The Josias Podcast, Episode XXI: We Live in a Society

We live in a society in which the few live in excess, while the many live in miserable and wretched conditions. We live in a society in which the poor are defenseless against the inhumanity of employers and the unbridled greed of competitors. We live in a society in which these evils are compounded by a devouring usury practiced by avaricious and grasping men. We live in a society in which innocent children are murdered in abortion clinics. We live in a society in which the sin of Sodom is paraded with open pride and enjoys the favor of the laws. We live in a society in which depravity exults; science is impudent; liberty, dissolute. We live in a society in which the holiness of the sacred is despised; sound doctrine is perverted; and errors of all kinds spread boldly. We live in a society in which the divine authority of the Church is opposed and her rights shorn off. We live in a society in which by institutions and by the example of teachers, the minds of the youth are corrupted. We live in a society… We live in a society? Do we actually live in a society? What sense does it make to call the clownish chaos of our lamentable times a “society”? The editors are joined by P.J. Smith of southern Indiana to discuss these and related questions.

Bibliography and Filmography

Henri Grenier, Moral Philosophy, §§ 1032-1036.
Petrus Hispanus, “Notes on Right and Law,” The Josias, 2017.
Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum, 1891.
Pierre Manent, “Modern Democracy as a System of Separations,” Journal of Democracy 14.1 (2003).
Todd Phillips (director), Joker, 2019.
Snowpire, JOKER – Starring George Costanza from Seinfeld, 2019.

Music: “Vesti la Giubba” from Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, sung by Luciano Pavarotti.

Header Image: Joaquin Phoenix in Joker (2019)

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