# VI: The Enemies of Property explained — What’s Wrong with the World > Chapter companion for What’s Wrong with the World by G. K. Chesterton. ## What happens Chesterton argues that modern reformers mistakenly seek new ideals when they have not yet fulfilled the old ones. He defends the ancient ideal of domesticity and property as the art of the democracy, where ordinary people express themselves through limited creation. He criticizes large capitalists as the true enemies of property because they destroy the limits that give property its meaning. ## Themes in this chapter ### Family and Domesticity Chesterton defends the ideal house, the happy family, and the holy family of history as an ancient ideal that moderns have not tried. ### Social Class and Oligarchy He contrasts the cultured class shrieking to leave the home with the working class shouting to enter it, and criticizes large capitalists as enemies of property. ### The Medical Fallacy in Sociology The chapter begins by referencing the historic fallacy that leads people to expect a new ideal when they should fulfill the old one. ## Character check-ins ### Unknown The narrator propounds the defense of old ideals and property. ### Hudge Implied as one of the modern sophists who propound new ideals. ### Gudge Implied as one of the modern sophists who propound new ideals. ### Socialists Referenced as part of the cultured class shrieking to be let out of the decent home. ### Suffragettes Implied among modern women who rebel against domesticity in theory. ### The English Referenced in the context of the French Revolution and the ideal of the poor man uppermost. ### Mr. Bernard Shaw Not directly mentioned but could be associated with modern sophists; not used here. ## Key lines > There is only one really startling thing to be done with the ideal, and that is to do it. The only truly surprising action is to actually carry out an ideal, not to invent a new one. _Chesterton emphasizes the power of fulfilling old ideals rather than seeking novelty._ > Property is merely the art of the democracy. Property is the democratic expression of creativity for ordinary people. _He defines property as a form of artistic creation available to everyone._ > A man who loves a little triangular field ought to love it because it is triangular; anyone who destroys the shape, by giving him more land, is a thief who has stolen a triangle. True property love values the specific limits of what one owns; expanding those limits destroys the very thing that was loved. _Chesterton argues that property's value lies in its boundaries, not its size._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters/vi-the-enemies-of-property - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/what_s_wrong_with_the_world_se/chapters