Distributism – Beyond Capitalism & Socialism!
US artwork which seeks to illustrate the similarity between capitalism and socialism. Distributism ensures that power is not concentrated in the state, people are free and there’s a focus on individual responsibility and the family. Distributism also means that power is not concentrated in large corporations and banks, there’s more equality, and more of a sense of community.
‘AS EVERY DISTRIBUTIST KNOWS, there are three basic economic systems. The first upholds private ownership of the means of production but concentrates it in the hands of the few, thus leaving the greater portion of the population with no choice but to sell the only thing that they own, their labour, in exchange for the means of subsistence. This is the capitalist system. The second system rejects private ownership of productive property in favour of collective ownership, whether this collective ownership be entrusted to the State or to a series of smaller community bodies. This attitude towards capital is the central tenet of socialism. The third and final alternative maintains the institution of private ownership, but insists that this ownership must be generally apportioned so that as many people as possible may enjoy their own share in the productive property of the nation. This is the model which has come to be known as ‘Distributism’. Every economic system (whether extant or merely possible) is a variation on one of these themes or a partial combination of some of their key aspects and tendencies.’
We’ve reproduced this very brief description of distributism – and how it differs in relation to capitalism and socialism – as a follow up to our recent article The Panama Papers Scandal (2). Here we noted that dodgy dealing via off-shore accounts and tax havens was really an integral part of capitalism. This is because capitalism is essentially an economic philosophy and way of life based on sheer greed and exploitation.
We share the general anger at the revelations reported by the media. However, despite the many demonstrations and denunciations, no one has really suggested a genuine alternative to capitalism. Indeed, Dodgy Dave is now so unconcerned that he views the fall-out from the Panama Papers Scandal as merely bad PR.
The National Liberal Party will be featuring another article about this affair in the very near future.
In the meantime we can only reiterate that, in our view, capitalism (and socialism for that matter) should be replaced by a completely new system – and that system is distributism!
(1) http://distributistreview.com/social-credit-introduction-distributists/
(2) http://nationalliberal.org/the-panama-papers-scandal
Date: April 24, 2016
Categories: Articles