Michael Moore Stands with Teddy Roosevelt In Pursuit of A More Moral American Elite & Opposed to Rampant Greed

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy long ago went way out on a limb to justify and scrub the history of America's Robber Barons, attempting to make them our nation's entrepreneurial "saints."

A Wall Street Journal columnist Cites a Mackinac Center scholar's Book, Daniel Henninger, in his piece "Bring Back the Robber Barons" (1991)  highlighted in The Wall Street Journal a book entitled "The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America," by Dr. Burton Folsom Jr.

Folsom, a senior fellow in economic education for the Mackinac Center, attempts, as the Mackinac Center states, to dispel the "Myth of the Robber Barons explodes the misperception [SIC] that the great competitors of the 19th century made their gains unjustly..."

Father Bob Sirico (house priest for Erik Prince, and his mother, Father Bob's generous benefactor - Elsa Prince, Betsy (Prince) DeVos' mother, is a clever tartuffian, who now travels the country and the world with his message of divine blessing as expressed in the moral uprightness of massive wealth clothed in arcane Latin terms; often in league with Hillsdale's Dr. Gary Wolfram and the sub-basement writing staff at Mackinac's propaganda mill-all long encouraged and paid by millions from the mega-wealthy with an aggressive legislative list e.g. Right-to-Work (for Less) and all other manner of tax abatements and advantages for themselves.

There's an historical parallel, deja vu , in this moment of crisis, which has inspired the local, state, national, and international Occupy Movement:

"WE STAND AT ARMAGEDDON & BATTLE FOR THE LORD': Engage the fight against 'the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of plutocracy."

-- Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt

That quote and more history of America's founding principals come from "The American Creed: A Biography of the Declaration of Independence" written by Forrest Church:

"In the early twenty century, radicals on the Christian Left were as critical of society as were Christians on the Right. The liberal social gospel arose in response to another aspect of modernism, the impact of industrialization on American society. Vast new capital emerged, undisciplined by government regulation. Max Weber wrote, "In the United States, the pursuit of wealth stripped of its religious and ethical meaning, tends to become associated with purely mundane passions, which often actually give it a character of sport." In these games one side almost always won. With the overwhelming preponderance of new capital filling the endless pockets of a few robber barons, lacking any government gesture in the direction of equity, the proliferation of goods no longer appeared to serve the common good. BY 1900 THE RICHEST ONE PERCENT OF AMERICANS POSSESSED MORE PROPERTY THAN ALL OTHER CITIZENS COMBINED. OUTRAGE AT THIS INEQUITY PROVOKED A POWERFUL, AND IN MANY WAYS REDEMPTIVE, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS RESPONSE.

"When Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed, 'WE STAND AT ARMAGEDDON AND BATTLE FOR THE LORD,' it was not inspire his troops to storm San Juan Hill but to launch his reform platform as a Bull Moose candidate for president in 1912. Roosevelt was morally more eloquent in exercising his missionary zeal at home than abroad . Wary of the dangers posed by monopoly capitalism, he pledged the nation's sacred honor to dash 'the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of plutocracy.' With his square deal anticipating his cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. Theodore raised the platform of American social justice.

"Though a Republican, and by no means an enemy of American Business, Roosevelt developed a repugnance for amassing of great wealth. He was aware of overdevelopment, championing the conservation of natural resources...As personally upright as any American President, he described his political platform as fundamentally an ethical movement.

"At a time when American corporations were poised to take over the country-directing national policy with many fewer restrictions than they operate under today-Roosevelt systematically attacked 'the swollen fortunes' and 'entrenched privilege' of the 'malefactors of great wealth.'

"The Robber Barons threatened to hijack the nation's soul. Curbing monopolies alone was not enough, however. Spiraling inequities of wealth imperiled social peace as well as social justice...By 1912 he was advocating campaign reform and was among the first to propose both an income tax and an inheritance tax. For Roosevelt, a more equitable tax code had as much to with morals as with economics. Vast fortunes not only threatened the integrity of the social compact but also weakened the more fiber of families enthralled by their possession. AT A TIME WHEN THE AMERICAN CREED WAS IN DANGER OF BEING REPLACED BY THE GOD OF MAMMON, ROOSEVLET WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT TO MARSHAL THE FULL FORCE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO EMPOWER HIS MORAL VISION...."

(break)

" 'God gave me my money,' John D. Rockefeller once said. By him and others of his tiny class, massive charitable tithes were offered as a demonstration of this fact. But religious critics didn't view Rockefeller and his cohorts quite as generously. When the untrammeled power of wealth began to supplant (and subvert) government power and undermine social stability (as it does so well today), social prophets opened their Bibles and read a different message."
[emphasis added]

Source: This analysis is drawn from the book "The American Creed; A Biography of the Declaration of Independence" by Forrest Church. See also Church's address "The American Creed".

Michael Moore is but one voice, there are a host of writers and religious leaders who are again calling America back to the "HIGHER GROUND" so well embodied in our DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE and THE AMERICAN CREED that flows from it.


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Hank Payne’s Utter Failure to Occupy the Moral High Ground vs. Michael Moore’s Progress Thereunto

Henry Payne's gnawing away on Michael Moore with shabby grievances is very small on his part.

Payne's real arguments made on the Detroit/Mackinac News and Michigan View, center against Moore and the Occupy Movement and with the power and the authority of the Roman Catholic Church, and several vicars of Christ - its popes.

Hank is on thin ice and at risk as a credible moral voice and/or guide.

Early in the anti-poor legislative blitz mounted by the Michigan TeaPublican super majorities in Lansing the Detroit News, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the Mackinac Center (aided and abetted by the cynical Detroit News pinchpennies Nolan, Frank, Dr. Gary, Hank, and the peanut gallery of hand-cranked memographers of corporate pap and propaganda at the mighty Mackinac Center mischief mill) simply ignored the sharp criticism directed by the Michigan Conference of Catholic Bishops against Rick Snyder and crew as they took down and compounded the absolute plight of the poor in Michigan.

SEE: Letter from the Michigan Catholic Conference Calling for Greater Attention to Poor and Unemployed in the Michigan State Budget to Governor Rick Snyder and Michigan Legislative Leaders on April 11, 2011 begins:

"We, the Roman Catholic Bishops of the seven Dioceses in Michigan, take this opportunity as proposals are being advanced by our legislators to craft the state budget, to call on you, our executive and legislative leaders, to carry out your responsibilities with greater attention to the needs of the poor, the unemployed and other vulnerable persons who make up a large part of the citizens of Michigan."

Michael Moores' Rich Catholic Heritage Stands Opposed to Hank Payne & Cadre's Thinly Varnished Parsimony & Bitter, Ascorbic Civic Cynicism
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The American Conference of Catholic Bishops has enunciated a Set of Principles partially annotated from Wikipedia as below:

1.) Sanctity of human life and dignity of the person -

2.) Call to family, community, and participation - According to the Book of Genesis, the Lord God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone". The Catholic Church teaches that man is now not only a sacred but also a social animal and that families are the first and most basic units of a society. It advocates a complementarian view of marriage, and family life, religious leadership. FULL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT TAKES PLACE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHERS. The family-based on marriage(between a man and a woman)-is the first and fundamental unit of society and is a sanctuary for the creation and nurturing of children. Together families form communities, communities a state and together all across the world each human is part of the human family. HOW THESE COMMUNITIES ORGANIZE THEMSELVES POLITICALLY, ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY IS THUS OF THE HIGHEST IMPORTANCE. EACH INSTITUTION MUST BE JUDGED BY HOW MUCH IT ENHANCES, OR IS A DETRIMENT TO, THE LIFE AND DIGNITY OF HUMAN PERSONS.

CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING OPPOSES COLLECTIVIST APPROACHES SUCH AS COMMUNISM BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT ALSO REJECTS UNRESTRICTED LAISSEZ-FAIRE POLICIES AND THE NOTION THAT A FREE MARKET AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCES SOCIAL JUSTICE. THE STATE HAS A POSITIVE MORAL ROLE TO PLAY AS NO SOCIETY WILL ACHIEVE A JUST AND EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES WITH A TOTALLY FREE MARKET. ALL PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND CULTURAL LIFE OF SOCIETY and, under the principle of subsidiarity, state functions should be carried out at the lowest level that is practical.

3.) Rights and responsibilities -

4.) Preferential Option for the poor and vulnerable - Jesus taught that on the Day of Judgement God will ask what each of us did to help the poor and needy: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." This is reflected in the Church's canon law, which states, "THE CHRISTIAN FAITHFUL ARE ALSO OBLIGED TO PROMOTE SOCIAL JUSTICE and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor from their own resources."

Through our words, prayers and deeds we must show solidarity with, and compassion for, the poor. WHEN INSTITUTING PUBLIC POLICY WE MUST ALWAYS KEEP THE "PREFERENTIAL OPTION FOR THE POOR" AT THE FOREFRONT OF OUR MINDS.

The moral test of any society is "how it treats its most vulnerable members. THE POOR HAVE THE MOST URGENT MORAL CLAIM ON THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NATION. WE ARE CALLED TO LOOK AT PUBLIC POLICY DECISIONS IN TERMS OF HOW THEY AFFECT THE POOR."

Pope Benedict XVI has taught that "love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind, is as essential as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel". THIS PREFERENTIAL OPTION FOR THE POOR AND VULNERABLE INCLUDES ALL WHO ARE MARGINALIZED IN OUR NATION AND BEYOND-UNBORN CHILDREN, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, THE ELDERLY AND TERMINALLY ILL, AND VICTIMS OF INJUSTICE AND OPPRESSION.

5.) Dignity of work - Society must pursue economic justice and the economy must serve people, not the other way around. Employers must not "look upon their work people as their bondsmen, but ... respect in every man his dignity as a person ennobled by Christian character." Employers contribute to the common good through the services or products they provide and by creating jobs that uphold the dignity and rights of workers.

Workers have a right to work, to earn a living wage, and to form trade unions to protect their interests. All workers have a right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, and to safe working conditions. Workers also have responsibilities-to provide a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, to treat employers and co-workers with respect, and to carry out their work in ways that contribute to the common good. Workers must "fully and faithfully" perform the work they have agreed to do.

In 1933, the Catholic Worker Movement was founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. It was committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, prayer, and hospitality for the marginalized and poorest in Society. Today over 185 Catholic Worker communities continue to protest injustice, war, racism, and violence of all forms.

6.) Solidarity - "Solidarity is undoubtedly a Christian virtue. It seeks to go beyond itself to total gratuity, forgiveness, and reconciliation. It leads to a new vision of the unity of humankind, a reflection of God's triune intimate life...." It is a unity that binds members of a group together.

All the peoples of the world belong to one human family. We must be our brother's keeper, though we may be separated by distance, language or culture. Jesus teaches that we must each love our neighbors as ourselves and in the parable of the Good Samaritan we see that our compassion should extend to all people.[ SOLIDARITY INCLUDES THE SCRIPTURAL CALL TO WELCOME THE STRANGER AMONG US-INCLUDING IMMIGRANTS SEEKING WORK, A SAFE HOME, EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN, AND A DECENT LIFE FOR THEIR FAMILIES.

7.) Complementarianism - "God gives man and woman an equal personal dignity" but also that the harmony of society "depends in part on the way in which the complementarity, needs, and mutual support between the sexes are lived out."

8.) Charity - "In a culture without truth, there is a fatal risk of losing love. It falls prey to contingent subjective emotions and opinions, the word "love" is abused and distorted, to the point where it comes to mean the opposite. Truth frees charity from the constraints of an emotionalism that deprives it of relational and social content, and of a fideism that deprives it of human and universal breathing-space. In the truth, charity reflects the personal yet public dimension of faith in God and the Bible.

9.) Subsidiarity -

10.) Distributism - DISTRIBUTISM HOLDS THAT SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURES SHOULD PROMOTE WIDE OWNERSHIP OF CORPORATIONS AND IS THE BASIS FOR ANTI-TRUST LAWS AND ECONOMIC COOPERATIVES INCLUDING CREDIT UNIONS. Rerum Novarum, Quadragesimo Anno and Centesimus Annus are Catholic Social Teaching documents which advocate economic distributism.


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What progress for good and the public commons have you to offer, Hank?

Have you new material that can substitute or supersede those of Michael Moore's Catholic Church's goals and principles?  If you do have advanced revelation and superior moral proposals for the future, please share them with us all.

See Also: "Is Michael Moore God’s Man for This Hour of National Crisis? " , "Henry Payne IV v. Mike Moore: Contrasting 2 Lives" and "Occupy Payne: Bloomfield Hills"

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Is Michael Moore God’s Man for This Hour of National Crisis?

Michael Moore's Focus on "Social Justice" Arises Directly out of His Catholic Education: Praise God!

"Progress has brought us both unbounded opportunities and unbridled difficulties. Thus, the measure of our civilization will not be that we have done much, but what we have done with that much. I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism. The thought of modern industry in the hands of Christian charity is a dream worth dreaming. The thought of industry in the hands of paganism is a nightmare beyond imagining. The choice is between the two."
-- Theodore Roosevelt

Michael Moore was schooled a Catholic. His sense of social justice is derived from his religious training and beliefs as a Catholic.

"Is there anyone here who, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone?"
-- Matthew 7:9

Let's look at Moore's Roman Catholic Catechism for some insight:

"Here is a quotation from the official Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church which illustrated the Church's position regarding the economics of poverty. This is to be found in Article 7 "The Seventh Commandment: You shall not steal," paragraphs 2401 through 2463. Notice that the seventh commandment establishes the right of private property, for without some recognition of private property there could be no such thing as stealing for everything would belong to everyone. Hence one cannot accuse Catholic doctrine of supporting views expressed by French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his book 'Property is Theft.'

"Article 2402 of The Catechism states that 'The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race. However, the earth is divided up among men to assure the security of their lives, endangered by poverty and threatened by violence.'

"Article 2403 of The Catechism states that 'The right to private property, acquired by work or received from others by inheritance or gift, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. The universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise.'

"Article 2406 of The Catechism states 'Political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good.'

"Consider the exercise of 'eminent domain' when highways must be constructed. Consider the anti-trust laws which prevent any single Corporation from becoming so powerful that it would exercise unfairness in the competitive market place..."

Thus concludes William Buell, blogger.

America Has Been Too Long Under the Sway of a Cult of Mammon and Unrelenting Greed: Our Present Day Paganism

The ongoing press of libertarians and malcontents in defense of rampant greed rides in large part on the atheism and anti-humanitarian dementia of Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, et al. These powerful influences have co-opted and sanctified the financial barbarism which is the basis of many of their fortunes (not all) and the power-lust of the top 1%; who find little shame in their dominance and suppression of the 99% - including the working poor, the disadvantaged, the handicapped, the mentally addled; nor do they recant their shortcuts which took them to this haughty pinnacle.

"In what other land or age does one find selfishness enshrined as a virtue and a whole population of individuals drinking their self-worship neat, unadulterated by any idolatry of tribe or class? Where, but here, and when, but now; could "I DID IT MY WAY" be the music most often played at funerals?" 

-- Commenter from FirstThings.

The Detroit News/Mackinac Center charges against Michael Moore's motives lie squarely askew God's Plan.

Note the brilliant summation of Roman Catholic Archbishop Dom Helder:

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint, But when I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist."

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Occupy Payne: Bloomfield Hills

Response to Henry Payne in "Occupy Michael Moore: His opulent lake estate" in the Michigan View / Detroit News on November 11, 2011.

It might have been a cold choppy day when Hank Payne risked his handy Kodak and mounted the tremulous waves of deep and miles long Torch Lake to capture an image Michael Moore's house - far North in Michigan. Payne (or surrogate) slipped in and out of the water to get one of his gottcha shots; like the one he snapped at Occupy Detroit last Saturday where Hank slipped in and out of the protest crowd to snap a photo. Hank picked the just right- the most useful poster/sign for his purpose, which he could use as a "cartoonish" depiction that would put down the Occupy movement.

So in the spirit of Payne let's take a short look at Hank's neighborhood, he lives nestled amid the Michigan cluster of 99%ers. What are the stats on his local:

From Wiki:

"Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan, 20.2 miles northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,869. Bloomfield Hills consistently ranks as one of the top five wealthiest cities in the United States with population between 2,500 to 9,999 - it currently is listed at the number four position and in 1990 it was ranked number two, and has the highest income of any city outside of California or Florida. The median income for a family is over $200,000. In 2000, 49% of residential property in Bloomfield Hills had a value of over $1,000,000."

What say Payne? Does he actually achieve the Bloomfield Hills 49% level with a home over one million dollars?

Occupy Payne? Why not? This is in concept the heart of the issue. Do the Bloomfield Hills folk have compassion and fathom the concerns and passions displayed in the Occupy Movement? Not likely.

Occupy Payne? Those who live in the heart of the 99%ers ought not throw stones or mock those who achieved/have the means such as Michael Moore has.

 MICHAEL MOORE HAS GIVEN VOICE TO THOSE WHO WANT BALANCE AND PROBITY TO WALL STREET-A FINANCIAL OFFICER HIRED TO DEAL WITH PERSONAL INVESTMENTS HAS A LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY TO ACT AS A FIDUCIARY FOR THE CLIENT.

Wiki again:

"A fiduciary duty (from Latin fiduciarius, meaning "(holding) in trust"; from fides, meaning "faith", and fiducia, meaning "trust") is a legal or ethical relationship of confidence or trust between two or more parties. One party, for example a corporate trust company or the trust department of a bank, acts in a fiduciary capacity to one, who for example has funds entrusted to it for investment. IN A FIDUCIARY RELATIONSHIP, ONE PERSON, IN A POSITION OF VULNERABILITY, JUSTIFIABLY VESTS CONFIDENCE, GOOD FAITH, RELIANCE AND TRUST IN ANOTHER WHOSE AID, ADVICE OR PROTECTION IS SOUGHT IN SOME MATTER. IN SUCH A RELATION GOOD CONSCIENCE REQUIRES THE FIDUCIARY TO ACT AT ALL TIMES FOR THE SOLE BENEFIT AND INTEREST OF THE ONE WHO TRUSTS.

A fiduciary is someone who has undertaken to act for and on behalf of another in a particular matter in circumstances which give rise to a relationship of trust and confidence. -Bristol & West Building Society v Mothew [1998] Ch 1 at 18 per Lord Millett

"A fiduciary duty is the highest standard of care at either equity or law."
(Emphasis added)

Moore is and will be a target of savage blowback, it is expected.

Footnote: Payne's cartoonish punditry and simplistic cartoons do not reach the high threshold set by others. Compared to the vastly superior material produced in the recent past, Payne falls short, even with a Princeton education, when compared with those witty and punch-packed renderings of Gary Packingham-an accomplished artist/cartoonist with a sharp pen put to the right issues and done in high style. Packingham is best known for his years of political cartooning for most Michigan newspapers.

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