Distributism: an alternate system that subordinates economics and government to ethics and subsidiarity because they exist serve the common good.
Distributism does not advocate government “confiscation and redistribution” of wealth, which many assume based on the name alone. The name refers to the idea that justice and power in both the economic and political realms should be distributed throughout society.
Distributism, also known as Distributivism, has been around as a named and distinct system for over 100 years, but remains relatively unknown because it is ignored by professional and academic economists. The basic premise of distributism is that society as a whole is better off if the means of production are privately owned by a lot of people who do the work rather than owned by a small percentage of the people. Independent, locally owned small businesses and farms are the bedrock of a strong and stable economy. Large businesses would best benefit the larger community if they were cooperatives. Local, cooperatively owned financial institutions like credit unions serve communities better than large corporate banking institutions. Distributism also advocates the devolution of government authority to the local community over the current trend of increasing the power and scope of centralized government.
The articles below are also available in book form at The Book Patch.
(Distributism Basics: An Explanation)
These are a very generalized introduction to the idea of distributism.
I have also published a more detailed exploration of distributism.
(Distributism Basics: Foundational Principles)
Practical Distributism 