G.K.Chesterton

The late Sunday Times of Malta columnist, John Micallef (alias Roamer) was an avid Chestertonian and a firm believer that the ideas and writings of G.K. Chesterton are still of great relevance and need a much wider acceptance.

In his enthusiasm to achieve this aim, it was providential that he communicated with Gloria Garafulich-Grabois, managing editor of The Chesterton Review, and encouraged the holding of a conference in Malta in 2012. Sadly, Roamer died in January that year but the conference, entitled Chesterton, the Journalist, was held successfully on May 15, 2012.

Thankfully, the team from Seton College, the US, have accepted an invitation to visit Malta for a second time. Once again, the Strickland Foundation and the Farsons Foundation have offered their generous support for the event.

Two eminent Chesterton scholars, Fr Ian Boyd and Prof. Dermot Quinn, will discuss Chesterton’s economic and social vision. In the current situation of financial meltdown, social breakdown, environmental degradation and a refugee crisis of biblical proportions, the topic is unquestionably of crucial relevance.

Sadly, despite our Catholic heritage, Chesterton is largely unknown, especially among the younger generation. It is a pity that such an outstanding and formidable thinker who so passionately dominated and influenced public opinion in the English-speaking world in the first half of the last century has been so neglected.

Chesterton was a most remarkable man who wrote and argued about everything. Among his numerous literary achievements, he had thousands of his essays published in the press. He was, above all, a journalist who loved people, especially the underdog and the exploited. He believed in the common sense of the common man and believed the world could and should be a better place. He sacrificed his personal interests to pour most of his energies and earnings into promoting his views, especially on issues of social and economic reform.

If we ignore the first principles, we will exercise poor judgement

He was a strong believer that Christianity was more than going to church; that democracy was more than going to vote. He realised that apathy plays into the hands of corrupt politicians and unscrupulous business interests. He recognised the falsity of a system that was expected to function effectively without an ethical dimension. He challenged both the idolatry of the market as well as the idolatry of the state. He was acutely aware of the fundamental importance of the family.

Chesterton challenged both big government and big commercial interests that in the end generate dependency, thus undermining authentic democracy and freedom. If communism was an evil we have now recognised, so is a capitalist system that operates in an ethical vacuum and concentrates economic power and property into the hands of the few. According to Chesterton, social and economic flourishing can only be realised where, as much as possible, people are directly involved in the things that most concern their lives.

Chesterton, and other likeminded people such as his friend Hilaire Belloc, argued for the widespread availability of property that empowers people to fashion their own future. In their view, the availability of property, implied land ownership and the means and skills to earn a living and raise a family. This was of fundamental importance and they called their philosophy Distributism, believing in promoting an economy in which people really mattered.

Interestingly, renowned economist E. F. Schumacher and the legendary Alexander Solzhenitsyn came independently to the same conclusions. Like Chesterton, they also realised that if we ignore the first principles, if we avoid the search for truth, we will exercise poor judgement and poor behaviour.

We are now only too painfully aware of the impact of global capitalism and its negative social and environmental consequences.

One need only be aware of the appalling conditions of the sweat shops in countries such as Bangladesh and the Far East, of the control of the food chain by a few corporations, by the unbelievable exploitation of merchant seamen who man the fleet of ships on which mass commerce depends, to comprehend what is at stake.

Chesterton’s views defy the narrow calculus of profitability at all costs that has led us to the sorry state we are in. His ideas and ideals are not unique. These core values lie at the heart of Catholic social doctrine.

The forthcoming conference should stimulate us to revisit the issues that are so vital to society’s wellbeing.

klausvb@gmail.com

The Chesterton conference is open to the public and will be held on May 27 at 6pm at the University’s Erin Serracino-Inglott hall.