Essay On Rerum Novarum

“A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of the good government, and this is necessary to close the circlue of our facilities”- Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was stating that if a government was careful and smart with their spending the working class would not have to suffer. The working class continues to work trying to feed their families while the Government continues to extricate the little money they have left. A good government would not tax their people so harshly that all their hard work goes to waste. Pope Leo XIII was

There is a certain mutual respect that has to be given in the work place. “Let the working man and the employer make free agreements” (Rerum Novarum, n. 45). It is the worker’s job to compromise with his boss on the terms and agreements he will work. If the wages are not enough to support him and his family he should discuss it with his employer. “If extremes are to be avoided, right notions are [necessary]” (Rerum Novarum, n. 43). In order for employers to not have lawsuits, boycotts, and strikes started to halt their businesses they can avoid these incidents by making the employees job bearable. The US established the minimum wage system in order for people working nonprofessional jobs to have an amount of money that is livable. Minimum wage is the standard pay, and can sometimes not even support a person with a family’s needs. “ To labor is to exert oneself for the sake of procuring what is necessary for the various purposes of life, and chief of all for self preservation” (Rerum Novarum, n.44) The average man or woman works hard for their money. People work two to even three jobs to support their lively hoods. The working man has a right to choose between whatever terms the employer provides as well as agree to them. The document correspondingly mentions that the work should be done under the condition that “… suits his own peculiar domestic condition” (Rerum Novarum, n.17). The workers should not be over exhausted. The

Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum really opened my eyes to the issues of the workplace that I was not really exposed to since I am unemployed. He mentions things like unions and explains clearly that they are of great importance to any working person. He also includes things like how an employee should treat their boss and vice versa, the conditions a person should and should not be working in, and how valuable a worker is to the country. He not only states what you will be up against or will eventually experience he gives good advice. I believe that people should indulge in this document for he gives not only factual advice, but religious advice as well. It is uplifting and incredibly honest. He tells the reader things that the government probably would not tell you, or encourage you to do. He also emphasizes that even though this world secularizes everything you can always find God in the midst of it all. This document is right on the money with working conditions. Today, even things like slavery are still relevant right now. History tends to repeat itself and the issues that pertained to him while writing this document still exist today. Unions have been created, the poor still suffer, and the Church is persistent in their advocacy against things that are not right in the