Rejecting Capitalism and Embracing Christ

G.K. Chesterton, proponent of distributism

As income inequality rises to levels not seen since the Gilded Age, capitalism as an economic system has never been under more scrutiny in recent history than right now. I wasn’t always so skeptical of it though. In fact, I was a devout believer in free market capitalism as recently as two years ago. Society has a problem? The free market can fix it! And if it can’t, then churches and private charities could provide needed services. Tax cuts on the wealthy would lead to economic prosperity, and everything would just trickle down from there.

Or so I thought.

I began to question this framework in January of 2019. I had heard of a Democratic candidate for president named Andrew Yang who wanted to give everyone $1,000 per month if elected. At first, the idea seemed ludicrous to me. It was the equivalent of giving people money to vote for you, right?

Not exactly.

I did some research. I crunched some numbers. I looked at societal trends. I saw how jobs were being automated away, and I realized that private charity couldn’t provide for entire sectors of the economy that would soon disappear. I became an advocate for Universal Basic Income, believing it to be the only path forward. I still claimed to believe in capitalism. I just wanted there to be a stronger net to catch people when the economic fallout came.

But my journey didn’t end there.

Andrew Yang dropped out of the race in February of 2020. It was around this time that I began hearing about a new economic system. One which put itself in opposition to both capitalism and socialism. This system was called distributism. Developed by G.K. Chesterton, a Catholic theologian in the late 1800’s, it appealed to me partly for novelty’s sake, but also because embedded within it was the idea that the family was the building block for society. Even as my economic views shifted over time, my belief in the nuclear family hadn’t, and my devotion to faith and family was one of the factors which initially made me skeptical of capitalism. I longed for an economic framework that was both pro worker and pro family, and distributism satisfied both of these desires.

Distributism has roots deep in the Christian faith. G.K. Chesterton and Hillair Belloc were two theologians who worked tirelessly to develop the philosophical underpinnings of it. Subsequently, Pope Leo XIII advocated for distributist principles in his Rerum novarum (“Of new things”) in 1891. This began the long tradition of Catholic Social Teaching which has become increasingly distinct. Catholic Social Teaching is known to criticize both capital and communism as economic systems. Capitalism is often decried as too mechanistic, treating the worker as a cog in a machine and not valuing him as a holistic person while communism is criticized for often being atheist and anti-family. Pope John Paul II criticizing communism and Pope Francis criticizing capitalism may seem contradictory at first, but it makes perfect sense in light of distributism.

Distributism differs from capitalism in that it seeks to promote truly fair competition by breaking up large corporations that have vast shares of the market. Heavily regulating the market promotes an equitable distribution of resources so that the means of production are as widely owned as possible. Treating workers with dignity and respect is viewed as a greater good than GDP and profit margins. No more would transnational corporations exploit the working class. Justice would be brought to the oppressed poor as the stranglehold of megacorporations on the economy would be brought to an end. Wage labor would be reduced to a very small part of the economy, usually in the form of hired assistants or apprentices. Most people would earn a living through the operation of small, family-owned businesses.

The right to private property is the largest difference between communism and distributism. Private property is seen as a right since God gave the earth for the use and enjoyment of the whole human race. The idea is that people will take more pride in their work if they own their own means of production rather than everything being held collectively or by larger entities whether that be a corporation or the state. The abolition of traditional social structures such as the family unit and organized religion are also aspects of communism that are ultimately antithetical to distributism which views these institutions as foundational to society. Families would own their own plot of land to produce goods on. People would have varying amounts of wealth, but the vast amount of income inequality we see today would not be present; instead, a more equitable society would be put in place.

As time has passed, my economic philosophy has become progressively more rooted in principles of justice, equity, and respect for human dignity. In the end, I think the Bible is a better guide than The Wealth of Nations or The Communist Manifesto. The free market is no longer an idol in my life, and capitalist dogma is no longer gospel truth to me. Instead, I have let my faith in Jesus Christ guide my economic attitudes. As the prophet Isaiah said, we must “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.”