This world to our Heavenly home.

The wisest words I had heard this past week came from a priest who instructed me that it is not this world that matters but the next. We must not begin to think that God is on our side, but rather must keep asking ourselves are we in on his.

In other words, it is understandable why we get disgusted and upset by all the atrocities in the world today, but we should not allow these things to deter us from our goal of fulfilling the Father's will. There will always be violence, theft, murder, and other vile acts. The only possible way to reach zero crime is to have no freedom, and even then it is only obtained for a short period of time.
I am guilty of allowing myself to get upset and fired against the wickedness of the collectivist state, against the murder of innocents, etc. I must not allow myself to grow with this rage as it is deterring me from fulfilling the end that I want, to perform God's will.

Economics is a very unique study. It allows us to comprehend human cooperation in ways no other study can. With this I bring up price fixations. When economists speak of the market, they simply mean the players, the actors, the choosers, or in other words, all of us in this world who each day make a decision at a certain moment. We are the market. We, upon making a decision, impact an individual who we never have met. By purchasing an apple, that individual now cannot. By performing a job, that individual now can not. This is not to give the perception that the market is simply those taking from others, but rather to simply demonstrate how your choice would affect my own without your knowledge of ever meaning to.

Prices are a reflection of our choices. They help us understand where the good or services should go and to whom. Law of demand states as price goes up quantity demanded goes down. Likewise if price goes down quantity demanded goes up. Law of supply states that as price goes up, quantity supplied goes up. Following, price goes down and quantity supplied will go down. This also works vice-versa so we can find price from supply and demand. The key is the word and here, supply and demand.

What I am getting at is simple, there is an equilibrium, where supply and demand meet, for everything. There is a price and quantity for everything and the equilibrium is where they interchange. To create a law setting something at zero such as zero crime would be a price fixation. It is called a fixation because naturally our choices in the world give us a natural equilibrium meaning there is still crime in the world, but with a price fixation at zero we find something different. Now my choices have an increased cost which will impact the world in a harsh way because less people are doing it which means that quantity demanded is low that lets us know from the law of demand that price must be high. Accordingly with the law of supply we know that when price is high; quantity supplied is high. The signal this law is giving to the world is to cheat the system. Find a way to perform a crime, as the benefits are extremely high.

Think of Batman the Dark Knight. He begins to lock up all the criminals and with the lesser amount of criminals to rob from the innocent, the profit and amount of people to choose from stealing from is inherently high. A market that is hard to get into yet highly profitable; these are incentives that give rise to the Joker. (Money is not always the incentive. In the case of the Joker, being THE criminal of Gotham was more important.)
In the 1920's, Al Capone was a product of the Prohibition. He loved the law as it created more wealth for him. When competitors moved in, he moved them out or recruited them through force.
We can not hate anything of this world and seek government assistance to help us reach our solutions. We can not allow ourselves to be consumed in combating certain aspects of this world that we condemn ourselves from being in full communion in the next. What is here is only temporal. It is important and we should fight, but let our life's work be to do God's will and not our own. There will always be a form of evil in this world. We can not fight evil with evil, but fight it with love. As we hear time and time again, Love conquers evil.

Love thy Neighbor: How I as a Catholic don't Vote

I am first a Catholic. My faith comes before all other things in my life. With this, how can I have been expected to vote for anyone who supports abortion, immigration barriers, war, etc. How can I choose between politicians who do not support my own beliefs. Perhaps I agree with them on one of the three things listed above, but the probability that they agree with me on all three is incredibly slim. Am I to bend my faith in order to make a political vote?

The answer is clearly and always a No. You do not have to do anything you do not wish to, and to support someone that may bring other evils but not the one you are morally against is wrong. As a Catholic I must stand up for my faith and point that an open door immigration policy is the only possible way to love thy neighbor. They help with the economy in ways unimaginable by most who vote, and to deny them entry is preposterous as by creating such a law to restrict migration is not a demonstration of love.
War, which politicians have more control over, is not Love. Laws that prohibit abortion will not end abortion, there is no such thing as zero amount of murders and lets have it abortion is murder. So with such few words that proclaim "Love thy Neighbor" I find that it is not love that brings you to vote for a politicians hoping for salvation. Short term policies create short term gains but long term failures that must then be corrected again. When glass shatters its not easy to put the pieces back. Fortunately for us, the economy is not glass. It is a process that reflects each and every individual's choice. Stop looking for an easy way out with a new savior in politics. It is disgusting and not an act of love.
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR cooperate with him and trade. It is through social cooperation that man has decreased poverty in the modern world, NOT through government action. Be a Catholic and do good works, not vote in hope that good intentions may not lead us to Hell "this time".