AHC: Make Distributism a prominent ideology

Distributism was an economic ideology that appeared in the late 19th and early 20th that rejected both capitalism and communism, focusing in spreading wealth while preserving private property. Some of its founding ideas are present in Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novam and had quite some influence in Catholic political thought. It proposed a new system based in class colaborationism, decentralization and unionism. The movement was followed by such prestigious authors as C.K. Chesterton and influenced Christian Democrat parties.

So, the challenge consists in making this ideology become a major force in world politics (or at least Western) by the mid 20th century with a POD in the 19th century.
 
Well, given that, as you say, it was one of the big influences on Christian Democracy, I'd say it already is, or at least was, a rather prominent ideology.

And I can also think of about half a dozen other ideologies that occupy the same broad space on the spectrum as Distributism. Red Toryism, so-called "wet toryism" in the UK, even Social Credit, if we're willing to allow crank economics in. And I'll even run the risk of ducking rotten vegetables by saying that Trumpism might be shaping up as a bastardized version of all that, ie. general-welfare economics, packaged with quasi-mystical nationalism, but marketed at the generation raised on gonzo internet porn.

But if you really want to get pure Distributism, narrowly defined, as a prominent ideology, I think that's gonna be a pretty tough sell. The closest I've come to a direct encounter with it is Chesterton, and I don't think he or his ilk are gonna have much appeal for a post-1960s liberal west. We did study Catholic economic teaching a bit in high-school religion class, and I guess it DID have an appealing kinship with Keynesianism welfare-state policies. But the kind of people most receptive to that these days are also likely to be turned off by the social conservativism.
 
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