The readings for May that we will be discussing are Book Three of The Outline of Sanity, and one other reading that is described below.

The Outline of Sanity, Book III, Some Aspects of the Land (see attached PDF file)

1. The Simple Truth
2. Vows and Volunteers
3. The Real Life of the Land

This past month, in an effort to gain a better understanding of the meaning and the rise of Distributism, I read Hilaire Belloc’s The Servile State. If you remember, Dale Ahlquist referred to it as “an essential book about Distributism, but it is as dull as dust.” Having read it, I would agree; it is pretty dull in parts. But not all parts. In a lot of the book he is applying his arguments to controversies that were raging in England at the time of his writing in 1912. Those parts are pretty dull, especially since I’m not familiar with the people involved or the specifics of the controversies. But there are several chapters that are very illuminating about the thrust and main ideas of Distributism and of the history behind the thought. In particular, the first four sections (he calls his chapters “sections”) were very helpful in getting a grasp of what Distributism is about. Here are links to those sections. See below.

The first section will be discussed this month. And, indeed, only half or a little more of the first section is all you need to read. After he defines “the Servile State” (the last of his definitions) the chapter starts to get didactic and dull. But the definitions give us the basics to understand the distinctions between the various economic polities. I found the next three sections on the history of the Servile State and Distributism very interesting, and not dry or dull at all. Read at least the first section and more if you feel like it.

Section One – Definitions

Section Two – Our Civilization was Originally Servile

Section Three – How the Servile Institution was for a Time Dissolved

Section Four – How the Distributive State Failed

This month we’ll only discuss the first section. And, indeed, only half or a little more of the first section is all you need to read. After he defines “the Servile State” (the last of his definitions) the chapter starts to get didactic and dull. But the definitions give us the basics to understand the distinctions between the various economic polities. I found the next three sections on the history of the Servile State and Distributism very interesting, and not dry or dull at all. Read at least the first section and more if you feel like it.

I hope this helps. I know it did in my case, as I wasn’t getting an overall grasp of Distributism from Chesterton’s essays in Outline of Sanity.