Authentic Human Development

In the encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI spends a considerable time defining what he called “authentic human development.”

authentic human development concerns the whole of the person in every single dimension. Without the perspective of eternal life, human progress in this world is denied breathing-space. Enclosed within history, it runs the risk of being reduced to the mere accumulation of wealth; humanity thus loses the courage to be at the service of higher goods, at the service of the great and disinterested initiatives called forth by universal charity.

For decades now the Catholic Church has expressed grave concern for an individualistic attitude that has permeated almost all of western civilization. This attitude can be seen quite clearly in the economic dimension of society where people, governments, organizations and private industries place greater value in productivity, profit and consumption. Corporations rate themeselves based on the profit margin, people judge themselves based on their material possessions and Governments are measured by their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The economic crisis has shown us all the shortcomings of these narrow values. A recent Financial Times article shared with us that an international panel, led by Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, is evaluating other measures of economic output that can guage human and ecological sustainability.

Financial Times Article: GDP branded a poor gauge of progress

Caritas in Veritate suggest to us that this individualist economic attitude is a perversion. It is a perversion that in this country strikes both political platforms because this attitude is endemic in our society. When the left generally advocate for abortion they advocate from the perspective of an individual’s right to privacy over the right to the potential life of another. When the right generally argue against public services and programs for the common good they do so from a perspective of individual’s economic right not to be taxed to pay for services for others. It is a falsehood to ascribe any moral superiority between one camp versus the other, because in the end both perspectives are blinded by a perverse attitude.

Pope Benedict XVI is challenging us to adopt a holistic attitude that can truly overcome these crippled political platforms. This is the attitude of an authentic human development.

The development of peoples depends, above all, on a recognition that the human race is a single family working together in true communion, not simply a group of subjects who happen to live side by side.

The Center of Concerns offered this Development Pyramid which they extracted from the encyclical.

In here you can identify the different strata of Human Development. The initial phase is purely natural survival, here the human is interested in their own individual necessity and sustenance. This grows to a more developed sense of community where the people balance off and compete with each other for basic advancements. A strong secular development occurs (outlined in black writing) where an ideology is formed that gives the people a sense of meaning within community. A generic sense of right and wrong help dictate good values and behavior rather than basic self interest. The top pier however demonstrates another level of development whereby one find a more meaningful sense of purpose based on our own relationship with God and recognition of God as the author of all creation. At this level the community that surrounds us is not given dignity and respect because it suits our own needs or because we believe in the concept of secular tolerance and democracy. Instead we begin to recognize the inherit dignity that we all share by virtue of being part of one family under one eternal Creator.

So with this in mind it becomes our objective as faithful members of the Catholic faith to pursue this authentic human development. As democratic citizens it is our obligation to participate in the political system. But as we do so we should not sacrifice any aspect of authentic human development for the idols of partisan politics. We are obliged to promote the dignity and respect of all humanity and indeed creation itself.