The revolution of Dorothy Day is this radical insistence: the human person is the primary determining factor for defining, designing, or creating every social order. The person is the focus and the point of every social institution (political, religious, economic, cultural, and educational). Every social institution exists to serve and facilitate the liberation and full development of every person.
It is this "revolution" that every society needs to be critiqued with. And this revolutionary critique is the fundamental solution to every social problem that confronts us still, for when the person is considered first, debate ends about health care for all. When the person comes first, debate ends about taxes and economic and environmental regulations (personalism versus monopoly capitalism). When the person comes first, debate ends about ends and means... the good of each and every person is both means and ends. When the person comes first, no child will ever again be allowed to starve to death... The clarity provided by Dorothy Day's revolutionary thought pierces the "fog talk" of all the politicians, pundits, and preachers dealing propaganda for the "principalities and powers" that St. Paul warned of.
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AuthorRobert Daniel Smith was privileged to serve the homeless and marginalized for 30 years in California. He is living now almost within shouting distance of the Twin Cities. He is a poet, artist, writer, and long-time Companion of the Way still dreaming... Archives
May 2022
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