A society based entirely on individual liberty and private rights leads to a grim scenario: one that places competition as the highest good, and one in which every man works against the other. Against this, the Church has long promoted the value of corporate cooperation and the peace that accompanies it as a greater aim than the degenerative chaos that free competition necessarily entails. (After all, there is no competition among the saints!)

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In this installment of our series on politics, Fr. Hugh and Fr. Ambrose work to frame this Catholic ideal in practical, political terms. The wisdom of the Church gives us good advice about how to approach complex domestic issues like economic opportunity and the roles that race and class have played in society. They also discuss how this cooperation might express itself in international theaters, the connection between patriotism and the fourth commandment, and the real gratitude we owe our forefathers--sometimes in spite of their flaws!

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This is the second video in a five part series on Catholic Political Thought. Learn more and see other episodes here.