Hilaire Belloc and G.K. Chesterton were the primary champions of Distributism, an economic system neither Capitalistic nor Communistic seeking widespread ownership of property as the chief means to household freedom. Chesterton's chief work on the topic, Outline of Sanity, points out the troubles of industrialism and describes life under a Distributist scheme. Chesterton's work does little to explain how such a wanted transition might be made. Belloc's 1936 essay, On the Restoration of Property, answers the detailed policy questions. Belloc fully understands that replacing industrial capitalism or its evil progeny, the welfare state, cannot happen wholesale. He recommends various small efforts that might be compared to a few saplings planted to restore a vast deforested wilderness. The hope is that others wandering the wilderness notice the new life and yearn for more.

Belloc insightfully traces many of modern society's ills to their source. The cause is unchecked competition in which the most efficient shop, warehouse, factory, farm, etc. inexorably wins more and more business from slightly less efficient competitors. Nothing wrong with competition or efficiency, but the result in a mature market driven economy is always a few 'winners' that become very large corporations and many 'losers' forced out of business. The losers then have no choice but to become employed as wage slaves of the corporations. In the drive for greater efficiency, the wage slaves are pressed down, yet are provided enough to live and even a slight excess with which to purchase products from the big corporations. Nobody starves or is coerced yet little true economic freedom exists outside the owners of the corporations. Belloc suggests several policies that might limit large corporations and allow smaller household size endeavors to thrive. I don't think his initiatives will work, but they did inspire in me a couple ideas that just might....

For a helpful study of God's perspective on leisure, Redeeming the Time: A Christian Approach to Work and Leisure by Leland Ryken is recommended. I have not read the book yet but have read several other books by Dr. Ryken and found them all very good. I suspect the same here. And a great set of study notes is available at the Contend for the Faith website. We are using these as a guide in our family devotions for a few days. Leisure is rarely done well so a family is wise to study and discuss the issue together.

The unchallenged cultural assumption in modern America is that "you must go to college" or be forever lost as a second class citizen trapped in life long poverty. Let's put a pencil to this assumption and see if your typical college student is really better off...  You may be suprised to learn that an entry level worker could own a $125,000 home at age 22 free and clear with no mortgage while the typical student would need to borrow over $100,000 to buy the same home.  The young entrepreneur has 4 years work experience, owns his home outright, and is already saving for retirement while the new graduate ponders 30 years of mortgage payments [More...]

I haven't read Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America’s Schools Back to Reality yet, but just saw this review article at ISI. The review is compelling - here are a few excerpts:

Our educational romantics assume that everyone is equally teachable, that every child would succeed at equal, developmentally correct speed, if only there were more money, better teachers, a more demanding curriculum, and the like. But Murray objects, and persuasively so, pithily citing the requisite scientific studies to prove it.

Note the solution is, not-surprisingly, a balance of academics, love, and wisdom in a family setting. Exactly the homeschooling paradigm, which Murray even mentions directly.

So how are these changes to occur?... Neither the educational bureaucrats in charge of K-12 education nor the major stakeholders in higher education can be counted on. In both areas, he seems to rely on a return to an educational realism rooted in love—a love of mothers and fathers for their children on the one hand and a love of virtue and wisdom by larger souls on the other— to, little by little, take responsibility for education out of the hyper-democratically beaten path. For example, he counts on the expanding homeschooling movement to evolve into a universe of alternative schools.

So keep it up Mom and Dad - you're doing great work!

See more comments on Real Education at Amazon.com.

Anyone considering leaving a corporate job and starting a family business encounters the daunting issue of health insurance costs.  Replacing the full coverage typically offered to corporate employees can easily cost over $1200 every month!  Such high costs deter many potential entrepreneurs from even considering leaving their job and its fringe benefits.  Here's our solution for prudently providing for healthcare expenses that could wreck family finances for generations, but at a fraction of full-coverage cost...

Final Part - Review of Culture Making by Andy Crouch

(Continued from Review - Part 3)
Crouch's final insight I'll comment on is about finding your calling - where you can have impact on the culture. He recounts Jesus parable of the 30, 60, 100 fold increase. This happens when divine grace is experienced. When you work and move in your calling, God's grace should be evident so you should see remarkable effectiveness. Look for signs of this multiplicative effect among your tasks and interests - your call is likely nearby.

Crouch states your calling is at the intersection of grace and the cross...[More]

A most amazing autobiographical message from one of my favorite people. Church leaders, young people considering their calling, parents, etc. will all benefit. C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, G.K. Chesterton, Jonathan Edwards, Geometry, Poetry, Logic, Hermeneutics, Rationality, Romance, Dyslexia - all there. A huge, glorious story...

Part 3 - Review of Culture Making by Andy Crouch

(Continued from Review - Part 2)
Another of Crouch's insights is the principle of "3-12-120". He argues that power is the ability to introduce a cultural good and that this inevitably starts with a small passionate team, you and a couple others.
Whether it's an entrepreneur with a wife and friend, CEO+CFO+COO, or the President, Chief of Staff, and a couple cabinet members, everything starts on the smallest level. From there a few others are needed to round out an idea or perform key roles - the 12. Then a wider community...[More]

Part 2 - Review of Culture Making by Andy Crouch

(Continued from Review - Part 1) The next section is a biblical survey of these aspects of creating and cultivating. Ending with the scene of the heavenly city in the book of Revelation, Crouch speculates that the city is furnished with human cultural goods - things humans have made. This is an insight I had never considered. The translucent gold "clear as glass" is not natural gold, but the work of a craftsman. The stones adorning the city are not raw minerals, but crafted jewels. The "kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it", which refers to human goods made through the ages. Crouch relates this to Isaiah 60 "the ships of Tarshish bring your children" and "the nations shall bring You their wealth". Crouch wonders if the ships of Tarshish might share the harbor with America's Cup champion yachts. Crouch's personal list of "the glory of the nations" includes music of Bach and Miles Davis, green-tea creme brulee, fish tacos, Homer's Odyssey, the iPod and Mini Cooper automobile.

Perhaps Crouch is right in that some human goods will persevere for eternity. Our works will be tested by fire and those done for God's glory will last, while others will be consumed. It's interesting to consider what may stand the fire as a way to determine what goods are truly helpful and glorious now. The iPod enables me to hear glorious music or biblical texts. But it also cuts me off from sounds in nature and isolates me from my neighbor - who will start a conversation with someone with plugged ears? The Mini Cooper may be a fine car, but do cars themselves glorify God? They enable us to go a long way in a short time - but is that something God wants us to do? Should we be more willing to stay home and stay in our local neighborhood so we know our neighbors? If we stayed on our block more, we'd be forced to know our neighbor, depend on each other, and may even learn to love one another. Isn't this the biblical command?

So I don't doubt that some human goods will persist in the New Jerusalem, but my sense is it will be a fairly small pile. When the angels are crying "Holy, Holy, Holy", will anyone really step away from that to plug their ears with Miles Davis on the iPod? I hope not. But will we and the angels join together in Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus"? I hope so.

to be continued in part 3...

See it at Amazon: Culture Making

Part 1 - Review of Culture Making by Andy Crouch

After hearing an interview with Andy Crouch on Mars Hill Audio, I found the book in our local library. The book is a helpful description of what culture is and how one makes an impact. Many of the ideas in the book come up from time to time on the Mars Hill Audio Journal, so the book did not have the groundbreaking impact on me that it may have on a general audience.

Crouch defines culture as not just pop culture nor the current prevailing mood, but as primarily something we make. It is a collection of human works. Much in the book is helpful but rather than provide a complete synopsis, I'll focus on the several ideas that were new to me....