{"id":5331,"date":"2012-04-29T23:37:25","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T03:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/?page_id=5331"},"modified":"2018-11-16T23:21:00","modified_gmt":"2018-11-17T05:21:00","slug":"wrong-with-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s Wrong with the World?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Is it true that The Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, &#8220;What\u2019s wrong with the world today?&#8221; and Chesterton responded simply,<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\">&#8220;Dear Sir,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\">I am.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Yours, G.K. Chesterton.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>ANSWER:<\/strong> This story has been repeated so often about Chesterton that we suspect it is true. Also, it seems it is never told about any one other than Chesterton. What we have not found, however, is any documentary evidence for it. It may indeed be from <em>The Times<\/em>, as the story is usually told, but no one has taken the trouble to go through the back issues and find a copy of the actual letter. It has also been attributed to other papers, but again, no proof.<\/p>\n<p>It is also entirely possible that it actually happened with another author, but has been attributed to Chesterton because it is typical of both his humility and his wit and because it is associated with the title of a book he wrote in 1910, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/shop\/whats-wrong-with-the-world-2\/\"><em>What\u2019s Wrong with the World<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If anyone out there can provide further information on this one, please let us know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>QUESTION:\u00a0Is it true that The Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, &#8220;What\u2019s wrong with the world today?&#8221; and Chesterton responded simply, &#8220;Dear Sir, I am. Yours, G.K. Chesterton.&#8221; ANSWER: This story has been repeated so often about Chesterton that we suspect it is true. Also, it seems it is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"right-sidebar","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[100,977],"class_list":["post-5331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-frequently-asked-questions","tag-books-distributism","tag-faq"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What&#039;s Wrong with the World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is it true that The Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, &quot;What\u2019s wrong with the world today?&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What&#039;s Wrong with the World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is it true that The Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, &quot;What\u2019s wrong with the world today?&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Store | Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanChestertonSociety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-30T03:37:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-17T05:21:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wrong-with-world\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wrong-with-world\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0605aed23beca7c76b87929f073df6a\"},\"headline\":\"What&#8217;s Wrong with the World?\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-30T03:37:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-17T05:21:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wrong-with-world\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":194,\"commentCount\":20,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Distributism\",\"FAQ\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Frequently Asked Questions\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wrong-with-world\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wrong-with-world\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wrong-with-world\\\/\",\"name\":\"What's Wrong with the World\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-30T03:37:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-17T05:21:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Is it true that The Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, \\\"What\u2019s wrong with the world today?\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wrong-with-world\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wrong-with-world\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wrong-with-world\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What&#8217;s Wrong with the World?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/\",\"name\":\"Store | Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton\",\"description\":\"Apostolate of Common Sense\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Chesterton Society\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/cropped-Chesterton_Seal_Navy-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/cropped-Chesterton_Seal_Navy-1.png\",\"width\":\"1181\",\"height\":\"1174\",\"caption\":\"American Chesterton Society\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanChestertonSociety\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/AmChestertonSoc\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0605aed23beca7c76b87929f073df6a\",\"name\":\"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz\"},\"description\":\"The American Chesterton Society (ACS), founded in 1996, works to promote interest in G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), one of the 20th century\u2019s greatest writers.\u00a0We ask our members to help revive an interest in Chesterton, to spread his influence and ideas, to bring him to a new generation, and to give him as a gift.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What's Wrong with the World","description":"Is it true that The Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, \"What\u2019s wrong with the world today?\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What's Wrong with the World","og_description":"Is it true that The Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, \"What\u2019s wrong with the world today?\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/","og_site_name":"Store | Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanChestertonSociety\/","article_published_time":"2012-04-30T03:37:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-11-17T05:21:00+00:00","author":"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/"},"author":{"name":"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#\/schema\/person\/e0605aed23beca7c76b87929f073df6a"},"headline":"What&#8217;s Wrong with the World?","datePublished":"2012-04-30T03:37:25+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-17T05:21:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/"},"wordCount":194,"commentCount":20,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#organization"},"keywords":["Distributism","FAQ"],"articleSection":["Frequently Asked Questions"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/","url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/","name":"What's Wrong with the World","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-04-30T03:37:25+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-17T05:21:00+00:00","description":"Is it true that The Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, \"What\u2019s wrong with the world today?\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wrong-with-world\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What&#8217;s Wrong with the World?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/","name":"Store | Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton","description":"Apostolate of Common Sense","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#organization","name":"American Chesterton Society","url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cropped-Chesterton_Seal_Navy-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cropped-Chesterton_Seal_Navy-1.png","width":"1181","height":"1174","caption":"American Chesterton Society"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanChestertonSociety\/","https:\/\/x.com\/AmChestertonSoc"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#\/schema\/person\/e0605aed23beca7c76b87929f073df6a","name":"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz"},"description":"The American Chesterton Society (ACS), founded in 1996, works to promote interest in G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), one of the 20th century\u2019s greatest writers.\u00a0We ask our members to help revive an interest in Chesterton, to spread his influence and ideas, to bring him to a new generation, and to give him as a gift.","url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5331\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}