Beyond Distributism

Be the first to review this product

Distributism, a program that traces its popularity to Catholic writers Hilaire Belloc and G.K.
Chesterton, promotes the widespread ownership of property by tempering the market with
guilds or similar associations. By its nature, distributism must invoke the power of the state, a
dangerous move that ultimately undermines its own objectives. Economic freedom in a market
system, Thomas Woods advises, is a context more conducive to justice and human flourishing.

Buy Kindle Version

Buy ePub / PDF Version

Availability: In stock
$6.00

0
Qty:
Add to Cart

Add to Wishlist
Add to Compare
Share
0

Description
Additional Info
Reviews
Tags
Troubled by rampant injustice and inequality, many conscientious Christians advocate radical
economic reforms. Distributism, a program that traces its popularity to Catholic writers Hilaire
Belloc and G.K. Chesterton, promotes the widespread ownership of property by tempering the
market with guilds or similar associations. By its nature, distributism must invoke the power of
the state, a dangerous move that ultimately undermines its own objectives. Economic freedom
in a market system, Thomas Woods advises, is a context more conducive to justice and human
flourishing.

Nostalgia is a useful and dangerous thing. At its best, it connects us to the past, providing a
sense of community over time and guarding against what C. S. Lewis called chronological
snobbery. Less helpfully, it can lead to mythologizing the past and blind us to the advantages
of the present.

The ongoing appeal to Catholics of the economic arrangements called distributism and
corporatism manifests in some cases the harmful form of nostalgia. In response, Thomas
Woods pares away the inaccuracies of economic history that have accumulated over the last
hundred years. Never does he call into question the good will of those who advocate older or
more ideal forms of economic organization. Instead, he argues that the kinds of economic
reform explicitly or implicitly promoted by the various defenders of distributism are imprudent.
They would not further the ends that all devotees of Catholic social teaching share: wide
ownership of property, service of the common good with particular attention to the poor, and a
right ordering of the use of material goods.