Distributism

"Distributivism" redirects here. For the algebraic concept, see distributivity.

Distributism (also known as distributionism, distributivism) is a third-way economic philosophy formulated by such Catholic thinkers as G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc to apply the principles of Catholic social teaching articulated by the Catholic Church, especially in Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum^[1] and more expansively explained by Pope Pius XI's encyclical Quadragesimo Anno^[2]

According to distributism, the ownership of the means of production should be spread as widely as possible among the general populace, rather than being centralized under the control of the state (state socialism) or a few large businesses or wealthy private individuals (laissez-faire capitalism). A summary of distributism is found in Chesterton's statement: "Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists."^[3]

Essentially, distributism distinguishes itself by its distribution of property (not to be confused with redistribution of wealth). While socialism allows no individuals to own productive property (it all being under state, community, or workers' control), distributism itself seeks to ensure that most people will become owners of productive property. As Belloc stated, the distributive state (the state which has implemented distributism) contains "an agglomeration of families of varying wealth, but by far the greater number of owners of the means of production."^[4] This broader distribution does not extend to all property, but only to productive property; that is, that property which produces wealth, namely, the things needed for man to survive. It includes land, tools, etc.^[5]

Distributism has often been described as a "third way", in opposition to both socialism and capitalism. Thomas Storck argues that "both socialism and capitalism are products of the European Enlightenment and are thus modernizing and anti-traditional forces. In contrast, distributism seeks to subordinate economic activity to human life as a whole, to our spiritual life, our intellectual life, our family life".^[6]

Some have seen it more as an aspiration, which has been successfully realised in the short term by commitment to the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity (these being built into financially independent local cooperatives and small family businesses), though proponents also cite such periods as the Middle Ages as examples of the historical long-term viability of distributism.^[7]

History

Distributism's philosophical origins can be traced to the same 19th-century roots as socialism, as a reaction against the perceived inequalities and misery of high capitalism in late Victorian England. The inspiration for the distributist movement was the 1891 papal social encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, De Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of Labour), calling for a new compassionate interpretation of capitalism.

At the turn of the century, G. K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc drew together the disparate experiences of the various cooperatives and friendly societies in Northern England, Ireland and Northern Europe into a coherent political ideology which specifically advocated widespread private ownership of housing and control of industry through owner-operated small businesses and worker-controlled cooperatives. In the United States in the 1930s, distributism was treated in numerous essays by Chesterton, Belloc and others in The American Review, published and edited by Seward Collins. Pivotal among Chesterton's and Belloc's other works regarding distributism include The Servile State,^[8] and Outline of Sanity.^[9]

Although a majority of distributism's later supporters were not Catholics and many were in fact former radical socialists who had become disillusioned with socialism; distributist thought was adopted by the Catholic Worker Movement, conjoining it with the thought of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin concerning localized and independent communities. It also influenced the thought behind the Antigonish Movement, which implemented cooperatives and other measures to aid the poor in the Canadian Maritimes. Its practical implementation in the form of local cooperatives has recently been documented by Race Mathews in his 1999 book Jobs of Our Own: Building a Stakeholder Society.

Position within the political spectrum

William Cobbett's social views influenced Chesterton.

The position of distributists when compared to other political philosophies is somewhat paradoxical and complicated (see Triangulation). Strongly entrenched in an organic but very English Catholicism, advocating culturally traditionalist and agrarian values, directly challenging the precepts of Whig history — Belloc was nonetheless an MP for the Liberal Party and Chesterton once stated "As much as I ever did, more than I ever did, I believe in Liberalism. But there was a rosy time of innocence when I believed in Liberals."^[10] This liberalism is different from most modern forms, taking influence from William Cobbett and John Ruskin, who combined elements of radicalism, challenging the establishment position, but from a perspective of renovation, not revolution; seeing themselves as trying to restore the traditional liberties of England and her people which had been taken away from them, amongst other things, since the Industrial Revolution.

While converging with certain elements of traditional Toryism, especially an appreciation of the Middle Ages and organic society, there were several points of significant contention. While many Tories were strongly opposed to reform, the distributists in certain cases saw this not as conserving a legitimate traditional concept of England, but in many cases, entrenching harmful errors and innovations. Belloc was quite explicit in his opposition to Protestantism as a concept and schism from the Catholic Church in general, considering the division of Christendom in the 16th century, as one of the most harmful events in the history of Europe. Elements of Toryism on the other hand were quite intransigent when it came to the Church of England as the established church, some even spurned their original legitimist ultra-royalist principles in regards to James II to uphold it.

Much of Dorothy L. Sayers' writings on social and economic matters has affinity with distributism, although she nowhere identifies herself as a distributist. She may have been influenced by them, or have come to similar conclusions on her own; as an Anglican, the reasonings she gave are rooted in the theologies of Creation and Incarnation, and thus are slightly different from the Catholic Chesterton and Belloc.

Economic theory

Private property

Self-portrait of G. K. Chesterton based on the distributist slogan "Three acres and a cow".

Under such a system, most people would be able to earn a living without having to rely on the use of the property of others to do so. Examples of people earning a living in this way would be farmers who own their own land and related machinery, plumbers who own their own tools, software developers who own their own computer, etc. The "cooperative" approach advances beyond this perspective to recognise that such property and equipment may be "co-owned" by local communities larger than a family, e.g., partners in a business.

In Rerum Novarum, Leo XIII states that people are likely to work harder and with greater commitment if they themselves possess the land on which they labour, which in turn will benefit them and their families as workers will be able to provide for themselves and their household. He puts forward the idea that when men have the opportunity to possess property and work on it, they will “learn to love the very soil which yields in response to the labor of their hands, not only food to eat, but an abundance of the good things for themselves and those that are dear to them.” ^[11] He states also that owning property is not only beneficial for a person and their family, but is in fact a right, due to God having “...given the earth for the use and enjoyment of the whole human race”.^[12]

Similar views are presented by G.K. Chesterton in his 1910 book What’s Wrong with the World. Chesterton believes that whilst God has limitless capabilities, man has limited abilities in terms of creation. As such, man therefore is entitled to own property and to treat it as he sees fit. He states “Property is merely the art of the democracy. It means that every man should have something that he can shape in his own image, as he is shaped in the image of heaven. But because he is not God, but only a graven image of God, his self-expression must deal with limits; properly with limits that are strict and even small.”^[13] Chesterton summed up his distributist views in the phrase "Three acres and a cow".

Guild system

The kind of economic order envisaged by the early distributist thinkers would involve the return to some sort of guild system. The present existence of labor unions does not constitute a realization of this facet of distributist economic order, as labour unions are organized along class lines to promote class interests and frequently class struggle, whereas guilds are mixed class syndicates composed of both employers and employees cooperating for mutual benefit, thereby promoting class collaboration.

Banks

Distributism favors the dissolution of the current private bank system, or more specifically its profit-making basis in charging interest. Dorothy Day, for example, suggested abolishing legal enforcement of interest-rate contracts (usury). It would not entail nationalization but could involve government involvement of some sort. Distributists look favorably on credit unions as a preferable alternative to banks.

Anti-trust legislation

Distributism appears to have one of its greatest influences in anti-trust legislation in America and Europe designed to break up monopolies and excessive concentration of market power in one or only a few companies, trusts, interests, or cartels. Embodying the philosophy explained by Chesterton, above, that too much capitalism means too few capitalists, not too many, America's extensive system of anti-trust legislation seeks to prevent the concentration of market power in a given industry into too-few hands. Requiring that no company gain too great a share of any market is an example of how distributism has found its way into US government policy. The assumption behind this legislation is the idea that having economic activity decentralized among many different industry participants is better for the economy than having one or a few large players in an industry. (Note that anti-trust regulation does take into account cases when only large companies are viable because of the nature of an industry, but favors many participants over few, whenever possible.)

Social theory

Human family

Distributism sees the family of two parents and their child or children as the central and primary social unit of human ordering and the principal unit of a functioning distributist society and civilization. This unit is also the basis of a multi-generational extended family, which is embedded in socially as well as genetically inter-related communities, nations, etc., and ultimately in the whole human family past, present and future. The economic system of a society should therefore be focused primarily on the flourishing of the family unit, but not in isolation: at the appropriate level of family context, as is intended in the principle of subsidiarity. Distributism reflects this doctrine most evidently by promoting the family, rather than the individual, as the basic type of owner; that is, distributism seeks to ensure that most families, rather than most individuals, will be owners of productive property. The family is, then, vitally important to the very core of distributist thought.

Subsidiarity

Main article: Subsidiarity

Distributism puts great emphasis on the principle of subsidiarity. This principle holds that no larger unit (whether social, economic, or political) should perform a function which can be performed by a smaller unit. Pope Pius XI, in Quadragesimo Anno, provided the classical statement of the principle: "Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do."^[2] Thus, any activity of production (which distributism holds to be the most important part of any economy) ought to be performed by the smallest possible unit. This helps support distributism's argument that smaller units, families if possible, ought to be in control of the means of production, rather than the large units typical of modern economies.

Pope Pius XI further stated, again in Quadragesimo Anno, "every social activity ought of its very nature to furnish help to the members of the body social, and never destroy and absorb them."^[5] To prevent large private organizations from thus dominating the body politic, distributism applies this principle of subsidiarity to economic as well as to social and political action.

The essence of subsidiarity is concisely inherent in the Chinese maxim 'Give someone a fish and you feed him for a day; teach the person to fish and you feed him for a lifetime'.

Social security

Distributism favors the elimination of social security on the basis that it further alienates man by making him more dependent on the Servile State. Distributists such as Dorothy Day did not favor social security when it was introduced by the United States government. This rejection of this new program was due to the direct influence of the ideas of Hilaire Belloc over American distributists.

Society of artisans

Distributism promotes a society of artisans and culture. This is influenced by an emphasis on small business, promotion of local culture, and favoring of small production over capitalistic mass production. A society of artisans promotes the distributist ideal of the unification of capital, ownership, and production rather than what distributism sees as an alienation of man from work.

This does not, however, suggest that distributism favors a technological regression to a pre-Industrial Revolution lifestyle, but a more local ownership of factories and other industrial centers. Products such as food and clothing would be preferably returned to local producers and artisans instead of being mass produced overseas.

Geopolitical theory

Political order

Distributism does not favor one political order over another, from democracy to monarchism. While some distributists, such as Dorothy Day, have been anarchists, it should be remembered that most Chestertonian distributists are opposed to the mere concept of anarchism. Chesterton thought that Distributism would benefit from the discipline that theoretical analysis imposes, and that distributism is best seen as a widely encompassing concept inside of which any number of interpretations and perspectives can fit. This concept should fit in a political system broadly characterized by widespread ownership of productive property.^[14]

Political parties

Distributism does not attach itself to one national political party or another in any part of the world, but it has influenced Christian Democratic parties in Continental Europe and the Democratic Labor Party in Australia.

There are some modern political parties in the United Kingdom which espouse distributist views such as the British National Party (BNP)^[15] and the National Front^[16][17][18] although the former chairman of the BNP, John Tyndall criticised distributism in favour of corporatism.^[19]

War

Distributists usually use Just War Theory in determining whether a war should be fought or not. Historical positions of distributist thinkers provides insight into a distributist position on war. Both Belloc and Chesterton opposed British imperialism in general, as well as specifically opposing the Second Boer War, but supported British involvement in World War I.

On the other hand, prominent distributists such as Dorothy Day and those involved in the Catholic Worker movement were/are strict pacificists even to the point of condemning involvement in the Second World War at much personal cost.

Influence

E. F. Schumacher

Distributism is known to have had an influence on the economist E. F. Schumacher, a convert to Catholicism.

Mondragon Corporation

The Mondragon Corporation based out of the Basque Country in the region of Spain and France, was founded by a Catholic priest, Father José María Arizmendiarrieta, who seems to have been influenced by the same Catholic social and economic teachings that inspired Belloc, Chesterton, McNabb and the other founders of distributism.

Critics argue that the Mondragon Corporation is not truly distributist because it denies both the importance of the family ownership of the means of production, and localism.

The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic

Distributist ideas were put into practice by The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic, a group of artists and craftsmen who established a community in Ditchling, Sussex, England in 1920, with the motto 'Men rich in virtue studying beautifulness living in peace in their houses'. The Guild sought to recreate an idealised medieval lifestyle in the manner of the Arts and Crafts Movement; it survived until 1989.

Big Society

The Big Society was the flagship policy idea of the 2010 UK Conservative Party general election manifesto. Some distributists claim that this policy was influenced by aphorisms of the distributist ideology and promotes distributism.^[20] It now forms part of the legislative programme of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement.^[21] The stated aim is "to create a climate that empowers local people and communities, building a big society that will 'take power away from politicians and give it to people'.".^[22]

Early distributists

• Herbert Agar
• L. Brent Bozell, Jr.
• Cecil Chesterton
• Seward Collins
• Dorothy Day^[23]
• Eric Gill
• Douglas Hyde
• Vincent McNabb
• Arthur Penty
• Hilary Pepler
• William Purcell Witcutt

Contemporary distributists

• Justin Barrett
• Phillip Blond^[24]
• Allan C. Carlson
• Charles A. Coulombe
• Christopher Ferrara
• Bill Kauffman
• Race Mathews
• Joseph Pearce
• John Peterson^[25]
• John Sharpe

Key texts

• Rerum Novarum (1891) papal encyclical by Pope Leo XIII
• Quadragesimo Anno (1931) papal encyclical by Pope Pius XI
• Centesimus Annus (1991) papal encyclical by Pope John Paul II
• What's Wrong with the World (1910) by G. K. Chesterton. ISBN 0898704898. Etexts
• The Outline of Sanity (1927) by G. K. Chesterton
• Utopia of Usurers (1917) by G. K. Chesterton
• The Servile State (1912) by Hilaire Belloc
• An Essay on The Restoration of Property by Hilaire Belloc. ISBN 0971489440.

See also

Aleksander Stamboliyski B. A. Santamaria Christian democracy Christian socialism Communitarianism Distributed economy Distributive justice Gandhian economics Geolibertarianism Georgism Guild socialism

Land to the Tiller Mixed economy Mutualism (economic theory) Paleoconservatism Political catholicism Red Tory ResPublica Social peer-to-peer processes Solidarism Traditionalist conservatism

References

1. ^ Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum, 1891.
2. ^ ^{a b} Pope Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno, 1931.
3. ^ G. K. Chesterton, The Superstition of Divorce, 1920.
4. ^ Hilaire Belloc, The Servile State, 1913.
5. ^ ^{a b} Id.
6. ^ Storck, Thomas. "Capitalism and Distributism: two systems at war," in Beyond Capitalism & Socialism. Tobias J. Lanz, ed. IHS Press, 2008. p. 75
7. ^ Hilaire Belloc, "The Servile Institution Dissolved," The Servile State, (1913; reprint, Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 1977), 71-83.
8. ^ Hilaire Belloc, The Servile State, The Liberty Fund, originally published 1913.
9. ^ G. K. Chesterton, The Outline of Sanity, IHS Press, 2002, originally published 1927.
10. ^ Chesterton, G. K. (2008). Orthodoxy. BiblioBazaar. p. 49. ISBN 978-0554334752. http://books.google.com/books?id=7Wl2QyGUL0EC&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=chesterton+i+still+believe+in+liberalism&source=bl&ots=0zbF1I_PoM&sig=dvasnRlejUbjXs4JLwpkUtuGJqU&hl=en&ei=VFW-TOyhLMWinQf_msCJDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CDYQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
11. ^ Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum : 47, 1891
12. ^ Pope Leo XII, Rerum Novarum: 8, 1891.
13. ^ Chesterton, Gilbert Keith, What’s Wrong with the World (1920), p. 59.
14. ^ G. K. Chesterton, The Outline of Sanity(Norfolk, Va.: IHS Press, 2001), p. 90
15. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20071016030401/www.bnp.org.uk/articles/deadly_twins1.htm
16. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20040201212522/http://natfront.com/nf_faqs_1.html
17. ^ http://www.by-elections.co.uk/carshalton76/nfcar7601b.jpg
18. ^ Ian Anderson interview on criticism of Liberalism
19. ^ http://www.spearhead.com/0506-jt4.html
20. ^ A Potential Step in the Right Direction 21st July 2010
21. ^ Cameron and Clegg set out 'big society' policy ideas BBC News 18-May-2010
22. ^ Government launches “Big Society” programme 10 Downing Street website 18-May-2010
23. ^ "Articles on Distributism - 2" by Dorothy Day. The Catholic Worker, July–August 1948, 1, 2, 6
24. ^ http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/07/a-distributist-view-of-the-global-economic-crisis-a-report/
25. ^ http://distributist.blogspot.com/2007/01/distributism-without-cow.html

Further reading

• Cooney, Anthony. Distributism. ISBN 0-9535077-2-6
• Kurland, Norman. The Just Third Way: Basic Principles of Economic and Social Justice, Center for Economic and Social Justice
• Sagar, S. Distributism. ISBN 0-905109-20-1
• Shaw v Chesterton: a Debate between George Bernard Shaw and G. K. Chesterton. ISBN 0-9679707-7-6
• "Union Square Speech" by Dorothy Day
• Distributism as a means of achieving third way economics, a paper for the Secular Party of Australia written by Richard Howard of the Humanist Society of New South Wales

External links

• The Distributist Review