Matthew 9:36
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
One of the basic mistakes of communism (and a lot of capitalism) is to try to think of the human person as a creature primarily or even solely motivated by the same sorts of instincts that motivate a cow. The idea is that since both cows and people need to eat, breathe, work, excrete and have sex, then a civilization that thinks of these activities as the highest goals is a civilization that has all the bases covered. It is a simple mistake remedied by a simple observation. Namely, that cows and all other animals, in the absence of biological opportunity, go to sleep whereas humans get bored. Why? Because our spirits cry out within us for more than eating, breathing, working, excreting and having sex. We are not beasts. We are rational creatures made in the image of God that long for union with the living God. The spiritual works of mercy are ordered to that fact. They know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
