WAL-MART: Condemned By Their Own Words

This is an excellent article by Ted Twietmeyer, and put up on the controversial news website Rense.com.

As regular readers of this blog know, we at the DR are no friends of Wal-Mart. But it seems there are also erstwhile allies of ours against this chain-store colossus in the "establishment leftist" American cable network CNBC. Twietmeyer informs us the CNBC put out a stinging documentary about Wal-Mart that will give one goose-pimples.

Please read the article and tell others. Then do something positive to slow down and stop the march of this economic monster.

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Anarchy and Tyranny

As we mentioned in an earlier post called "The Heretical Roots of Libertarianism", Christopher Ferrara wrote in his essay that:

"Man is ordered by his very nature to life in a society under a common ruler and set of laws, and that this arrangement, called the State, is necessary not only for the maintenance of peace but also for the achievement of virtue."

To use the words of Peter Maurin, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, we are to aim for the "Good Society". That is, a society where it is easier to obey the Ten Commandments and the Gospels in every facet of life, rather than difficult as it is today. In an ideal Distributist State, it would be de-centralized as much as possible, with decisions occuring at the local level. That is, by the local city or town or village authorities, as it used to be in many countries long ago, including early America.

When State power is either grown or shrunk to extremes, chaos erupts and lives are shattered. The following - an essay and a book review - give poignant examples of that truth.

This article is from the BBC's website, written by Joseph Winter from Mogadishu, Somalia, on how life there is in a shambles after years of anarchy and poverty. This report also has links to other essays on how Somalia stumbles on as the only nation without a government.

On the other side of the scale, there is a book review by Johnathan Mirsky of the British newspaper The Independent, sent via the controversial news website Rense.com. It is a review of the latest biography of the tyrant Mao Zedong, called "Mao: The Unknown Story", which will come out October 18th in the US by Knopf Publishing Group. The book shatters the facade still held by many that Mao was a "great man". Like Lenin, Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot, as well as many a dictator before him, Mao is exposed in great detail as ruthless, heartless, vindictive and cruel.

Neither too little government nor too much. Balance is always needed here, just as in so many other aspects of life. Let us learn from the bitter experiences of Somalis and Chinese and avoid either extreme.

And, in turn, aim for the Distributist Ideal.

NOTE: Congratulations to the French on voting NO to the European Union constitution. Holland's turn comes up Wednesday. We at the DR encourage them to follow in France's footsteps and, like their French neighbors, vote NO also.

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On Gilbert's Birthday, Let France Vote NON!

On May 29th, we celebrate the anniversary of the birth of one of Distributism's co-founders, G. K. Chesterton. The man was a gentle giant, a tall elf of a man, so to speak, who was both funny and wise on most matters.

He was also one of the most prolific writers in English in the 20th Century. He wrote over 100 books and introductions to 200 more. It is said that he wrote over 4,000 published essays, including the week of his death in 1936.

It is strange that, on his birthday, French voters will be deciding whether or no to ratify the proposed European Union constitution. We at the DR encourage French voters to vote NO on ratification. The nation's economy has been suffering from jobs shipped to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Problems with their Muslim immigrant population, French families not reproducing themselves fast enough, excessive taxation and the spiritual gangrene of "secular fundamentalism" only aggrivate that poor country's troubles. Joining a globalist and neo-Soviet cabal like the EU - we aren't casting insults here, only describing the essence of the EU - will not help France get back on its feet.

So we at the Review encourage any of our readers in France to vote NO on ratification, and encourage others to do likewise. Then please learn about Distributism and begin to teach others. Then implement it wherever you live in your neighborhood, however long it takes.

Let France stay free by voting NO to the EU Constitution, and then say OUI to Distributism.

And Happy Birthday to you, dear Gilbert!

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Chaos In Bolivia

This article, translated from the Spanish, is originally from the Bolivian branch of the anarcho-socialist news service Indymedia, and put up on the website of the Boston branch.

We at the DR oppose BOTH Capitalism and Socialism - including the anarcho-socialism that all branches of Indymedia support. And we always will. But they have been covering this next outbreak of left-wing violence in South America in detail, something the so-called "mainstream" American Press has not. They should be ashamed of themselves, but their consciences have been seared, or seem to be so.

Once again, the supporters of Marx, Engels and Lenin have set their sights on undermining another nation to Socialism - just like they have done recently to Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela. Turning toward the lying promises of Bolivian Socialism - including the call for "nationalizing" their oil industry - will not cure the problems plaguing them by globalist multi-nationals. It will not help to relieve the grinding poverty the farmers, peasants and working men endure in Bolivia.

This is but another area where the sane policies of Distributism are desperately needed. Let us all continue to learn, pray and work to apply them where we live - including in Bolivia.

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Gas From Biomass Miracle

This announcement, originally put on the controversial news website Rense.com, is written by Pure Energy Systems News.

The Canadian energy company SynGas Energy Corp, recently bought by Fairchild International, has developed a generator that can produce "synthetic natural gas" from carbon-based waste material like wood pulp, biomass and even low-grade coal. This is a phenomenal event and much needed good news!

As we've stated in the past on the DR, Distributism believes in de-centralizing energy production. Not only does it take it out of the hands of both big government and big business, but by creating more - and smaller - sources for energy, we make them less of a target for terrorists to destroy. Thus it increases a nation's energy security, whether America's, Russia's or any other nation.

In addition, if a major part of the electrical grid goes down - because of an accident or freak of nature - these smaller energy sources can pick up the slack. For history buffs, when New York City lost its power in the "Big Blackout", chaos and looting ensued. So to keep a city calm in the face of major power disruptions - and thus sparing local police headaches they don't need or deserve - local power generation is vital.

So congratulations to both SynGas Energy and Fairchild International from us at the DR. God bless you both!

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The Lesson of Howard Johnson's

This article - brought to us from the business section of WorldNetDaily - is written by Clarke Canfield of the left-wing Associated Press, and put up on the New York Newsday website.

This chain of hotels and restaurants, once a powerhouse of 800 sites, has shrunk down to eight or ten restaurants and 464 hotels. The restaurants were a staple of the American landscape for decades. But thanks to huge competition from other chains, as well as lack of change or new ideas and such, Howard Johnson's - or "HoJo's", as it was called with affection - dwindled and whithered. There are some who are still hoping that some so-called "white knight", some investment giant, will come to the chain's rescue.

This problem could have been avoided long, long ago if the chain wasn't a chain to begin with. Distributism, on principle, rejects chain stores and chain hotels and such. At the very least, the hotel and restaurant chain should give it's employees the opportunity to own and operate the chain. Then, as a national worker-owned and worker-managed co-operative, it can work with marketing strategists from each local area. They can help tailor-make solutions for each HoJo's hotel or restaurant to keep it alive.

Like we wrote about earlier regarding the supermarket chain Winn-Dixie, HoJo's grew too big and got out of touch with her customers. Staying local and meeting local needs works. That is part of the Distributist way.

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"Velvet Revolution"? Some Revolution!

This column, put on the American right-wing opinion website Etherzone, is written by former US Congressman John LeBoutillier.

Eastern Europe is still not free of Marxist tyranny. The face of it only underwent sone plastic surgery, so to speak. The Czechs and Slovaks know this intimately. LeBoutillier points this out in detail. And again, America has been fooled.

We highly recommend the two books by Soviet Russian defector Anatoly Golitsyn, New Lies For Old and The Perestroika Deception. They point out how the Marxists of the old Warsaw Pact would lull the West into a false sense of security before striking them by surprise and smashing them.

With the "re-Stalinizing" of Russia under Putin, as well as more nations going socialist or Marxist, these two books are necessary to clear our minds about what's been happening in Eastern Europe since 1989.

And more than ever, the people of those still oppressed nations need to learn about Distributism and implement it as soon as possible.

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Support Your Local Farmer - NOW!

This excellent column, from the American conservative opinion website News With Views, is written by pro-Constitution firebrand Devvy Kidd.

Both big government and big agri-business have been crushing family farms and co-operatives for many years, all in their rush to get more power over America's food supply. Therefore we must do all we can within our abilities to do so to aid the small farmers to survive. Buy from them as much as possible and as your finances will allow. Spread the word to your neighbors and friends to do the same.

And please print Mrs. Kidd's article and spread to those who are truly interested in helping family farmers - TODAY!

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Beijing's Chains on Zimbabwe Media

This article, brought via the controversial news website Rense.com, is from the daily newspaper The Scotsman, and written by Trevor Grundy.

As we mentioned in previous posts, Zimbabwe will only get worse unless it is freed from the Mugabe dictatorship and its loyalty to Marxism-Leninism. While her people starve, her roads and bridges crumble, her small businesses and co-ops wither, and racism against out-of-power blacks and whites festers, the Mugabe regime receives aid from their fellow comrades in Red China. This time around, though, the help is to squelch both the Internet and independent media, just like in other nations.

The West, fearful of being called "racist" and "re-colonizers" will do nothing to overthrow Mugabe. Their rivals in Moscow and Beijing, still committed to a global Marxist utopia, will not strike a fellow Red regime, so long as it follows the new Sino-Russian party line.

And so Zimbabwe, like too many other Third World nations, is crucified anew. Only Divine Intervention, along with the installation of a Distributist society, will heal that sad country's misery.

Pray for Zimbabwe. For in Christ's eyes, no prayer is ever wasted.

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The Heretical Roots of Libertarianism

These two articles are from the January 2005 edition of the Angelus magazine, published by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX).

The first, by Christopher Ferrara, speaks about the "Austrian School" of Capitalism, and how it is heretical according to Traditional Catholic Social Teaching.

The second is by Dr. Peter Chojnowski, and is on the medieval Spanish School of Salamanca, and its influence on market economics in history.

Please enjoy and comment. Thank you.

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Fr. Vincent McNabb

This essay, written by Mike Hennessy, is from the Traditional Catholic website Seattle Catholic.

It is about the life and work of the unofficial chaplain of the early Distributists, Fr. Vincent McNabb. He was one of the major lights of the Distributist League, predecessors of modern Distributism. But he was much, much more than that. He helped the poor, preached the True Gospel, encouraged a return to the land, all the while seeing himself as a mere servant of the All-Holy and nothing more.

Two of his many works - "Nazareth or Social Chaos" and "The Church and the Land" - are considered part and parcel of Distributist Thought. IHS Press in Virginia sells the latter in paperback, and we in the DR encourage all readers to purchase this great book.

As this blog entry is written on May 1, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, we wish you all God's blessings on this feast of the Patron Saint of Workers everywhere.

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