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Entry: A Road Not Taken: Distributism Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/a_road_not_taken_distributism#19784 Post contents: The rap against distributism is that it is a quaint doctrine with no economic foundation; the rap against agrarianism is that it is a nostalgic "back to the farm" movement. But agrarianism, properly understood, is not about returning to the farm, but about restoring the proper relationship between town and countryside. And distributism, far from being "un-economic," adds what has been missing from economic theory since at least the 19th century, namely distributive justice, without which no economic theory can be complete. Indeed, in the many cases where distributism is actually put to the test, it is wildly successful. Examples include the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation, with its 50 year history, $20B in sales, and its 80,000 worker-owners. Or the cooperative economy of Emilia-Romagna, where 40% of GDP comes from cooperatives. Or the "Land to the Tiller" program of Taiwan that catapulted that island from grinding poverty to industrial powerhouse in only one generation. To this, one can add ESOPs, micro-finance, and many other examples. The Distributists, alas, did not pay much attention to formal economic theory, even though they were holding the key. My own investigations lead me to believe that Distributism provides superior tools for the analysis and understanding of economic relationships, and without the key provided by distributism, there can be no complete description of any economy. Sent at: 2008 05 17