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Distributism

"Just as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say 'thou shalt not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills... A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. To all this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, which has taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits.
— Pope Francis, Evangelii gaudium
There has long been a false dichotomy in economics – choose either capitalism or socialism. Some have suggested mixing the two, forming a mixed economy – but the same fundamental problems with each have lingered in it. In capitalism, capital and labor are separated – meaning the owners of capital exploit laborers. In socialism, government takes over the economy, and families and workers become dependent upon and subservient to the government. Socialism also attempts to instill a rigid equality among all people – something only possible with a hierarchy capable of enforcing it, defeating its entire purpose. Perhaps worse, both capitalism and socialism focus us on solely material objectives – causing us to forgo or at least to put second our faith, our families, our hobbies, and the search for beauty in the world. They have twisted us into believing that life is nothing more than chasing after material possessions – which are nothing more than meaningless objects and a chase after the wind.
There is, however, another way – distributism. Distributism is a belief in the widespread ownership of wealth production – rather than it being accumulated in the hands of a few capitalists or the hands of a government and its bureaucrats. This means the abolition of big corporations and the support of small family owned businesses. This means that every man should own his own source of wealth production instead of getting all of his wealth by working on the property of the rich or the factories of the state – every man should have the means to support his own family. Every farmer should own his own land and machinery, every plumber his own tools and truck, and every software developer should own his own office and computer. No longer will the people be the slaves of big businesses and no longer will workers be deprived of their right to own their own property. Property should be democratized and widespread, not abolished or horded. Production should be as localized as possible, but for industries which require large-scale production, worker-owned cooperatives and employee-owned stock companies should be utilized. By creating an ownership economy, people can begin to re-integrate their faith, work, family, and education – rather than separating and compartmentalizing them as in capitalism and socialism. This means a society of artisans and local businesses with a rich culture, engrained family values, and joyful people.
Distributism also calls for the replacing many institutions with new ones. For instance, because labor unions are built along class lines and cause inter-class strife, we support a guild system, which allows employers and employees to work together and promotes growth and technological advancement. Because banks make money by usury and without any labor, we support credit unions, which provide a much better alternative because they promote community growth and are a truly democratic institution. At the same time, credit unions do not form a social class of non-producers who make money by gambling on the stock market unlike banks. Because universities extort exorbitant prices to give mediocre education – they ought to be reformed and reserved for the pursuit of knowledge not the pursuit of skills. All technical skills should be taught through apprenticeship systems which give a better education at a fraction of the cost and build communities, relationships, and connections.
Distributism believes that the family is the foundation of social order. We believe that every man should have a family to support and be supported by. We believe that every human has the right to life no matter how unwanted they are – whether rich or poor, old or young, unborn or ill. We believe in freedom of religion and the cooperation of church and state – recognizing that the right praise of God is key to a just society and fulfilling lives, and that St. Irenaeus had it right when he said “the glory of God is a human being fully alive”, but also recognizing that every man deserves to worship and adore God according to the dictates of his own conscience.
We believe it is the duty of the local community to support the poor. The federal government can only help the poor in a non-personal, inefficient, and unfair way. States should establish public health systems and basic minimum incomes. Localities should fight obesity and traffic congestion, and they should run the orphanages and prisons. Families should instill values – the object good – and spend time together forming each other’s personalities. We hold to the ideals of subsidiarity – that the lowest level of government or society capable of solving a problem should – and solidarity – that we should all care for each other and mutually support one another.
We acknowledge that people are mostly good. Thus, the government should promote morality in a way that allows it to naturally flourish and build a strong society. It should not be laws that inform us what is right and wrong but our consciences reflecting on objective moral truths. This is not to say that the laws should not also reflect these moral truths, but rather that well-formed consciences are better than well-formed laws in guiding the right actions of a person and of a society. It is the joy of the human person to reflect their Creator in their capabilities for wisdom and for love – and to use these traits, which are most perfected by moral lives, to be good stewards of creation and brothers to each other.
Core Principles
Subsidiarity
The education of our young people is essential for a thriving society to form well-rounded individuals who can participate in civic life and provide for the needs of others through in their own unique skills, talents, and knowledge. As such our education system needs to be reformed to ensure a care for the entire person. The current education system focuses heavily upon compartmentalizing the disciplines and forming technocrats with little to no critical thinking.It also separates education from a child’s first educators, their parents, giving them little input in what their children are taught. The increasing centralization and standardization of education further separates parents from schools and does not consider the unique situations of particular regions of the country due to geography, commerce, culture, and others. Wealth disparity also limits access to quality education for the poor and cripples their opportunity for social mobility and engagement in the civic life. There is also a lost sense of enchantment in education that does not inspired in people a desire for lifelong learning. Our plan shall remedy these problems to make our nation the forefront of education.
We propose a massive overhaul to the education system, that would be done in cooperation with the states. An educational voucher system provided would be established by federal law and administered by the states to allow parents to pay for children's primary and secondary school education. Parents would be to use their tax dollars to able to choose between public schools, private schools, religious schools, special needs schools, or homeschooling, so long as they meet minimum standards established by federal law and further defined by state law. As these students progress into secondary and post-secondary education, they should be able to enter the schools they want to enter based upon their ability and ethic, not income. We would enact further education to give parents co-ownership in primary and secondary schools so that they would act as non-profit cooperatives to ensure that schools remain accountable to the parents. A similar model will also be enacted at the post-secondary level so that students and faculty have the same co-ownership. We shall also enact a new curriculum that focuses upon broad education that balances the arts and sciences to better to prepare students for post secondary life, in the workforce, trades, professions, or academia. With a strong foundation, post-secondary institutions can remove the need for general education classes and focus upon specializing their education to the fields students wish to pursue. This would make the time students need for undergraduate programs while allow for a greater depth of knowledge in their programs. It would also form full person who can fully participate know civic life. Finally, we would return sex education to the sole responsibility of a child’s parents and ban all sex education programs from schools. All these will raise the standard of education in our country and create citizens who can contribute to society with their own unique talents and engage in the duties of civic life.
Content by /u/da_drifter0912
Widespread Ownership
We believe in widespread ownership of wealth production. This means that every man should own his own source of wealth production, instead of getting all of his wealth by working on the property of the rich. Every farmer should own his own land and machinery, every plumber his own tools and truck, and every software developer should own his own office and computer. No longer will the people be the slaves of big businesses and no longer will workers be deprived of their right to own their own property. Workers will have ownership and control over their place of work, enjoy the profits of their own labors, and have strong incentives for innovation and creativity. We support small and local business over mass production. This means a society of artisans, local businesses, and a rich culture. We support a guild system, which will allow employers and employees as well as professionals in the same field to work together and promote growth and technological advancement.
Thus, we support taxing corporations based on how many people they employ and implementing additional fees and taxes to discourage the capital-based corporate structure. For instance, if a large corporation employees 500,000 employees, then they will pay an enormous tax that will eventually cause them to collapse, while a small, family owned business with 30 employees would pay almost no special taxes under this scheme. In place of large corporations, we plan to encourage small sole proprietorships and partnerships as well as large worker cooperatives and employee-owned stock companies. Every large business should be owned by its employees. Furthermore, we support an apprenticeship system which will be a cheaper yet more quality education than a college degree for the vast majority of people. People would save up money while working for a local family business, especially if it is the business of whom they apprenticed under, in order to eventually start up their own business, buy into a cooperative, or work with others to form their own cooperative.
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