 A copy of the original issuing of The Servile State, first published in 1912 | |
| Author | Hilaire Belloc |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | political economy, capitalism, distributism, socialism, history of economics, history of Europe |
| Publisher | T. N. Foulis |
Publication date | 1912 |
| Pages | 133 |
| ISBN | 9780692282489 |
The Servile State is a 1912 economic and political treatise by Hilaire Belloc. It serves primarily as a history of capitalism, a critique of both capitalism and socialism, and a rebuke of developments Belloc believed would bring about a form of totalitarianism he called the "servile state". The "servile state" is a state in which the proletariat – defined as a majority of civil society dispossessed of the means of production – is compelled by positive law to work for those possessed of those same means. Belloc believed that capitalism is fundamentally unstable and therefore serves as a transitory state of affairs, viewing it as a disruption of the natural development of property and societal norms that arose during the Middle Ages. While Belloc writes about socialism – which he generally refers to as "collectivism" – as an alternative to capitalism, he believes that attempts at its implementation are ineffective and will only hasten and solidify the reintroduction of the servile state.