progress in the methods of
production and in the exchange of goods and services has made the economy an
instrument capable of better meeting the intensified needs of the human family.
Reasons for anxiety,
however, are not lacking. Many people,
especially in economically advanced areas, seem, as it were, to be ruled by
economics, so that almost their entire personal and social life is permeated
with a certain economic way of thinking. Such is true both of nations that
favor a collective economy and of others. At the very time when the development
of economic life could mitigate social inequalities (provided that it be guided
and coordinated in a reasonable and human way), it is often made to embitter
them; or, in some places, it even results in a decline of the social status of
the underprivileged and in contempt for the poor. While an immense number of
people still lack the absolute necessities of life, some, even in less advanced
areas, live in luxury or squander wealth. Extravagance and wretchedness exist
side by side. While a few enjoy very great power of choice, the majority are
deprived of almost all possibility of acting on their own initiative and
responsibility, and often subsist in living and working conditions unworthy of
the human person.
