# Socialists — What’s Wrong with the World character guide

> Socialists in What’s Wrong with the World by G. K. Chesterton.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** distinguished Socialists, their

**First appearance:** 0001-what-s-wrong-with-the-world

## Snapshot

A collective of reformers who confuse a walking stick with an umbrella, mistaking things public by nature for things private and free.

## Who they are

They are vividly conscious of the line between state and chaos, yet inside that outline their lines blur, so personal liberty is silently stolen piece by piece. Their central error, in Chesterton's simile, is thinking two men can share a walking stick because they can share an umbrella. They matter because their confusion of bond and free things drives the book's case that collectivism misunderstands the very nature of personal property.

## Relationships

### [Hudge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/characters/hudge)

_rivalry_

Hudge and the Socialists are in ideological conflict, representing opposing political views.

## In the story

### [VI: The Enemies of Property](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/vi-the-enemies-of-property)

Referenced as part of the cultured class shrieking to be let out of the decent home.

### [VIII: The Wildness of Domesticity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/viii-the-wildness-of-domesticity)

Referenced as part of the 'advanced' movements that Chesterton critiques for their plutocratic assumptions.

### [The Common Vision](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/iii-the-common-vision)

A roomful of Socialists laughed when the narrator praised 'Public House' as noble words, showing their misunderstanding of tavern culture.

### [The Emancipation of Domesticity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/iii-the-emancipation-of-domesticity)

Mentioned in the context of collectivism and the need for specialization even under socialism.

### [IV: The Romance of Thrift](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/iv-the-romance-of-thrift)

Mentioned as 'social workers' who misunderstand the motives of poor women at pub doors.

### [VI: Authority the Unavoidable](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/vi-authority-the-unavoidable)

Referenced in the context of a 'Socialist soiree' where a 'meek little madman' asked Chesterton to oppose adventure stories for boys.

### [The Need for Narrowness](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/ix-the-need-for-narrowness)

Referenced as 'my revolutionary friends' who propose abolishing public schools, a view Chesterton opposes.

### [II: The Fallacy of the Umbrella Stand](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/ii-the-fallacy-of-the-umbrella-stand)

Chesterton criticizes Socialists for strengthening the state while neglecting the family, and for conflating communal laundries with communal kitchens.

### [On Peasant Proprietorship](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/iii-on-peasant-proprietorship)

Socialists are cited as advocating for further concentration of property in the State, which Chesterton opposes.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/characters/socialists
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/characters