Ill Fares the Land

Last updated on: April 26, 2017 at 11:23 am by Morning's Minion

Ill Fares the Land 2017-04-26T11:23:51-05:00 Morning's Minion

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Tony Judt has written a compelling little book, his final one. The title comes from Oliver Goldsmith: “Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey; where wealth accumulates, and men decay“. It is a beautiful and poignant title for a beautiful and poignant book. A short read, it is basically the length of a long essay and is written with a sense of passion and urgency. As well it should be, for it is Judt’s swan song. Judt died recently from Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Ill Fares the Land is a cry for the left to reclaim the moral legacy of social democracy. It begins as follows:

“Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today. For thirty years we have made a virtue out of the pursuit of material self-interest: indeed, this very pursuit now constitutes whatever remains of our sense of collective purpose. We know what things cost but have no idea what they are worth. We no longer ask of a judicial ruling of a legislative act: is it good? is it fair? is it just? Will it help bring about a better society or a better world? These used to be the political questions, even if they invited no easy answers. We must learn once again to pose them.

The materialistic and selfish quality of contemporary life is no inherent in the human condition. Much of what appears ‘natural’ today dates from the 1980s: the obsession with wealth creation, the cult of privizatization and the private sector, the growing disparities of rich and poor. And above all the rhetoric which accompanies these: uncritical admiration for unfettered markets, disdain for the public sector, the delusion of endless growth.

We cannot go on living this like”.

With this powerful introduction, Judt documents the pathologies of modern society, most of which can be traced to rising inequality – reduced social mobility, economic insecurity, fraying trust among people, ill-health, alcoholism and drug addiction, crime, mental illness. Inequality, he claims, is not just unattractive in itself, it corresponds to pathological social problems that cannot be addressed without turning to their underlying cause.

It wasn’t always that way. In fact, postwar social democrats were a victim of their own success. Alongside the Christian Democrats, they adopted the “third way” of the social market to make sure that the pathologies of the first half of the twentieth century – economic chaos, political extremism, a collapse it democracy, war – did not return. It succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, and the decades following the second world war marked some of the most prosperous and stable in history, on both sides of the Atlantic.

The first nagging problems arose in the 1960s, when the first secure generation rebelled against the world created by its parents, with its cozy secure sense of benign paternalism. This generation took a fundamentally wrong turn. As Judt puts it, the “New Left” rejected the inherited collectivism of its predecessor. Instead, individualism was the cause of the hour – as Judt puts it, “the assertion of very person’s claim to maximized private freedom and unrestrained freedom to express autonomous desires and have them respected and institutionalized by society at large”. Instead of the common good, what mattered was “identity”. In this, Judt’s analysis is perfectly aligned with Pope Benedict’s – which might surprise a secular Jewish leftist like Judt – in that this paves the path toward moral relativism. And even as this generation adopted some noble causes, such as ending the Vietnam war, there was no sense of collective purpose, merely a political extension of individual self-expression.

You can probably see what comes next. Judt makes the argument I have made many times – the individualism of the 1960s paved the way for the individualism of the 1980s. After its complete failure in the 1930s and repudiation after the war, the idea of the unfettered free market was back in vogue, because it furthered the cause of individual self-interest, that great legacy of the 1960s. Judt devotes some time to describing the Austrian roots of this economic theory, showing that Hayek and his acolytes were tormented by the totalitarian experience in their native country, something they mistakenly assumed was due to a diminution in economic freedom. Indeed, Hayek warned ominously that the European welfare states would lead to dictatorship. He could not have been more wrong, an inconvenient fact ignored by his modern fans.

Here is where Judt’s reading might be overly narrow. I think he exaggerates the influence of the Austrian school, which I have always regarded as fringe and quirky. Instead, what slipped out of the box was the individualism of the Enlightenment, which goes all the way back to the nominalist revolution against the Catholic intellectual order. But I would not expect Judt to be overly familiar with the (Christian) theological underpinnings of modernity! A child of the Enlightenment himself, he argues that the moral thinkers of the time would never have countenanced the modern situation where the essential virtue of prudence has been lost.

Judt notes that social democrats have lost their sense of purpose after the tumultuous 1960s and the rise of the self-confident free-market right. He also believes they learned the wrong lessons from the fall of communism, which did not herald the end of history and the glorious reign of free markets. Social democrats have been apologizing for their core beliefs, and instead of the political giants of previous generations, the modern political sphere is populated by empty suits who are more comfortable with sound bites than moral purpose. As Judt puts it, “it is the gap between the inherently ethical nature of public decision-making and the utilitarian quality of contemporary political debate that accounts for the lack of trust felt towards politics and politicians”. He cites the example of Pope John Paul’s popularity to argue that “humans need a language in which to express their moral instincts”. And we have lost that moral language. Again echoing Pope Benedict – and again, probably without realizing it – Judt argues that:

“Even if we concede that there is no higher purpose to life, we need to ascribe meaning to our actions in a way that transcends them. Merely asserting that something is or is not in our material interest will not satisfy most of us most of the time. To convince others that something is right or wrong we need a language of ends, not means. We don’t have to believe that our objectives are poised to succeed. But we do need to be able to believe in them”.

Judt goes on:

“We are all children of the Greeks. We intuitively grasp the need for a sense of moral direction..Natural Aristotelians, we assume that a just society is one in which justice is habitually practiced; a good society one in which people behave well. For Aristotle and his successors, the substance of justice or goodness was as much a function of convention as of definition..The attractions of a ‘reasonable’ level of wealth, an ‘acceptable’ compromise, a just or good resolution was self-evident. The avoidance of extremes was a moral virtue in its own right, as well as a condition of political stability. However, the idea of moderation – so familiar to generations of moralists – is difficult to articulate today. Big is not always better, more is not always desirable; but we are discouraged from expressing the thought.

One source of our confusion may be a blurring of the distinction between law and justice. In the US especially, so long as a practice is not illegal we find it hard to define its shortcomings. The notion of ‘prudence’ eludes us: the idea that it is imprudent for Goldman Sachs to distribute billions of dollars in bonuses less than a year after benefitting from taxpayer largesse would have been self-evident to men of the Scottish Enlightenment, just as it would to the classical philosophers. ‘Imprudence’ in this respect would have been as reprehensible as financial chicanery: not least for the risks to which it exposed the community at large”.

To sum it up, Judt argues that we need a moral narrative, “an internally coherent account that ascribes purpose to our actions in a way that transcends them”.

But what do we want? Judt argues, quite correctly in my view, that the reduction in inequality must come first – with stark inequality, other goals become difficult if not impossible to achieve. For Judt, inequality is the overarching moral issue as it causes and reflects the loss of social cohesion that is so evident today. With inequality, we lose all sense of solidarity. We lose the sense of common purpose and mutual dependence that is the linchpin of community. Ominously, without trust or social cohesion, stability and even democracy are at risk. Judt does not think we will re-make the mistakes of the 1930s, which followed another period of dizzying globalization, boundless optimism, staggering inequality, and free market fundamentalism. It is more likely, he thinks, that we will make big mistakes all on our own.

But we must re-learn certain lessons. We must remember why the social market was put in place at that particular point in history. Now more than ever, when conditions eerily mirror the pre-war period in so many different dimensions, we need to discover anew the role of the state – the properly-defined role, of course. The state cannot do everything, but neither should we think it can do nothing. And so Judt argues that “the first task is to remind ourselves of the achievements of the 20th century, along with the consequences of a heedless rush to dismantle them..as the British political theorist John Dunn has wisely observed, the past is somewhat better lit than the future: we can see it more clearly”.

There is something inherently conservative about all of this. For, as Judt notes, “the left has something to conserve”. Indeed, much of the rise of social democracy was less about building a brave new world, and more about restoring the moral rules to economic life that were trampled underfoot by industrial capitalism. Indeed, it is the political right that has insisted that change is good over the past half century. Social democracy was once associated with prudence, and should be again. Social democrats should apologize less for their shortcomings and speak more assertively of their achievements. We should be angrier that the right has spent three decades trying to unravel and overthrow these achievements:

“It ought to worry us, if only on prudential grounds: why have we been in such a hurry to tear down the dikes laboriously set in place by out predecessors? Are we so sure that there are no floods to come? To abandon the labors of a century is to betray those who came before as well as generations yet to come.. Social democracy does not represent an ideal future; it does not even represent the ideal past. But among options available, it is better than anything else to hand”.

Judt quotes the famous Edmund Burke statement that society is “a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born”. Judt argues that the left must take this on board, jettisoning the 1960s baggage, and realizing once more that we are connected to both past and future.

In conclusion, Judt notes that “we are intuitively familiar with issues of injustice, unfairness, inequality, and immorality – we have just forgotten how to talk about them”. Instead, we have had “two lost decades, during which fantasies of prosperity and limitless personal advancement displaced all talk of..social justice or collective action”. It is time to rediscover the lost path and walk it anew. This is fundamentally a conservative project, a moral project, and (even if it comes from a secular Jew), a Catholic project. Let us respond to Judt’s call.

Tony Judt, R.I.P.

Economics

Economy

Morning's Minion

Previous Post

August 31, 2010

Eternal Memory, O Lord: Raimon Panikkar

Next Post

September 2, 2010 Which Will You Seek: The Peace of the World or the Peace of Christ?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2019 A Consistent Ethic of Life Aaron Weldon Abortion absurdity Abuse Scandal Academics Adoption Advent Africa agreement/disagreement with Church teaching Alexander Schmemann Alexham Alterity America Amnesty International Anarchism angels Anglicanism Animals Annual Statistics Anthony Anxietas Apocalyptic Apophatic Appalachia Aquinas Art Atheism Atonement Augustine Authority Baptism Beauty Bible biblical criticism biblical scholarship Bioethics Bishops Black Catholics Black Theology Blackadder Blogs Books Breastfeeding Brett Salkeld Buddhism Bush administration Byzantine Catholic Calvinism Canada Canon Law Capital Punishment Capitalism Caryll Houselander Catholic Blog Awards Catholic Blogging Catholic League Catholic Social Teaching Catholic Worker Movement Catholicity CFL Charity Children Chris West Christ and Culture Christian Democracy Christian Unity Christmas Christology Church Church Doctrine Church History Climate Change Cohabitation Colbert Collegiality Communion Communism Comparative Theology Competition Conferences conscience conscience rights Consequentialism Consistent Life Ethics Consumerism Contraception Contrition Conversion Converts Coptic COVID-19 Creation Critical Thinking Cross Cuba Culture Culture of Death Culture of Life Darfur David Cruz-Uribe David Wheeler-Reed Death Death Penalty Democracy Demons Desert Fathers Devil Dialogue dignity Disability Disarmament discernment Discipleship discrimination Dissent Distributism Division Doctrine Domestic Church Dorothy Day Double Effect Doubt Down syndrome Driving Early Church Easter Eastern Churches Ecclesiology Economics Economy Ecumenism Education El Salvador Election Election 2020 Ellul Embryonic Stem Cell Research Empire Energy Enlighenment Environmentalism Ephraim Radner Episcopal Church epistemology Equality Eschatology Ethics Eucharist Europe Euthanasia Evangelization Evil Evolution Excommunication F.X. Durrwell Facism Facts Fair Trade Faith Family Fashion Feddie Feminism Feminist theology Fertility Fetal Rights Fiction Film Finances First Things flags Folk Religion Food Foreign Affairs Forgiveness Frank Sheed Free Speech Freedom gay & lesbian persons Genocide George W. Bush George Weigel Gerald L. Campbell Girard/Mimetic Theory Global Warming Globalization Gnosticism Good Friday Grace Gratitude Greed Grey Cup 2009 Guadalupe Guest Post Guest Posts Gun Control Gustave Martelet Habitat for Humanity Hans Urs von Balthasar Harry Potter Hate Speech Health Health Care Healthcare Heather King Hebrew Bible Henri de Lubac Henry Karlson Herbert McCabe Heresy HHS Mandate Controversy History Holidays Holiness Holy Spirit Homiletics Homily Homosexuality Hope Hospitality How Far Can We Go? How Far Can We Go? Human Person Human Rights Humanae Vitae Humility Humor Hunger Hunting Identity Idolatry Ignacio Ellacuría Imagination Immigration In Memoriam Income Inequality Inculturation Indigenous People Individualism Inklings Intellect Interdependence Internet Interpretation Interviews Introduction Iraq War Islam Israel Jain James Alison James Martin Jazz Jesus Christ Jews Joe Biden Joe Hargrave Johann Baptist Metz John Allen John Henry Newman John Paul II John the Baptist John XXIII Jonathan Josef Pieper Joseph (the husband of Mary) Joseph Bernardin Joseph Ratzinger Josh Brumfield Journals Joy Judgment Just War Justice Kari Lundgren Karl Rahner Katerina Ivanovna Kenya Keynes Kingdom of God Kyle R. Cupp Labor Language Latin America Law Leanne Ogasawara Legion of Christ Leisure Lent Liberalism Liberation Theology Libertarianism Libya Lies Life life & dignity & responsibility of the human person Literature Little Way Liturgical music Liturgical Year Liturgy Living Simply Living Wage Local Church Lombard Lord of the Rings Louis Dupre Love M.Z. Magic Magisterium Mark DeFrancisis Mark Gordon Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Jr. Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masculinity Matt Talbot Matthew Fish Matthew Levering McCain Media Memorial Day Mennonites Mental Illness mercy Michael Iafrate Middle East militarism Miroslav Volf Mitt Romney Modesty Moral Theology Morality Mormonism Morning's Minion Mother Teresa Music Muslims Natalie Nate Wildermuth Nationalism Native Americans Nature Nazis Neuhaus New Evangelization New York City News NFP nihilism Nonviolence Not Abortion Nova's Ordo Nuclear weapons Nuns Obama Occult Old Age Opus Dei Ordination ordination of women original sin Orthodoxy Oscar Romero Other Voices Pacifism Palestine Palin Papacy Papal Peace Messages Papal Social Encyclicals Particular Affections Partisanship Patriotism Paul Paul Ryan Paul VI Peace Pentimento persecution Personalism Phantastes Philosophy PKD Planned Parenthood Pluralism Poetry Policraticus Politcal Apathy Politics Poll Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope Leo XIV Population Postcolonialsim Poverty Power Prayer Preaching Predictions Predictions for 2012 President Barack Obama priestly formation & discernment Pro-Life Progress Prophetic Witness Proportionalism Public Diplomacy Public Policy Question Quotes Rachel Maddow Racism Radical Catholic Mom Radical Catholicism Raymund Schwager Real Catholic TV Real Presence Reconciliation Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Religion religious freedom Responsibility Ressourcement Resurrection Rick Garnett Ridiculous Crap You Never Thought You'd See Robert Barron Roe v. Wade Roman Curia Rome Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation History Sam Harris Sam Rocha Same-sex Marriage Saskatchewan Roughriders Satire School of the Americas Science Scripture Seamless Garment Second Vatican Council Seeing Sex sexual violence Sexuality Sia Sin social justice Social Security Socialism Society of Jesus Sofia Loves Wisdom Solidarity Sophia soteriology Soutenus Spirituality Sports St. Dismas St. Joseph Stanley Hauerwas Statistics Stimulus Suffering Sunday Reflections Supernatural Supreme Court Symbolism Syria Taxing Technology Terrorism The State The Tea Party The Trump Administration Theological Anthropology Theology Theotokos Thomas Merton Throwaway Culture Tim Muldoon Tim Riley Tim Tebow Time Titian Tolkien Torture Toys Trade Traditionalism Transgender Transportation Transubstantiation Trinity Truth TV U.S. Affairs Uncategorized Unions unity among people who disagree US Catholicism USCCB Usury Utilitarianism Utopia Valentine's Day Vatican Vatican II Veterans Vicarious Suffering Video Violence Virgin Mary Vocations Voluntary Associations Voluntary Poverty Voting Vox Nova vox nova blog war War and Peace War Strategy Wealth Weirdness Welfare state Women Women Priests Work Woundedness Youth

Select a Month June 2026 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 July 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 July 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 November 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Where was Paul's hometown?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Damascus Tarsus Antioch Jerusalem