The Principles of Father McNabb, 1-4
Father Vincent McNabb, O.P., is often considered one of the
fathers of the English Distributist movement of the first half of the last
century, though he did not consider himself a Distributist. He often spoke at Distributist League
meetings, but, being a priest, and not a politician or economist, he did not like
labels, but instead focused on principles.
He laid out 12 particular principles I’d like to share over
the next few days. As each is worthy of
reflection, I do not want to present more than four a day. It requires a sufficient familiarity of
Distributism to understand Fr. McNabb’s often very challenging points. My hope is that they will inspire curiosity
and further study.
1)
The “flesh pots of Egypt,” which must
be given up, are to be left not for the milk and honey of Palestine but that
“the people may go and worship God.” (Exodus 5:1)
2)
To cease to live in the town while
continuing to live on the town may be serving Mammon rather than God; indeed
may be serving Mammon under the guise of serving God.
3)
The area of production should be as
far as possible coterminous with the area of consumption. The utilitarians were wrong in saying “things
should be produced where they can be most economically produced.” The true principle is: things should be
produced where they can most economically be consumed.
4)
Farmers should farm primarily for
self-support. They should sell as little
and buy as little as possible.
Clearly, some of these principles would seem impractical in
2014. They have to be understood in the
context of a wider vision. But they are
certainly worthy of reflection. And it
is worth asking what value they can add to our often cold and impersonal
economies.
