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So many people think that capitalism and socialism are the only economic systems -- two ends of a spectrum, and society needs to decide where on that spectrum i
by jawns 8y ago
So many people think that capitalism and socialism are the only economic systems -- two ends of a spectrum, and society needs to decide where on that spectrum it falls.
The English writer G.K. Chesterton, who popularized the idea of distributist economics, calls distributism a "third way" that doesn't fall on the spectrum, but sits outside the line entirely.
Chesterton pointed out that both capitalism and socialism entail consolidation of ownership of productive property. Under capitalism, you end up with Big Business, and under socialism you end up with Big Government.
Chesterton advocated for distributism, where the ideal is that the ownership of productive property should be as widely distributed as possible. Note that distributism does not advocate for a redistribution of wealth, but rather economic policies that make widespread ownership possible, such as those that help address some of the disadvantages that small businesses and worker- and consumer-owned cooperatives face when it comes to competing against megacorps.
- claudiawerner 8y ago>Chesterton pointed out that both capitalism and socialism entail consolidation of ownership of productive property. Under capitalism, you end up with Big Business, and under socialism you end up with Big Government. Is Chesterton aware that (going by what you describe here) what he wants is exactly what both Marx (in Critique of the Gotha Program) and the anarcho-Communist socialists wanted all along? Furthermore, post-Marxist socialisms like John Roemer's argue for a redistribution of productive resources. As to whether this solves what researchers see as exploitation inherent in today's system remains a question.
- _emacsomancer_ 8y agoDistributism also has an interesting model for devolution of power structures generally (not, of course, devolving everything in the same way or to the same extent, but rather according to the relevant properties of the thing/institution).
- rapnie 8y agoWikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributism
- orthecreedence 8y agoThis seems more an addendum to socialism than an opposition to it. Specifically it calls for distributed ownership of the means of production (which most socialists advocate, as "state socialism" isn't really desirable). Also, it talks of forming workers' guilds. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_socialism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_socialism. It seems to me the ideas are actually quite aligned in their ultimate goals, however it looks on the surface to be different to socialism because socialism tends to be synonymous with "state socialism" in people's minds.
- _emacsomancer_ 8y agoIt's more like anarcho-syndicalism than statist socialism though.