Joseph Pearce
Distributism is the only practical solution to the problem of rampant corporatism and the globalism which is its inevitable consequence. Next time we raise a glass of craft-brewed ale, we should not merely enjoy its flavor, we should also raise a toast to the political and economic freedom that it represents.
Some time ago I took part in a public debate in which I argued for the need for distributism whereas my interlocutor argued for what might be called free market libertarianism. During the course of the debate, it was suggested that distributism was merely an aesthetic position, rooted in G.K. Chesterton’s idealizing of a free peasantry and the need for the proverbial “three acres and a cow.” It was, my interlocutor claimed, romantic wishful thinking with no practical applicability to the “real world.” Needless to say, I argued against such a reductionist view, insisting that distributism was the political creed arising from the fundamental principles of political philosophy enshrined in the social encyclicals of the Catholic Church, especially in terms of the need for subsidiarity and solidarity. In practical terms, I pointed to the work of the groundbreaking economist, E.F. Schumacher, whose book Small is Beautiful became an international bestseller when first published in 1973. My own book, unimaginatively titled Small is Still Beautiful, sought to take Schumacher’s principles and apply them to today’s economic and political situation, affirming their continuing relevance. One of the chapters in my book was entitled “Small Beer: A Case Study” which focused on the rise of the craft ale movement, first in the UK and subsequently in the USA. What was particularly encouraging about this phenomenon of proliferating micro-industries in an age of corporate giantism was, I wrote, that it shows how David really can slay Goliath.
A recent essay in The Atlantic illustrates this to a sublime degree. » Read More
https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2024/10/small-beer-raising-glass-freedom-joseph-pearce.html