Fifty Years of Subsidiarity!

Today, fifty years ago – April 11, 1963 – Pope John XXIII released his encyclical Pacem in Terris, in which the term "subsidiarity" was used (in its modern meaning) for the first time.

A text copy can be found here; see section 140 for the term. But the idea is older, and so is the original term - and if you want further details, please check out the book Subsidiarity, available here.

Note, however, that our own special celebration occurs annually on March 2, which is the "birthday" of Subsidiarity, the day in 2000 when our system went live.

March 2 – the Feast Day of Subsidiarity!

Yes, happy feast day. No; I have no "dispensation" for "feast days" during Lent; it is not quite that sort of feast. Rather, it is more of a "commemoration" yet some sort of feasting is appropriate. it may seem a little odd to designate a particular day for an idea, but why not? It is a significant idea, and a practical one also. Another time I may try to examine that point more fully, but for now it is deferred.

The one thing you may be wonder is this: Why March 2?

That's very easy to explain. It was on March 2 of 2000 that my friends the Field Techs installed the HBG headend and we went live, doing ad insertion and transporting spots over the satellite. And each of the following years we had cake on this day to mark the date on which our software system for local ad insertion for cable TV went live - the system which managed some 200,000 spots over five and a half years for a Certain Large Cable TV company in the USA... and that system used Subsidiarity to manage the file transport of those commercials. It's long gone, but even that Certain Large Cable TV company still talks about things like the "Pump List" even though they no longer have a Pump - the program which was at the heart of file transport. And I hear they still wish they had a monitoring tool as good as WATCHER...



Oh yes, as remarkable as that must sound to you, whether you are a student of Catholic Social Teachings, or Social Sciences in general, or of Cable Television, or Computer Science and Software Development... We used Subsidiarity to manage our file transport. Why? Because (as Chesterton put it in his Heretics CW1:46) we "reverted to the doctrinal methods of the thirteenth century, inspired by the general hope of getting something done."

And we sure did "get something done": as I said, some 200,000 commercials were transported to some 80 headends over those 5.5 years. No dream, no fantasy: real-world, high-tech stuff. So, if you want more details, you ought to order a copy of the book where all this is explained.

P.S. Just a year or two ago I learned another reason why March 2 is an almost incredibly suitable date to pick, a reason linked to some other historical event, but I will reserve that for another time.

P.P.S. I must also express my thanks to my boss and my colleagues - Joe, Joe, and Diane - and the great people in Traffic, in Field Services, and especially the Control Room - who helped make it all happen. It was a grand thing, and even if that system is gone, our work continues to enlighten and inform others. It's a sort of meta-commercial of the best kind.

Fiftieth Anniversary of Subsidiarity Coming Up!

Yes, as odd as that may sound, in a few months we shall note the FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY of "Subsidiarity".

Huh? Why?

Because on April 11, 1963, Pope John XXIII released his encyclical Pacem in Terris, in which the term "subsidiarity" was used (in its modern meaning) for the first time. A text copy can be found here; see section 140 for the term. But the idea is older, and so is the original term - and if you want further details, please check out the book Subsidiarity, available here.

Please note: while we shall note that day in some fashion, our own special celebration, however, will occur on March 2, which is the "birthday" of Subsidiarity, the day in 2000 when our system went live. More on that at the proper time.

Doc's five-minute version of Subsidiarity

For your Christmas enjoyment, here is an excerpt from the soon-to-be-available companion novel about our subject.

With prayers and my very best wishes to you and yours at this holy season!

PJF

[Scene: the Control Room at AC&TG in North Belloc, PA, where the ad insertion machinery for a large cable television system are monitored. It is late evening on September 6, 2004. Our hero Joe Outis is working the night shift. "Doc" the software developer has stayed late as he had some special work to prepare for the next day.]

The chores were done, everything was green and Doc was still busy. Joe got himself some coffee and sat down at the console. “How are you finding the overnights, Joe?”

“Not bad. Kind of quiet.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve been in late, and in early, when I had to prepare, like this,” he pointed to the computer. “About five minutes and we can trigger. You have any questions I can deal with in five minutes?”

Joe smirked; now was the time to ask. “Sure... is that long enough for you to explain this sub-thing that PUMP does?”

“You mean explain Subsidiarity – in five minutes?” the Doctor laughed. “That’s a real challenge. Let’s see.” He grabbed a scrap of paper and started drawing the diagram Joe had seen in the handbook. “Here’s a leaf. As you know, that’s just a computer with some Carina playback cards, and a big hard drive. It’s connected by a little network to two other leaves and a portal. The portal is similar, but it can talk to HOME over the satellite. Sooner or later the engine can’t find a spot it has to play, and so it will...”

“No, I understand that. I’ve seen it work. But what is the idea behind it? And where does the Pope come in?”

The Doctor chuckled. “Oh, that’s what you want to know. Well, the word comes from a division in the ancient Roman army, but even Moses used the idea. The idea started with a document written in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII, and there’s been more since then. The mnemonic is OPAL: order, purpose, ability, limitation. It’s the idea that a collection of people, having a common purpose, works best if it’s arranged in an orderly manner, avoiding interference, according to the various abilities and limitations of its members. Communication is key: when someone needs help, he must know how and where to ask for it, like this: in any given organization, a company or a club or even a system, each individual has a ‘superior’ who is to assist when an appeal is made. So in our system, when the leaf needs a spot, it appeals to its superior, the portal. And when the portal needs a spot, it appeals to PUMP on HOME, and when PUMP needs a spot, it shows up on WATCHER and appeals to you to do the encode. You encode the spot, then PUMP sends it to the portal, then FERRY sends it to the leaf, then the engine gets it, and all is well. There’s more, but that’s the short version. Whew.” He look at his computer. “Good, it’s done now. Just one more task to finish, and then we’ll be ready...” He started typing again.

“Thanks, Doc,” Joe replied. He had a feeling that Doc had barely begun an explanation, but perhaps he’d go into more detail another time.

[From Joe the Control Room Guy, presently in preparation. The "more detail" may be found in non-fictional form in Subsidiarity, available here. Note that the novel contains a good deal more about the topic, though as a "flavoring" rather than in a expositional form; it is a story, after all.]

The book is released!

Today, November 30, 2012, the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, the long-awaited book entitled Subsidiarity is released.

What is Subsidiarity? It is an important idea to human organization, of quite ancient origin, discussed indirectly by various scholars over the centuries, but becoming especially visible in the last century or so, beginning in 1891 with the great encyclical Rerum Novarum of Leo XIII, and continuing through 1991 with John Paul II's Centesimus Annus.

But what does a satellite dish have to do with it?

Well... that's where the fascinating part comes in.

We will talk more about it on this blogg as time may permit. This blogg also provides you with a handy way of asking questions or making comments. There is also a website where additional information will be provided.

To order the book, please visit here.