What is distributism:

[Bluegoat]

Someone asked about this on the wall so I thought I'd post something on it. I hope people will be interested in discussing it, and maybe there will be people who have read more on it than I have, since it is fairly new to me.

Distributism sees socialism and capitalism as essentially the same thing. Both see human beings as economic units rather than as people. They externalize things that properly belong to individuals and to communities.

Socialism gives everything to the state, which is wrong (though the state has a role); capitalism gives all the capital to a few people (that is real capital, not just stuff. You may have a nice apartment and a big tv, but you can't support yourself with them - most people work for someone else).

Just as Marxism thought Truth was revealed historically through class struggle, in capitalism somehow Truth is revealed through the market. Both are essentially materialist philosophies, and so by nature non-Christian.

As well on the social front that while communism negates individuals for the sake of the group, libertarianism negates the group for the sake of individuals. In fact, the two are intertwined: the group only exists because it is made up of individuals, and individuals only exist because they are beholden to the group.

Distributism seeks to make real capital - that is the means of production, the things you need to actually make a living - in the hands of individuals, families, and small groups. The most basic form of this is through small agriculture - a family having enough land to feed themselves. There would be as well a strong emphasis on small business, with individuals or families owning their own tools and so forth. Businesses that needed to be larger might be owned by co-ops. Some distributists have advocated a return to a guild system for craftsmen and trades.

All this would significantly change the landscape. It would tend to decrease the kinds of huge manufacturers and big box stores. Food and most products would be sourced fairly locally. There would be a lot more farmers, each feeding fewer people. In some ways it would seem like a pre-industrial revolution society and would tend to reject many aspects of globalism.

[Kropotkin]

Bluegoat,

Perhaps you could answer a question that has always bothered me. Do think that Distributism is merely re-packaging of Proudhonian Mutualism?

[Bluegoat]

Originally Posted by Kropotkin

Bluegoat,

Perhaps you could answer a question that has always bothered me. Do think that Distributism is merely re-packaging of Proudhonian Mutualism?

Well, I have only just read up on mutualism now, so I can't say that I have en educated opinion.

Based on when and where both ideas originated, I am sure that they must have influenced each other. There seem to have been a lot of these kinds of ideas floating around then, the Arts and Crafts movement comes to mind. (Which makes me think it might be interesting to look at these theories in light of Romanticism.)

From what I could see from my very brief overview, mutualism seems to be more concerned with creating a classless society than distributism does. Though I think it would likely be an effect of distributism to reduce classism, I don't think distributists wold see that as a goal or even a desirable necessity in quite the same way.

It sounds like mutualists assert that a truly free market will ultimately result in a just society. This does not seem to be what distributism says to me.

They also seem more keen to totally do in the state than distributists are. All round, distributists seem to think that hierarchy is not a bad thing, and probably a part of being human. Which is what I'd expect from a largely Catholic movement.