6. Reform of Structures, An Indispensable Tool in Unperceived Ideological Transshipment

With the above example, one can easily see how much unperceived ideological transshipment, itself a process of ideological action over public opinion, can be helped by so‑called reforms of structure.

Liberalism and especially egalitarianism can and have inspired laws leading to an ever more revolutionary transformation of the institutions and life of many countries.

Under the laudable pretext of destroying excessive inequalities and privileges, one can go farther by gradually abolishing legitimate privileges and inequalities indispensable to the dignity of the human person and the common good. As the steam roller of egalitarianism becomes heavier and more destructive through socialist and egalitarian reforms such as agrarian reform, urban renewal, corporate and industrial reform,⁶ society as a whole draws closer to the communist ideal. And to the degree that public opinion becomes accustomed to this, it too will become communist (cf. The Church and the Communist State: The Impossible Coexistence, in Crusade for a Christian Civilization, vol. 6, July‑Oct. 1976, item VI, p. 27). One can see how socialist and confiscatory reforms of structure amount to indirect action over public opinion, which gradually becomes communist without perceiving it.⁷