More about me

I am a Christian, a Distributist, a poet and an Englishman. I have been known to experiment with facial hair.

What sort of Christian are you?

I am currently a member of Emmanuel Church (formerly known as Church of Christ the King) in Brighton, which is part of the Newfrontiers family of charismatic-evangelical churches, although, as may become apparent, I am somewhat more Catholic in my theology than my membership of Emmanuel might suggest.

It should be noted, however, that nothing is this blog is intended in any way as a criticism of my brothers and sisters at Emmanuel.

What’s a Distributist?

A Distributist is an adherent of Distributism.

Which is …?

Distributism (a. k. a. Distributivism) -

• is the belief in the widespread ownership of productive property as the most practical basis (in economic terms, at least) on which to establish a reasonably just and free society;
• is generally suspicious of big business, favouring such alternatives as self-employment, family owned farms and businesses, guilds, co-operatives and mutual societies instead; and
• is generally suspicious of big government, emphasizing personal responsibility, subsidiarity and (usually) a greater decentralization of power.

Distributists tend to regard the family rather than the individual as the basis of society.

Distributism was advocated by G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc (among others) and is largely based on the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church. Similar conclusions were reached by economist E. F. Schumacher in his influential book “Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered.”

Further reading -

• Hilaire Belloc (1913) The Servile State (a foundational text of Distributism)
• G. K, Chesterton (1926) The Outline of Sanity (a foundational text of Distributism)
• Hilaire Belloc (1936) An Essay on the Restoration of Property; (a foundational text of Distributism)
• E. F. Schumacher (1973) Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People mattered; (a well-known work by an author influenced by Distributist ideas);
• Race Matthews (1999) Jobs of Our Own: Building a Stakeholder Society (a "warts and all" history of Distributism);
• Joseph Pearce (2002) Small is Still Beautiful (a sequel to Schumacher's great work);
• John C Médaille (2010) Toward a Truly Free Market: A Distributist Perspective on the Role of Government, Taxes, Health Care, Deficits and More (a good modern political economy of Distributism from the U.S.A)

“Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few.”

(G. K. Chesterton.)

You say that you are a poet - have you published any poetry?

Yes, I have published two books, “All My Masks” and “Chosen Vanities” (each containing 50 poems) which are available from Xlibris and Amazon. Selected poems from these books can be found on this blog under the “Poetry” tab.

Whereabouts in England do you come from?

I am a native Brightonian (a rare thing, it would seem).

Your picture shows you as (reasonably) clean shaven, what’s all this about facial hair?

I usually sport a moustache during Movember, and I have, on occasions, had a goatie beard.