Editing Distributism (section)

== Overview ==
According to distributists, the [[right to property]] is a fundamental right,<ref name=":0">Shiach, Morag (2004). ''Modernism, Labour and Selfhood in British Literature and Culture, 1890–1930''. [[Cambridge University Press]]. p. 224. {{ISBN|978-0-521-83459-9}}</ref> and the [[means of production]] should be spread as widely as possible rather than being centralised under the control of the state ([[statocracy]]), a few individuals ([[plutocracy]]), or corporations ([[corporatocracy]]). Therefore, distributism advocates a society marked by widespread property ownership.<ref name=Zwick>Zwick, Mark and Louise (2004). ''The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins ''. [[Paulist Press]]. p. 156. {{ISBN|978-0-8091-4315-3}}</ref> [[Cooperative economist]] [[Race Mathews]] argues that such a system is key to creating a just [[social order]].<ref>Gibson-Graham, J.K. (2006). ''A Postcapitalist Politics''. [[University of Minnesota Press]]. p. 224. {{ISBN|978-0-8166-4804-7}}.</ref>

Distributism has often been described in opposition to both ''[[laissez-faire]]'' [[capitalism]] and [[state socialism]]<ref>Boyle, David; Simms, Andrew (2009). ''The New Economics''. [[Routledge]]. p. 20. {{ISBN|978-1-84407-675-8}}</ref><ref>Novak, Michael; Younkins, Edward W. (2001). ''Three in One: Essays on Democratic Capitalism, 1976–2000''. [[Rowman and Littlefield]]. p. 152. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-1171-2}}</ref> which distributists see as equally flawed and exploitative.<ref name="Prentiss, Craig R. 2008 p. 77">Prentiss, Craig R. (2008). ''Debating God's Economy: Social Justice in America on the Eve of Vatican II''. [[Penn State University Press]]. p. 77. {{ISBN|978-0-271-03341-9}}</ref> Furthermore, some distributists argue that state capitalism and state socialism are the logical conclusion of [[capitalism]] as capitalism's concentrated powers eventually capture the state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2012/12/why-isnt-romania-rich/|title=Why Isn't Romania Rich?|website=Front Porch Republic|date=5 December 2012 |access-date=8 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hsnsw.asn.au/Distributism.html|title=Distributism as an equalitarian economic policy.|website=Humanist Society of New South Wales Inc.|access-date=8 August 2017}}</ref> Thomas Storck argues: "Both socialism and capitalism are products of the [[Age of Enlightenment|European Enlightenment]] and are thus modernising and anti-traditional forces. In contrast, distributism seeks to subordinate economic activity to human life as a whole, to our spiritual life, our intellectual life, our family life."<ref>Storck, Thomas. "Capitalism and Distributism: two systems at war," in ''Beyond Capitalism & Socialism''. Tobias J. Lanz, ed. IHS Press, 2008. p. 75</ref> A few distributists, including [[Dorothy Day]],<ref>Dorothy, Day. ''On Pilgrimage''. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999. p. 40.</ref> were influenced by the economic ideas of [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]] and his [[Mutualism (economic theory)|mutualist]] economic theory.<ref>McKay, Iain. ''An Anarchist FAQ Volume One''. AK Press, 2007. p. 75</ref> The lesser-known [[anarchist]] branch of distributism of Day and the [[Catholic Worker Movement]] can be considered a form of free-market [[libertarian socialism]] due to their opposition to state capitalism and state socialism.<ref>McKay, Iain. ''An Anarchist FAQ Volume One''. AK Press, 2007. p. 23</ref>

Some have seen it more as an aspiration, successfully realised in the short term by the commitment to the principles of [[subsidiarity]] and [[Social solidarity|solidarity]] (built into financially independent local [[cooperative]]s and small [[family business]]es). However, proponents also cite such periods as the [[Middle Ages]] as examples of the long-term historical viability of distributism.<ref>Hilaire Belloc, "The Servile Institution Dissolved," ''The Servile State'', (1913; reprint, Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 1977), 71–83.</ref> Particularly influential in the development of distributist theory were [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] authors [[G. K. Chesterton]] and [[Hilaire Belloc]],<ref name="Prentiss, Craig R. 2008 p. 77"/> two of distributism's earliest and strongest proponents.<ref>Fitzgerald, Ross et al. (2003). ''The Pope's Battalions: Santamaria, Catholicism and the Labor Split''. [[University of Queensland Press]]. p. 21. {{ISBN|978-0-7022-3389-0}}</ref><ref name="Riff, Michael A. 1990 p. 35">Riff, Michael A. (1990). ''Dictionary of Modern Political Ideologies''. [[Manchester University Press]]. p. 35. {{ISBN|978-0-7190-3289-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last=Schulz, Jr.|first=William Patric<!--do not change; this name is not spelled in error--> |date=2017|title=Dorothy Day's Distributism and Her Vision for Catholic Politics |degree=PhD |publisher=[[Louisiana State University]]}}</ref>