Marquette University - Hilltop Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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been formulated by our studies which give us the benefit of what man lias learned before us. From literature we derive the story of man. We see how he has thought. We study his emotions and aspirations. Most important, we learn that his individual character must be considered in our dealings with him. It is from ethics that we learn to apply moral principles to social rights and duties. We see our rights and obligations to domestic society and we are shown tlie nature of civil society along with its origin and forms of authority. History teaches us how man has reacted to many different social structures and how he has developed the cultural, economic and social aspects of his nature which we today must consider in our dealings in society. We discover that we are the benefactors of the many centuries of struggle which have achieved the freedom we now enjoy and must hold. The University offers its students the opportunity to study politics even further with courses offered by the Political Science department. The general principles gathered from our study of man and society, which serve as guides for all, are here applied to government in particular. Fundamental political ideas and structures are studied along with the theories and comparisons of different types of government. The Department also sponsors many interesting speeches and debates by people who are well versed in politics, instructing and preparing students for the responsibility which political freedom requires of them. These practical examples demonstrate the present condition of our society and allow students to be better prepared to enter and improve it with the education gained here. In addition to the instruction offered in the classroom, the University also gives its students a chance to experiment with politics in their own student government. Such functions as the Student Senate, Junior Class elections, Inter-Fraternity and Sorority Councils are encouraged and give all interested parties an adequate chance to practice government with the assisting guidance of the University. Marquette University does not teach that political freedom is freedom from government, but rather, that it is the right of an individual to enter into that government and help guide society to its true aim, man's perfection. It is because of this end that governing must be accompanied by the philosophical and theological principles that are stressed here.

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Freedom of Political Belief i OUTICA L freedom is often understood to mean the absence of governmental restraint over people who engage in politics, except insofar as those activities actually undermine the existing government. Due to man's social nature, his political freedom is of great importance to him, and the society he creates for himself must 1m? directed towards his best interests. Political freedom places many responsibilities upon each member of society. The greatest responsibility political freedom entails is that the members of that free society work towards preserving and improving it. Marquette plays a large part in preparing people for this responsibility by teaching its students the structure of our society so they will not unconsciously work against it. The students are also inspired to work for freedom and are urged to keep it in the forefront of their thinking. Besides the responsibility of working to preserve political freedom, each member of society must participate in society. It is each member's obligation to use his voice to the extent to which he is entitled and to donate whatever is rightfully expected of him to society. These are the ideas which must be placed in the hearts and minds of men and it is at Marquette that a great deal of it is done. Any freedom requires that its possessors have the knowledge of what is good so they can fulfill the responsibility which comes with that freedom. Marquette University gives the education leading to this knowledge. However, Marquette differs from many institutions in that it goes beyond the limit of scientific truths in its teachings, and stresses the philosophical and theological truths as the backbone of education. We are instructed tliat we have a moral responsibility to society rather than a merely practical one. Here at the University each of us is implanted with the basic principle that actions which arc morally right are also good for us. This principle will serve as our guide throughout our public life. Many people lack the right outlook on their obligation to society simply because they ignore or are ignorant of the fact. As a result they consider onlv material conditions when making a decision as a member of society. They fail to realize what we have been taught, namely, that man exists in a moral order, the very same order in which his rights exist, and only by observing his moral obligations does he fulfill his responsibility to society. Man is in society because he cannot achieve his greatest good by himself, even though he has a great Individual potential. As a social animal, this potential is combined with that of others in society. Here at Marquette we are taught to what acts this potential is to ! e aimed upon graduation. We will then take these lessons we have learned and follow them, thus bringing our potential into l eing. The lessons we will take with us from Marquette have

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Economic Freedom OST of us arc inclined to think of society in terms of what we can get from it. We say that we are proud to be Americans because in our free society we can own property, give our children as fat an allowance as we think fit and drive a car that would make the Duke of York turn a deep Irish green. Perhaps it is not really so strange that we tend to ignore the other side of our freedom, the freedom to contribute our talents to the service of the common good. To use the dangerous privilege of liberty for the good of society and for our own good, we must understand ourselves and our relationship with reality. We must develop our talents; that is, we must cultivate virtues which will give us the intellectual and spiritual strength we need in order to subdue the earth in the way God wants. When God made man He said: “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it ... And so it was a command of God that man Ik economically free, that man have the right to acquire the material goods of the earth. The goods of the earth are for man: man extends his dominion over the material universe. The right to own property on the earth is derived from man’s nature. Man must eat, must feed his children, must provide shelter from the elements; and besides striving to satisfy these basic needs, man has to store for future needs. Further, the right to own answers a natural chord in the human heart. A man loves what he produces—he willed that it Ik good, and when he has produced it and finds it good, the joy of fulfillment is his. And when a man has expended his energies and his skills to produce wealth, he lias a natural title to this wealth. What he has tailored for is his— his to give to his family while he lives, to bequeath to his children when he dies. The tanner sweats over the raw hides; he would lie something less than human if he could stand by witliout emotion while the government took over the fruits of his skill and his labor, took over his right to decide how the wealth he produced is to be disposed. But no man is completely self-sufficient. No man can master all the skills requisite to his good. Thus one man is a farmer; another a shoemaker; another a doctor of medicine—and each is part of the society which sustains all of them. Since there is this inter-dependence among men, all men have a duty to foster the common good. This is the end of society. Therefore the farmer should Ik a go Kl farmer; the doctor, a good doctor anti if all men in society conscientiously develop their talents, each man will benefit, and the society will prosper. Our lives as students are led in a society that has needs, just as any society has. for cooperative effort on the part of its members. Thus we can learn to use our talents to best advantage so that when we enter the society for which we are destined outside the university, we will bring into it the good habits we have developed within the university. Therefore, the aim of ever) student should Ik the realization of his potentialities, especially in his chosen field. To this end, the university works with the student in order that Ik may become proficient in those intellectual and physical abilities necessary for his temporal good.