unique
gifts to contribute to the community. Before discovering their
vocation, people might be envious or jealous of others; they might even
wish to be some other person. They might be afraid.
Vocation means to be a friend of God.
HCW: What is the solution to our economic problems?
Peter Maurin: Business men say that because everybody is selfish, business must therefore be based on selfishness.
But
when business is based on selfishness everybody is busy becoming more
selfish. And when everybody is busy becoming more selfish, we have
classes and clashes.
Business cannot set its house in order because business men are moved by selfish motives;
Business men create problems they do not solve them.
When the bank account is the standard of values the class on the top sets the standard.
When the class on the top does not care for culture, nobody cares for culture. And when nobody cares for culture civilization decays.
When class distinction is not based on the sense of nobless oblige, it becomes clothes distinction. When class distinction has become clothes distinction everybody tries to put up a front.
The world would be better off if people tried to become better,
And people would become better if they stopped trying to be better off.
For when everyone tries to become better off nobody is better off.
But when everyone tries to become better everyone is better off.
Everybody would be rich if nobody tried to become richer.
And nobody would be poor if everybody tried to be the poorest
And everybody would be what he ought to be if everybody tried to be what he wants the other fellow to be.
Vocation means to be a friend of God.
HCW: What is the solution to our economic problems?
Peter Maurin: Business men say that because everybody is selfish, business must therefore be based on selfishness.
Business cannot set its house in order because business men are moved by selfish motives;
Business men create problems they do not solve them.
When the bank account is the standard of values the class on the top sets the standard.
When the class on the top does not care for culture, nobody cares for culture. And when nobody cares for culture civilization decays.
When class distinction is not based on the sense of nobless oblige, it becomes clothes distinction. When class distinction has become clothes distinction everybody tries to put up a front.
The world would be better off if people tried to become better,
And people would become better if they stopped trying to be better off.
For when everyone tries to become better off nobody is better off.
But when everyone tries to become better everyone is better off.
Everybody would be rich if nobody tried to become richer.
And nobody would be poor if everybody tried to be the poorest
And everybody would be what he ought to be if everybody tried to be what he wants the other fellow to be.
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