There were pre-modern times when workers enjoyed broad prosperity and rights, thanks largely to the Church, which has long safeguarded and improved the state of workers and all society… In the quest for a golden age for workers, few would look beyond free markets in modern times. This position is backed up by economists using [...]
If we truly desire the Benedict Option, then let us not withdraw from modernity, for strategic retreats easily turn into routs. Let us rather engage our neo-barbarian culture by both cultivating our Benedictine identity while also projecting Saint Boniface’s strength. It is the only option. Scratch the soul of many a conservative and beneath you [...]
In their drive to provide abundance, mass markets suppress variety. Far from enriching a culture, mass markets can impoverish it… One of the benefits of modern mass markets is supposed to be the proliferation of choices. The modern consumer can choose from so many things available on a variety of platforms, be it off or [...]
Those who don’t want to miss out on an “urgent” text message or email must reorient their desires toward those spiritual goods found in the good, true, and beautiful… Everyone has seen it happen. Suddenly, in the middle of a conversation at an event, a person feels compelled to answer an “urgent” message, frequently without [...]
If there was someone who did not exercise the Benedict Option, it was Saint Benedict himself. The problem with the Benedict Option is that it does not have the substance, unity, and goal of the Benedictine ideal that set the world on fire with the love of God. No one disputes the attractiveness of living [...]
In our confusing and chaotic times, we do not need technocrats, economists, and politicians to craft their complex programs to solve our problems. We need captains who selflessly dedicate themselves to defending the common good… Traveling by air these days can be stressful. It is increasingly difficult to go on a trip without some incident [...]
The important thing is to control technology since it becomes abusive when it starts controlling us. Thus, if email overload is causing concern, it is time to implement some version of detox. There is life beyond the Internet…. On January 1, 2017, I made a New Year’s resolution to make my Sundays Internet free. This [...]
When politicians succumb to the temptation of turning policy into spectacle—even if it is good policy—it makes the show more important than the policy… It has become trendy to call everything fake. This is helped by the fact that so many things are fake. The world is awash in “fake news.” So much of what [...]
The cause of modern American disunity can be found in today’s twisted notions of freedom. In his masterwork, The City of God, Saint Augustine offers a definition of a people that can shed some light on why we are so fragmented today. He states that a people is “a gathered multitude of rational beings united [...]
Self-service is often presented as the best of all buying options because it allows individuals to get the exact product they want quickly without interference from others. But by making purchases “easier,” is the buying experience truly enriched?… Self-service is often presented as the best of all buying options because it allows individuals to get [...]
I was under the mistaken impression that anyone wanting to be part of the real world had to have some fancy scheduling program or app. But organic solutions that we develop ourselves are often the best ones... I was sitting in the airport with plenty of time on my hands. Unlike those around me, I did not [...]
Countless Americans who woke up on the morning after the election sensed their prayers had been answered and a calamity had been averted. If we have been given this reprieve, then we should use it to turn back to God… To those Americans concerned about the moral state of the nation, the immediate reaction to [...]
I would see him from time to time at Catholic events and meetings in Washington D.C. He was a seven-foot-tall African gentleman who was always very courteous and soft-spoken. He had a stately bearing that was at the same time dignified and disarming. I am told he was very pious and could often be seen [...]
The purpose of university education is not meant to be therapeutic but formative. The university should concerned with the pursuit of truth and should mark a farewell to childhood and childish things. The recent antics at the nation’s universities have led people to expect almost anything from academia. There are safe spaces that resemble adult [...]