O Earthly Lord, vouchsafe to us high speed Internet.

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Nov 25, 2014

Ah, the glories of calling for government expenditures! It seems two USCCB committee chairmen have endorsed a proposal by the Federal Communications Commission for the United States to spend $1.5 billion more per year to ensure that all schools have high speed Internet access.

Of course, high speed internet is an infrastructure issue nowadays, so it is not completely absurd to consider that government should play a role. Still, “not completely absurd” is hardly the same as “wise”. One ought to ask, first, whether this is a high priority for the use of tax dollars in a period of constant budget overruns and debt; and, second, whether high speed Internet connectivity is likely to make a significant difference in how well students can be educated.

Since the answers are almost certainly “no” and “no”, one marvels that some bishops are yet again encouraging expanded government activity—and therefore expanded government control—as a means of Enhancing Life As We Know It. After all, the default Catholic position ought to be to reduce government involvement in the social order whenever possible without unleashing grave evil.

Even apart from cost, this reduction is to be preferred for two reasons. The universal reason is that subsidiarity is a vital moral principle typically neglected by the State. A strong and healthy society is one in which everything is done at the lowest possible level. The particular reason is that modern Western states are militantly secular and inimical to Christianity. The Church should be strongly committed to reducing the scope and funding of such governments.

So, is high speed Internet for schools a high priority? Is it likely to make a major educational difference? Is it infeasible without government? Should citizens be forced to pay taxes to support it? Will it strengthen our social fabric? Will it reduce the corrosive power of the State? Will it foster virtue? Will it lead people to God?

I readily admit this is not a huge issue as issues go. It is only the answers that make it newsworthy.