Capitalism vs. Distributism

“A rising tide lifts all boats, ” we are told.  However, in the Third World the boats seem to often sail away, full of rich people and leaving the poor in sweat shops or as hungry as these people, who find that they can no longer afford the quinoa that was their staple diet now that trendy Westerners have raised the price for it beyond their meager means.  They get to work and starve.  We get to profit from it.  One of those Circle of Life things.

Or, as Chesterton said, the problem with capitalism is that there are too few capitalists.

Meanwhile, in happier news, the New Belgium Brewing Company is now 100% employee-owned.  These are the people who bring you Fat Tire Amber Ale.  This is what we call Distributism in action.

“But I thought Distributism was just Chesterton-speak for socialism!”

No “Socialism” is Chesterton-speak for socialism.  With capitalism, most people work for a few rich and powerful people but don’t own the means of production.  With socialism, most people work for the state, but don’t own the means of production.  With Distributism, you own the joint.  Amazing how simple that is, and how hard capitalists work to make sure that nobody understands that and mistakes it for socialism.  Socialism wants nobody owning property.  Capitalism wants a few people owning property.  Distributism wants everybody owning property and making their living from it.