Socialism and the right to property: Marx and Chesterton. Issue 3 (26th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Collier, Andrew
• Is Part Of: Journal of critical realism. Volume 19:Issue 3(2020)
• Page Start: 228
• Page End: 234
• Publication Date: 2020-05-26
• Subjects: Capitalism -- Chesterton -- Marx -- private property -- Rerum Novarum -- socialism; Critical realism -- Periodicals; Réalisme critique; 149.205
• DOI: 10.1080/14767430.2020.1764190
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1476-7430

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In this article, Andrew Collier critiques the method, but not the aim, of Rerum Novarum, the Catholic argument against socialism, as interpreted by G.K. Chesterton. He holds that Rerum Novarum may have incorrectly interpreted Marx's – and thus socialists' – definition of private property by assuming that socialists want to end private ownership of (1) necessary consumables (e.g. food), (2) non-consumables required for a certain standard of life (e.g. bicycles), and (3) the means of one's own production (the artisan's tools or the corner shop). To the contrary, Marx wanted to increase workers' access to property (1) to (3) by ending ownership of capitalist property. If Rerum Novarum wants workers to have the right to own capitalist property this is hypocritical because such property by definition includes exploitation of propertiless people, which the encyclical aims to avoid. Collier therefore argues that the aim of Rerum Novarum (Chesterton's ideal) can only be achieved via Marxist methods, and that this does not entail the abolishment of all private property.