The Servile StateHilaire Belloc
The Servile State
by Hilaire Belloc · first published 2026
17mentions
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5HN commenters
2011–2026first – last mentioned
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One of the most interesting books I read was "The Servile State" by Hilaire Belloc. Belloc suggests that in fact most people when desperate will gladly trade freedom for subsistence. He suggests the natural evolution of class warfare is from unrestrained capitalism…
on “Wage slave? Or slave to the wage?” ↗After reading books like "The Servile State" by Hilaire Belloc and "Birth as an American Rite of Passage" by Robbie Davis-Floyd, I think there should always be praise for this sort of thing. Our culture has become extremely centered on mechanics,…
on “The Knife Maker” ↗…seen shirts sell in boutique markets for $500 USD!) What we are missing is quite frankly a sense of place. But on to your bit about the industrial revolution in England, let me suggest reading "The Servile State" by Hillaire Belloc (you can find a PDF on-line for free since it is out of copyright). He suggests that the industrial revolution, which began in England, occurred specifically because of Protestant…
on “What My Son's Disabilities Taught Me About 'Having It All'” ↗Read "The Servile State" by Hilaire Belloc for where this is leading ;-) For lower classes, prison (and prison servitude) is becoming the safety net.
on “Tech companies, bristling, concede to government surveillance program” ↗…the days of Clinton but they haven't yet. > Frankly whole cancerous security apparatus has been fueled by privatized sector just like the one with privatized jail system. Very true. BTW, read "The Servile State" by Hilaire Belloc if you want a really depressing read.... > Sad to say this but there only way I can see this being resolved is political/etc. Start websites cover the stories. Find methods of figuring…
on “Forced Exposure” ↗…encouraging ownership to align with utilization rather than life-long renting as the norm. I would recommend reading some conservative alternatives like Chesterton's "An Outline of Sanity" or Belloc's "The Servile State" for alternatives that are more historically grounded.
on “I'm Gen Y, and I Don't Feel Special or Entitled, Just Poor” ↗…between the lower gentry and upper yeomanry isn’t very large, and most families are able to support themselves with only minimal assistance. For those who want to fall down the rabbit hole see: 1. The Servile State by Hilaire Belloc: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64882 2. https://distributistreview.com/archive/an-introduction-to-di...
on “The Moral Economy of the Shire” ↗…thinkers believe you have to encourage the people in the system and change the system to make it harder to do the wrong thing. Some reading on the topic includes: * The canonical book on the subject - The Servile State by Hilaire Belloc: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64882 * https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2014/06/what-is-distr... * https://practicaldistributism.com/distributism-basics/ And not directly…
…democracy which governed the US from about the time of FDR until the time of Reagan when the Neoliberal era arrived. The problems are well laid out rather presciently by Hillaire Belloc in his 1914 book "The Servile State" where he discusses the problems of capitalism the consequences of class warfare. Belloc should be on everyone's reading list in this way because he represents a very cogent criticism of both capitalism…
on “ECHELON was used for industrial espionage (European Commission report)” ↗…and particular feudal society in mind in my comment, and meant 500-600 years ago by "a few". I probbaly should have said "several". The feudal system is often given a bad wrap, but after reading "The Servile State" (a critique of modern capitalism) I actually think we have much to learn from it that we have lost.
on “Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help” ↗Belloc's "The Servile State" can be found at: http://www.archive.org/details/servilestate00belluoft Belloc's view was that usually in class warfare the wealthy will win. I don't agree with all the religious nuance, but I have…
on “The Tyranny of Meritocracy” ↗Looks fascinating. The abstract dovetails on Hilaire Belloc's "The Servile State" in interesting ways. Belloc argued that the key to the success of the industrial revolution in the UK was the confiscation of Catholic church lands under Henry VIII because this created destitute masses…
on “The Last Florida Indians Will Now Die: The Westward Plight of the Apalachee” ↗I think as Hilaire Belloc pointed out (in "The Servile State"), the Industrial Revolution (and Capitalism) happened because private landlords were kicking peasants off their land, and thus creating a class of people who couldn't afford goods and were desperate…
on “The Knife Maker” ↗…hires labor. 2) Labor works outside the home, capital can control things. The second problem arises pretty clearly (and intractably) from the sort of worker protection laws that Belloc describes in "The Servile State." I.e., by treating employees as the responsibility of the employer, you have serious issues regarding workers comp and so forth when an employee is working outside of an environment that the employer…
on “STFU About What Women Want” ↗Also note that for a segment of the population, that is the safety net too, just as Hilaire Belloc predicted in "The Servile State" (which he wrote in 1914).
on “Tech companies, bristling, concede to government surveillance program” ↗