1/16/23

Hilaire Belloc argues that hyper-capitalism is unstable and tends towards what he calls the 'Servile State' where most of the population don't own property or the 'means of production' and are required by law to work for those who do. He suggests that state-owned production systems will tend the same way, an observation which turned out to be prescient for the later Communist (= "collectivist") governments in Europe and Asia. Belloc (a Christian) points to the Church-dominated Middle Ages as an ideal time for a balance of freedom and "distributive" ownership, where the means of production were more evenly spread among the populace.
The work is clearly argued and has much relevance today, since we are experiencing the late stages of the 19th century capitalist system Belloc decried. ( )

ER-5