Philadelphia Chesterton Society

For February: Rerum Novarum & Distributism

1/11/2016

Date and time information can be found at the bottom of this post. Note that we have changed the date of this meeting from our first announcement; we will now be meeting on February 14th!

IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND, LET US KNOW VIA THE RSVP FORM BELOW.

Join us for our February meeting, when we will discuss the idea of Distributism, and read the Papal encyclical that inspired Chesterton and Belloc: Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum.

For this meeting, we will have a few essential readings, which are below. Following this list, we've also provided some optional/ supplementary readings for those who wish to dig deeper...

Essential Readings:

Rerum novarum (On Capitol and Labor, Encyclical Letter of His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII) - 15 May 1891
[Alternate Link] [PDF]
The Common Man - essay by GKC

Government and the Rights of Man - essay by GKC
Democracy and Industrialism - excerpt from an essay by GKC
Sex and Property - chapter from The Well and the Shallows by GKC
A Misunderstanding about Method - from a chapter of The Outline of Sanity by GKC
Reflections on a Rotten Apple - chapter from The Well and the Shallows
The Catholic Church and the Principle of Private Property - an essay by Hilaire Belloc
The Restoration of Property - an essay by Hilaire Belloc

CLICK HERE FOR A PDF PACKET OF ALL THESE READINGS

BONUS READING: Fr. McNabb's "Economic Creed"

Optional/Supplementary Readings

A nice follow up to Rerum Novarum is Quadregesimo Anno (On the Reconstruction of the Social Order, Encyclical Letter of His Holiness, Pope Pius XI, given to mark the fortieth anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's seminal letter) - 15 May 1931.
[Alternate Source] [PDF]

In 1926, out of the efforts of G.K.'s Weekly to promote and defend Distributism, a "League for Distributism" was formed. Worth taking a look at is the following mission statement as printed in G.K.'s Weekly the same year.

Noteworthy especially is the language in the first line regarding the "twin evils of Capitalism and Socialism," to which phrase (from 1926) we can compare with paragraph 46 of Quadregesimo Anno issued five years later, where the Pontiff speaks of "twin rocks of shipwreck [that] must be carefully avoided," namely "individualism" and "collectivism."

THE LEAGUE offers the only practical alternative to the twin evils of Capitalism and Socialism. It is equally opposed to both; they both result in the concentration or property and power in a few hands to the enslavement of the majority.
THE LEAGUE stands...
For the Liberty of the Individual and the Family. Against interference by busybodies, monopolies, or the State.
Personal Liberty will be restored mainly by the better Distribution of Property (i.e., ownership of land, houses, workshops, gardens, means of production, etc).
The Better Distribution of Property
will be better acheived by protecting and facilitating the ownership of individual enterprises in land, shops, and factories
Thus THE LEAGUE fights for:
Small shops and Shopkeepers against multiple shops and trusts.
Individual Craftsmanship and Cooperation in industrial enterprise. (Every worker should own a share in the Assets and Control of the business in which he works).
The Small Holder and the Yeoman Farmer against monopolists of large inadequately farmed estates.
And the Maximum, instead of the minimum, initiative on the part of the citizen.

Another brief quotation by Chesterton is worth considering. This is taken from a three-paragraph "Appendix" added to the end of his great work, What's Wrong with the World, and deals with the issue of "Peasant Proprietorship":

[T]he Socialist says that property is already concentrated into Trusts and Stores: the only hope is to concentrate it further in the State. I say the only hope is to unconcentrate it; that is, to repent and return; the only step forward is the step backward.
But in connection with this distribution I have laid myself open to another potential mistake. In speaking of a sweeping redistribution, I speak of decision in the aim, not necessarily of abruptness in the means. It is not at all too late to restore an approximately rational state of English possessions without any mere confiscation. A policy of buying out landlordism, steadily adopted in England as it has already been adopted in Ireland (notably in Mr. Wyndham's wise and fruitful Act), would in a very short time release the lower end of the see-saw and make the whole plank swing more level. The objection to this course is not at all that it would not do, only that it will not be done. If we leave things as they are, there will almost certainly be a crash of confiscation. If we hesitate, we shall soon have to hurry. But if we start doing it quickly we have still time to do it slowly.

A recent essay in the newly re-launched Distributist Review might be of interest to our group: "The Authority of Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno"by Phillip Campbell.

In addition to this particular essay, we also recommend as a great resource The Distributist Review generally. Their posts are well categorized and easy to navigate. You can find separate sections on Chesterton, Belloc, and Catholic Social Teaching.

Happy reading! Let us know if you plan to attend by RSVP'ing below...

WHEN:

Sunday, February 14

Sunday evening
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
NB: Despite this being Valentine's Day, we have moved this lecture back to our normal second Sunday of the month in order not to compete with the Super Bowl on February 7.