Customer Reviews

Distributist Perspectives: Volume I

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The subtitle of this wonderful little book is the perfect title for a review of it. For Distributism, or Distributivism, as it is also sometimes called, is truly the economics of justice and charity. It is an economic system which acknowledges and honors the very important truth that economics is truly a subset of ethics. Would that more of our politicians, and central bankers, who play such a terrible role in modern economics, appreciated this very important concept.

This excellent little book consists of a number of essays by Distributist apologists, like Hilaire Belloc and G.K. Chesterton. The quality of the writing varies, of course, somewhat. Nobody can touch Belloc's beautiful prose. And his essay in this series was the highlight, at least for me. But the entire collection is well worth the while. Read this imporant little book. And be richly blessed and well informed by the experience.

This slender book contains a number of excellent essays that offer an introduction to Distributism, a "third way" between socialism and capitalism economic theory embraced by a number of thinkers in the first half of the twentieth century. These intellectuals often drew from the Catholic tradition and argued that Distributism, which advocated a society of small property holders against a few wealthy capitalists owning everything on one hand and government controlling property on other, was perhaps the only way a moral and just society could be maintained in the modern world. Besides offering a pair of excellent introductions, this book also contains a series of wonderful biographical sketches on the essayists included in the collection. While some of the bigger names of Distributism (Belloc and G.K.Chesterton) are included, the book also contains some pieces by other figures who are in danger of being almost totally forgotten. "Distributist Perspectives" Volume 1 is a wonderful anthology of these thinkers and the editors, and IHS Press, should be commended for producing this important book.

This book is a helpful collection of essays, especially for those uninitiated in the economic and political "system" known as Distributism. If that word is unfamiliar to you, treat my review as five stars, buy this book, and read it.

A somewhat better collection of essays can be found in Beyond Capitalism & Socialism: A New Statement of an Old Ideal, edited by Kirkpatrick Sale, a book which I did give five stars.

The essay by Belloc on Knowing the Past and the introductory essays on Reclaiming the Tradition and Averting Self-Destruction are alone worth the small price for this book and the few hours it will take to read it. I have some quibbles with some of the other essays included, but not so much that I wouldn't recommend this book to a fellow traveler in all things small and beautiful.