Last
week we had such a positive response to the “G.K.
Chesterton v. Modernism and Socialism“ posting that we decided to do
another one. This is not shameless
pandering just to get more readers.
Okay, so it’s shameless, but it’s not pandering. First, we’re not acting as a go-between in an
illicit sexual intrigue, and second, we’re not catering to the lower
tastes and desires
of others or exploiting their weaknesses . . . unless, of course, you
consider a taste for things Chesterton a lower taste, desire, or weakness. There you might have us.
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| Small, faimly-owned farms. |
Anyway, a
week or so ago we happened to get a question on “distributism,” the somewhat
vague proposal by G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc advocating widespread
capital ownership, with a preference for small, family-owned farms and
artisan businesses, but allowing for worker ownership of larger enterprises through a
share in corporate equity. Why the query came
to us instead of to someone in the Chesterton or distributist establishment is
not a question we are prepared to answer, but we gave it a shot, anyway. The Seeker After Knowledge asked,
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| Artisan business |
I’m
new to Distributism, although I have read Chesterton’s Orthodoxy and The Everlasting
Man. I have some questions. Namely: How would distributism benefit the U.S.?
How does distributism create wealth? Does it create wealth? Should it create
wealth? How does distributism increase the strength of the U.S. Dollar, which I
believe is one of the most important (if not THE MOST Important)
responsibilities of the US Government (or am I wrong)? What kind of legislative
candidates can we get who can support and encourage distributism as a public
policy? If you can provide a book or an economist (I think we can eliminate
Hayek and the Austrian School) for me to I’d appreciate it.
First
we advised the SAK that we speak from a particular orientation, that of the
interfaith Center for Economic and Social Justice, a natural law
perspective. The SAK indicated he was
Catholic, so we noted that we are not specifically Catholic . . . although
Catholic social teaching is necessarily grounded on the Aristotelian- Thomist
understanding of the natural law, as is CESJ’s Just Third Way. With that caveat —
How
would distributism benefit the U.S.?
Not
to be flip, but the same as anywhere else. Economic democracy is the foundation
of political democracy, as Frederick Jackson Turner noted. When people own
capital, they have control over their own lives; “power naturally and
necessarily follows property.” In purely economic terms, broad-based capital
ownership generates the mass purchasing power essential to sustain sound
economic growth as advancing technology displaces labor from the production
process.
Distributism
and wealth?
No
system creates wealth. People create
wealth by means of their labor and capital. Distributism would make it possible
for people to own capital, thereby making it possible for people to produce
wealth by both labor and capital.
Sound
currency?
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| Sound money doesn't necessarily mean gold and silver, but assets. |
We
have found most distributists take the assumptions of the current financial
system for granted. Since it is based on erroneous assumptions, it doesn’t
really address this question. We think there should be a reform of the
financial system so that the commercial and central banks create money as
intended. The currency would be backed
by private sector assets, not government debt, and be created in ways that
create new owners instead of concentrating wealth.
This
would entail primarily a shift from past savings to future savings to finance
new capital formation. And, yes, the role of government is to set and maintain
standards, including for the currency. It does this by enforcing private sector
contracts (contracts and money are, for all intents and purposes, the same
thing), not by manipulating the currency, by issuing debt, or unilaterally
altering contracts, as John Maynard Keynes advocated.
Candidates?
Those
who come closest are probably those who back the expanded ownership movement,
best represented by the ESOP Association. The ESOP Association, however, is
only interested in ESOPs, not in coops or in extending capital ownership beyond
the ESOP into other mechanisms. We promote “Capital Homesteading,” a proposal
that would empower every child, woman, and man to purchase capital on credit,
and pay for it out of the future earnings of the capital itself. Some
politicians have expressed interest in the concept, but none have (yet) been
willing to sponsor any legislation or do a study.
Books?
Now,
there we can help . . . if
someone wants free books, that is. If someone wants to pay for them (and
some aren’t available for free), we have Fulton Sheen’s Freedom Under God, CESJ’s latest book, Easter
Witness (the last chapter outlines a program), and a bunch of
others. We recommend the Preface and
Chapter Five of The Capitalist Manifesto
(it’s not really about capitalism, but it’s a clever title), The New Capitalists, Introduction
to Social Justice (a pamphlet) and, of course, Capital
Homesteading for Every Citizen.
#30#