The Servile State - Hardcover

The Servile State, published in 1912, is Hilaire Belloc's foray into economic theory and philosophy. In it he promotes the idea of "distributism," as opposed to capitalism and socialism. "The servile state is that in which the mass of men shall be constrained by law to labor for the profit of a minority," Belloc says. And this state is the ordinary and natural ends of both capitalism and socialism, though they may arrive there by different routes. In contrast, Belloc envisions a society in which each individual strives to be the owner of means of production, rather than a worker who merely earns wages. By owning what he needs to make his living, man can experience true freedom. It has happened before, he says, most notably in Britain before the Protestant Reformation. Modern readers will hear many echoes from Belloc in today's campaigns for co-ops and locally-owned businesses, which seek to replace large corporations with smaller operations that more adequately distribute wealth. Students of economics and history, as well as those interested in politics and the effects of economics on society, will find this a thought-provoking and galvanizing read. French writer and thinker HILAIRE BELLOC (1870-1953) is known as "the man who wrote a library." He expounded extensively on a number of subjects, including French and British history, military strategy, satire, comic and serious verse, literary criticism, topography and travel, translations, and religious, social, and political commentary. Among his most famous works are The Path to Rome (1902) and Emmanuel Burden (1903).

I tiswrittentomaintain the thesis that industrial society as we know it will tend towards the re-establishment of slavery The sections into which the book will be divided SECTION I DEFINITIONS :W hat wealth is and why necessary to man How produced The meaning of the words Capital, Proletariat,P roperty,M eans of Production The definition of the Capitalist State The definition of the SERVILE STATE What it is and what it is not The re-establishment of status in the place of contract That servitude is not a question of degree but of kind Summary of these definitions page 11 SECTION II OUR CIVILISATION WAS ORIGINALLY SERVILE :T he Servile institution in Pagan antiquity I ts fundamental character A Pagan society took it for granted The institution disturbed by the adventof the Christian Church Pa Se1 SECTION III How THE SERVILE INSTITUTION WAS FOR A TIME DISSOLVED :T he subconscious effect of the Faith in this matter The main elements of Pagan economic society The Villa The transformation of the agricultural slave into the Christian serf Next into the Christian peasant The corresponding erection throughout Christendom of the DISTRIBU- TIVE STATE It is nearly complete at the close of the Middle A ges It was not machinery that lost us our freedom, it was the loss of a free mind .
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)

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