Page:Catholic Social Doctrine and the Dignity of Work Marco Rubio 2019.pdf/3

 * But we have neglected the rights of workers to share in the benefits they create for their employer – and the obligation of businesses to act in the best interest of the workers and the country that have made their success possible.


 * The political left has been an enthusiastic champion of everyone’s right to various benefits – and of businesses’ obligation to share their success with their workers and the government.


 * But they rarely focus on either our obligation to work or businesses’ right to make a profit.


 * This is the false choice our politics has offered us for almost three decades.


 * And facing an economy whose architecture has been rapidly and dramatically transformed, we have been left with an economy and a society no one is happy with.


 * Even after three years of robust economic growth, we still have millions of people unable to find dignified work and feeling forgotten, ignored, and left behind.


 * And the result of decades of this negligence isn’t just economic. It has weakened families and eroded communities.


 * It has fueled the rise of grievances, in which over 70 percent of Americans believe their fellow countrymen on the opposing side of politics aren’t just wrong, they are a threat to the country.


 * This, not social media or any politician, is why we have become incapable of identifying a common good and pursuing it.

Economic Ideal vs. Reality


 * Free enterprise made America the most prosperous nation in human history. But that prosperity wasn’t just about businesses making a profit; it was also about the creation and availability of dignified work.


 * Our strength came not just from the size of our economy, but also from how its success served the broader national interest.


 * For example, we could never have defeated Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan without both an advanced and profitable industrial base and the willingness of those businesses to participate in the war effort.