by Patrick Toner Part One—The Distributist Paradox and State Power In The Hobbit Party (Ignatius, 2014), Jonathan Witt and Jay Richards cover some of what they take to be the political/social meanings in JRR Tolkien’s work. In Chapter 8—“The Fellowship of the Localists”—they talk a bit about Walmart and Joel Salatin and other such matters. … More Witt and Richards on Belloc: Part 1
By Dale Ahlquist Publishing is often a pain and a drain, but it is not without a few pleasures. When I started ACS Books as an arm of the American Chesterton Society, it was fun to bring some titles into print that did not fall into any known category, which meant that nobody else … More A New Book From … Fulton Sheen!
by Patrick Toner Hilaire Belloc’s Essay on the Restoration of Property is a remarkably well-written book. Put aside the question of whether Belloc is right or wrong about any of his contentions: the book is thoroughly lucid. It’s also organic—you really can’t dip into it at random, you need to get ahold of the ideas … More Self-sufficiency and economic freedom
by Thomas Storck Roque Dalton, the Salvadoran Marxist poet and journalist (died 1975), wrote a poem, called in Spanish “Acta,” rendered in English as “Act,” which is a powerful indictment of economic injustice. The poem runs in part (as translated by Jack Hirschman): In the name of those washing others’ clothes (and cleansing others’ filth … More Is Private Property an Evil?
by Patrick Toner The Distributist should garden as though it matters. Because it does. In an earlier piece I urged Distributists to grow crops that provide the greatest amount of nourishment. In this piece, I will urge Distributists to recognize the temporal element in gardening in addition to the spatial element. Suppose you are able … More The Distributist's Garden, Part 2
By Patrick Toner It’s pretty standard (and rightly so) to link Distributism with things like farmer’s markets and small scale organic farming. If you’re a Distributist, you ought to opt out, as much as you can, from industrial agriculture. As much as you can, you ought to support small local family farmers.But beyond that, it’s … More The Distributist's Garden
Practical Distributism 