The Relevance of Distributism

Here’s the text of the e-mail:

I recently read a brief interview with Patrick Deneen commenting on the disconnect between Catholic neo-conservatives mobilizing on behalf of the Church’s teaching on social and moral issues and their often lack of mobilization in the economic realm, sort of succumbing to the rapaciousness of global capitalism and neglecting the arguments on behalf of community and place.  The money quote being “What is more striking to me is the way that many Catholics of the stripe we are discussing are strenuous in their insistence that, on the one hand, the public square should not be stripped of religion and morality, but that the Market should have a wardrobe like that of Lady Godiva.”

 

Anyway, in that context a reference to Chesterton and Belloc’s distributism arose, and its value in support of community and solidarity and the human telos.  And superficially, at least, it is indeed attractive. 

 

But do you know of any good sources or readings (or have any particular thoughts) on what it might look like today?  Surely we aren’t going to return to 19^th century agrarianism much less Shire-like communities of skilled crafts and trade.  That seems an impossibility, especially given the pace of technological and global change, unless we are going to implement far stronger walls (real or virtual) to recreate a sense of distance and duration and patience again.