Utopia of Usurers is a classic collection of political essays which comment upon the conditions of Great Britain by G.K. Chesterton. What is it that angers Chesterton and fills him with grim forebodings for the future of his island? Many things and, especially, many persons. But chiefly the capitalists, the upper middle class, the usurers, or however they be termed, and the fear of the servile state, the state in which art and literature and science and efficiency and morality and everything else that has value in the eyes of mortal man become the humble servants of the money-changers, in short, the "utopia of usurers." --The Dial, 1918.
"Every page of the book is interesting....An attack on modern society, with special reference to Great Britain. Mr. Chesterton 'is up in arms against the terror of a world which shall be ruled - in politics and literature and art and all things else - by its 'captains of industry.'" -The New York Times "He is particularly concerned about 'the way in which the capitalists of today use art and the press for their own purposes. His spleen, it seems, is largely directed against the liberal press." -Springfield Republican "The work is an impassioned plea...for the natural rights of men and the restoration of their earlier liberties....There is no lack of wisdom, based upon enduring truths and expressed with the clearness of a tocsin." -Catholic World "We are all familiar with the Utopias of idealists who picture a world that has banished poverty and crime. But G. K. Chesterton, the English writer, in a book entitled 'Utopia of Usurers,' that has just been published on this side of the water, writes of a new kind of Utopia - the kind that hard-headed business men and Capitalists are going to establish for themselves if they ever get a chance. That they will get a chance and that they may accomplish their aims is Chesterton's haunting fear. 'We must hit Capitalism and hit it hard,' he says, 'for the plain and definite reason that it is growing stronger.' As his contribution to an assault that he hopes will become general, Chesterton writes the present book." -Current Opinion "In 'Utopia of Usurers,' a series of reprints of essays first published in periodical form, Chesterton has much to say about his island. He is in a bad humor. Things have not gone well with the island. Not only is a dastardly foe threatening it from without, but there is cause for endless disgruntlements within. The 'all's well with the world' frame of mind of 'Orthodoxy' has given way to scowls and apprehensive shakings of the head. Even the cheery mysticism of that book and of so many of its successors is somewhat less in evidence than it should be in writing coming from Chesterton's pen." -The Dial "Chesterton confines his attention to denouncing conditions in England; he dismisses the case of Germany briefly and even while condemning the Prussian military-economic machine, the Prussia military-economic machine, finds time to condemn also 'the silly boycott of Germans in England, extending even to the German music." -The Independent CONTENTS A Song of Swords Utopia of Usurers I. Art and Advertisement II. Letters and the New Laureates III. Unbusinesslike Business IV. The War on Holidays V. The Church of the Servile State VI. Science and the Eugenists VII. The Evolution of the Prison VIII. The Lash for Labour IX. The Mask of Socialism
An engaging work sure to appeal to both scholars and students for the depth of its thought and the freshness of its claims, this is a two-part book by one of the 20th century's greatest writers. The first part is a coherent analysis of the theory, effects, and claims of capitalism. The second is a lengthy collection of articles from Chesterton's vast journalistic output. The author challenges the fundamental tenets of capitalism without favoring socialism or Marxism by providing a philosophical analysis of the pitfalls, drawbacks, and falsehoods regarding capitalism and its inevitability. This is must reading for any serious investigation into anti-capitalist thought. It is also an exemplary text of how Christian principles and thinking apply to the socioeconomic world.
rt and AdvertisementI propose, subject to the patience of the reader, to devote two or three articles to prophecy. Like all healthy-minded prophets, sacred and profane, I can only prophesy when I am in a rage and think things look ugly for everybody. And like all healthy-minded prophets, I prophesy in the hope that my prophecy may not come true. For the prediction made by the true soothsayer is like the warning given by a good doctor. And the doctor has really triumphed when the patient he condemned to death has revived to life. The threat is justified at the very moment when it is falsified. Now I have said again and again (and I shall continue to say again and again on all the most inappropriate occasions) that we must hit Capitalism, and hit it hard, for the plain and definite reason that it is growing stronger. Most of the excuses which serve the capitalists as masks are, of course, the excuses of hypocrites. They lie when they claim philanthropy; they no more feel any particular love of men than Albu felt an affection for Chinamen. They lie when they say they have reached their position through their own organising ability. They generally have to pay men to organise the mine, exactly as they pay men to go down it. They often lie about the present wealth, as they generally lie about their past poverty. But when they say that they are going in for a "constructive social policy," they do not lie. They really are going in for a constructive social policy. And we must go in for an equally destructive social policy; and destroy, while it is still half-constructed, the accursed thing which they construct.The Example of the ArtsNow I propose to take, one after another, certain aspects and departments of modern life, and describe what I think they will be like in this paradise of plutocrats, this Utopia of gold and brass in which the great story of England seems so likely to end. I propose to say what I think our new masters, the mere millionaires, will do with certain human interests and institutions, such as art, science, jurisprudence, or religion-unless we strike soon enough to prevent them. And for the sake of argument I will take in this article the example of the arts.
rt and AdvertisementI propose, subject to the patience of the reader, to devote two or three articles to prophecy. Like all healthy-minded prophets, sacred and profane, I can only prophesy when I am in a rage and think things look ugly for everybody. And like all healthy-minded prophets, I prophesy in the hope that my prophecy may not come true. For the prediction made by the true soothsayer is like the warning given by a good doctor. And the doctor has really triumphed when the patient he condemned to death has revived to life. The threat is justified at the very moment when it is falsified. Now I have said again and again (and I shall continue to say again and again on all the most inappropriate occasions) that we must hit Capitalism, and hit it hard, for the plain and definite reason that it is growing stronger. Most of the excuses which serve the capitalists as masks are, of course, the excuses of hypocrites. They lie when they claim philanthropy; they no more feel any particular love of men than Albu felt an affection for Chinamen. They lie when they say they have reached their position through their own organising ability. They generally have to pay men to organise the mine, exactly as they pay men to go down it. They often lie about the present wealth, as they generally lie about their past poverty. But when they say that they are going in for a "constructive social policy," they do not lie. They really are going in for a constructive social policy. And we must go in for an equally destructive social policy; and destroy, while it is still half-constructed, the accursed thing which they construct.The Example of the ArtsNow I propose to take, one after another, certain aspects and departments of modern life, and describe what I think they will be like in this paradise of plutocrats, this Utopia of gold and brass in which the great story of England seems so likely to end. I propose to say what I think our new masters, the mere millionaires, will do with certain human interests and institutions, such as art, science, jurisprudence, or religion-unless we strike soon enough to prevent them. And for the sake of argument I will take in this article the example of the arts.
