A nation and it's members, to be free, must have not only their own political rights, but also the economic independence. A political freedom without an economical freedom is nothing but a freedom to die.

In the economic sphere, our main postulate is to spread the ownership as widely as possible, i.e. to obtain an affranchisement of people. In short: A man lives and works best, when doing it for himself and on his own.

We reject communism and socialism. They eliminate the private property and transmit the economical power into the hands of party aparatchiks and state bureaucracy. A man in socialism is only a slave, deprived of his economic liberty, and for existential reasons forced into submission in every area of life.

We reject capitalism and liberalism, for they also liquidate the private property by concentrating the assets in the hands of a few. A man in capitalism is only a slave, deprived of his economic liberty, and, for existential reasons, forced into submission in every area of life.

Socialism and Capitalism are just two sides of the same coin, called materialism.

The ultimate consequence of socialism is the concentration of ownership in the hands of state. The ultimate consequence of capitalism is the concentration of ownership in the hands of a handful of big industrial-financial conglomerates's owners.

The consequence of both socialism and capitalism is a slave state, in which a common man (no matter if working in suit or in overalls) is only a proletarian, dependent on someone else's will.

We reject both socialism and capitalism. We advocate an economic freedom for a free people. For only a nation, in which the common ownership prevails, is a free one – and not willing to be restrained by any tyranny.

Warsaw, 14.05.2012

The Third Position believes that there is a mode of ownership – in industry, in agriculture, in domestic circles – which goes far beyond the inhuman and unjust concentration wrought by both Capitalism and Socialism, and which apart from being pre-eminently practical is also perfectly natural, and in accordance with human nature. In the English-speaking world, this alternative is known as Distributism, an alternative developed and popularized by two fine English writers, Hilaire Belloc and G.K. Chesterton. This form of ownership occurs in an economy which is decentralized to the smallest, viable unit and thus results in a plethora of producer and service co-operatives, small businesses, craft workshops, Guild structures, artisanal associations, small holdings, family firms and family farms. It is a mode of ownership which promotes individual initiative and creativity, and yet does so only within the framework of the Common Good. It is the natural conjunction of Individual Freedom with Social Justice. Given the total failure of Socialism, with its unnatural bureaucracy and inefficiency, and given the exploitation and gross inequality that result from Capitalism’s so-called „Free Market”, it is evident that Distributism is going to be the socio-economic creed of the twenty-first century.

From the Third Position Declaration

Originally published HERE