Time and the tide wait for no man. Neither are they subject to the command of a man.
Before it became politically incorrect to suggest a ruler might not be all-powerful or the State might not be a “Mortall God” à la Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, every schoolchild knew the story of King Chanute and the ocean. Or maybe it was King Canute. Or it could have been Cnut. Or Knut. Or Knute. No need to come to wreck on this Rockne.
Anyway, it seems the usual crowd of lickspittles and sycophants who inevitably gather ’round people with wealth and power flattered old King Chanute that his power was so great he could command even the elements to obey him. Either because he was delusional or to teach them a lesson (depending on who is telling the story), Chanute had his throne set up on the beach at low tide and began issuing orders to the ocean not to come in and wet his feet. Obviously, Chanute got his feet wet. As one version of the story has it,
King Canute
The Fable of the Rising Tides of the River Trent
Among many others, West Lindsey is host to the folklore that King Canute once stood on the shores of the River Trent, gazing at the rising Aegir and commanded it to stop.
The tale goes, tired of his follower’s vain flattery and persistence of his god-like status, he decided once and for all to prove who the true God is, that they should revere Him and set aside their love of the crown over Christ. When he was at the height of his ascendancy, he ordered his royal throne to be placed on the shore as the tide was coming in. King Canute then said to the rising tide, ‘You are subject to me, as the land on which I am sitting is mine, and no one has ever resisted me. I command you, therefore, not to rise on to my land, nor to presume to wet the clothing or limbs of your master.’ But the waters came up as usual, and disrespectfully drenched the king and his fine expensive clothing.
Canute cried, ‘Let all the world know that the power of kings is empty and worthless, and there is no king worthy of the name save Him by whose will heaven, earth and sea obey eternal laws. He who causes the sea to rise is the right and proper person to place one’s trust in and to honour. He is a just and virtuous king, whereas I am a miserable wretch. I am a mere mortal, whereas He is everlasting.
Thereafter King Canute never wore his royal golden crown, but placed it on the image of the crucified Lord, in eternal praise of God – The one great King.
 |
| Oops. Wrong Knute. |
What brought this to mind was the discovery that President Trump has said he will do something similar, and he will command lower interest rates and oil prices. This displays a lack of understanding of both economic and social justice, to say nothing of just plain economics and justice. He would do better to adopt the Economic Democracy Act, and put the economy on a sound basis instead of trying to impose desired results by fiat.
You see, in social justice, you simply cannot command or impose desired results. Now, we don’t claim to have all the answers, not even in our book, Economic Personalism or in the Just Third Way itself, nor have we ever pretended to. We’re not peddling a panacea or solutions, but offering a possible orientation to solve problems, and a suggested way to restructure the social order — especially the economic aspect of it — to make solutions possible. That, in a sense, is the whole question of social justice and thus economic justice.
Still, many people think “social justice” means solving problems. No! As presented by Pope Pius XI and explained by CESJ co-founder Father William J. Ferree, S.M., Ph.D., the act of social justice is directed to making it possible to solve problems and establish and maintain justice. It is not directed to solving problems and establishing and maintaining justice. You see the perhaps subtle but absolutely crucial distinction?
 |
| Fr. William Ferree, S.M., Ph.D. |
Social justice does not and cannot replace individual virtue as the socialists, modernists, and others suppose. Failure to realize this key point has caused massive misunderstanding, sometimes even hysteria, not to mention accusations of dissent, heresy, or worse.
This does not, however, change the fact social justice is not an end in itself. Social justice is, rather, a means to an end: the restructuring of the social order to establish and maintain an arrangement of society in which every child, woman, and man, regardless of faith or philosophy or even lack thereof, has opportunity and access to the means to lead a life of virtue and become more fully human.
Yes, it’s possible President Trump can command lower interest rates and oil prices, and it might even work for a short time, but it cannot last. Command economies — not even those that pretend to be free market — simply cannot survive contact with reality. A few boats might rise, notably those of the rich and powerful who benefit from economic chaos . . . and who can afford to have a boat. The rest of us, however, are going to go down.
Don’t forget: a rising tide might lift all boats (except for those with holes in them), but it sinks everything else.
#30#
