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Economic Distributism
Distributism
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Distributism, also known as distributionism and distributivism, is an economic philosophy held by such Catholic thinkers as G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc. According to distributism, the ownership of the means of production should be spread as widely as possible among the populace, rather than being centralized in the hands of the state (some forms of socialism) or a minority of individuals (capitalism). 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.
- http://www.distributism.com/
"If working people can be encouraged to look forward to obtaining a share in the land, the consequence will be that the gulf between vast wealth and sheer poverty will be bridged over, and the respective classes will be brought nearer to one another."
... "Economic activity produces goods and services for the sake of serving all of mankind, and any economic arrangements must be judged by how well they fulfill that purpose."
- http://www.geocities.com/kevinjjonesy/books/belloc/servile.html
The Servile State
The first book on Distributist thought, Belloc offers an interesting and compelling criticism of both capitalism and socialism. Though certain aspects of it are targeted towards Belloc's time, it does posess some surprising insights which are not found in the economics textbooks of today. Belloc's actual words occur in quotation marks.
- http://www.theuniversityconcourse.com/V,5,1-28-2000/Storck.htm
What is distributism?
by Thomas Storck
the University Concourse
Volume V, Issue 5
January 28, 2000
... distributism is nothing more than an economic system in which private property is well distributed, in which "as many people as possible" are in fact owners. Probably the most complete statement of distributism can be found in Hilaire Belloc's book, The Restoration of Property (1936). Note the title, The Restoration of Property. For the distributists argued that under capitalism property, certainly productive property, was the preserve of the rich, and that this gave them an influence and power in society far beyond what they had any right to. Yes, the formal right to private property exists for all under capitalism, but in practice it is restricted to the rich.
G.K. Chesterton: Distributist Comment
Catholic Worker Movement and Liberation Theology
- http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/daytext.cfm?TextID=519
An article by Dorothy Day
"Catholic Worker Positions"
By Dorothy Day
The Catholic Worker, May 1972.
Summary: (DOC #519) A concise restatement of the Catholic Worker philosophy emphasizing personal responsibility, a decentralized society, direct action, houses of hospitality, a revolution from below, and pacifism.
- http://www.justpeace.org/distribute.htm
"The principles of Distributism have been more or less implicit in much that we have written in the Catholic Worker for a long time. We have advised our readers to begin with four books, Chesterton's What's Wrong With the World, The Outline of Sanity and Belloc's The Servile State and Restoration of Property. The aim of Distributism is family ownership of land, workshops, stores, transport, trades, professions, and so on."
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http://geocities.com/DublinCatholicWorker/
Dublin Catholic Worker Movement
The Catholic Worker movement is a 71 year old experiment in radical Christianity. The word "radical" is Latin for "returning to the roots". The early Christian movement was criminal under the Roman state and evicted by the established church bureacrats of their day. Radical Christianity has an anarchist orientation towards power and a pacifist orientation towards violence.
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http://www.catholicworker.org/
The Catholic Worker Movement
Founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933, is grounded in a firm belief in the God-given dignity of every human person.
Today over 185 Catholic Worker communities remain committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, prayer, and hospitality for the homeless, exiled, hungry, and foresaken. Catholic Workers continue to protest injustice, war, racism, and violence of all forms.
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http://www.landreform.org/
Two inescapable facts confronted Latin American pastors in the latter half of this 20th century: that most of their parishoners lived in grinding, abject poverty -- and that the Church represented the only viable community organization in their world. Out of this awareness came a new understanding of the very meaning of the Church's work. The movement that came to be called "Liberation Theology" began with the awareness that it is blasphemous to care for people's souls while ignoring their needs for food, shelter and human dignity. As Jesus participated in the suffering of the poor, and proclaimed to them the good news of justice and freedom, so must today's church engage in the struggle for justice in this world.