Another brilliant article from the Acton Institute:
In Leo XIII’s words from Rerum Novarum, “Let it be laid down in the first place that a condition of human existence must be borne with, namely that in civil society the lowest cannot be made equal with the highest.” Leo understood that creating economic equality was a fool’s errand. While it is true that some forms of inequality are unjustified, a certain amount of inequality is inevitable and even justified. By making equality the summum bonum of society, socialists take the noble ideal of compassion for the poor and twist it into a form of idolatry.
The church’s alternative to the idolatry of equality is the defense of the weak. As John Paul said in Centesimus Annus, “Leo XIII is repeating an elementary principle of sound political organization, namely, the more that individuals are defenseless within a given society, the more they require the care and concern of others, and in particular the intervention of government authority.”
Focusing on the weak is realistic in a way that focusing on inequality is not. All of us begin our lives as helpless infants, completely dependent on the care of others for our survival. If we are lucky, we live long enough that we again need the assistance of others just to manage our basic bodily needs. In between, all of us get sick some of the time and temporarily need help. Any of us could get a bump on the head that would render us permanently dependant on others.
Equality is not fair. It’s a tough thing to get one’s mind around, but harmony rather than pure equality is the true ideal.