Reports of folks in this heavily armed nation stocking up on guns and ammunition suggest a widespread apprehension of what may be coming. If the medical crisis is allowed to induce an economic crisis that leads to a social crisis, the American political system, our democratic system, may itself be severely tested. "We cannot let [...]
If we were to imagine ourselves standing on a hill, looking down on the full sweep of history stretched out before us in the valley of human memory, we would observe the social edifices of man rising and falling in revolutions with the periodicity of seasons. We would witness hands reaching up like a wave [...]
The evidence is more than clear: Communism, socialism, and progressivism have each made huge comebacks, re-entering political discourse. Even their titles have reacquired respect and a semblance of dignity in many circles of public thought. What happened? The West won the Cold War in 1989, didn’t she? I am fiercely proud of the fact that [...]
During LBJ’s presidency, a war was waged, as Amity Shlaes demonstrates in “Great Society,” by the federal government against the rest of the nation. This tragic story of government growth sowed seeds of division in America which suggests that, as long as federal power dominates civil society, Americans will live in a “tribalized” nation. Great [...]
A sociologist born at the turn of the twentieth century, Henri Lefebvre is a figure whose writings shed light on questions pertaining to rural life versus urban life, theories of the state, modernity, and the role of social space and markets in cities. Beyond sociology, he is considered an important figure in both urban studies [...]
Can “free trade,” as understood by Adam Smith, bring peace among nations? Or does it just allow the strongest nations to become imperial powers? In answering these questions, we must keep in mind that Smith was an economist and not a prophet. In all normal civilisations the trader existed and must exist. But in all [...]
California’s AB-5 law severely limits the type of freelance work that people can do. Several other blue states, including New York and New Jersey, are considering some variation on this unintentionally harmful law. It would be nice if legislators aiming to help workers would recall the adage, “First, do no harm.” Is schadenfreude, the phenomenon [...]
The trade war has ignited debate on the merits of tariffs and the need to protect the nation’s manufacturing base. Battle lines are drawn between an exaggerated localism that stresses self-sufficiency and a bloated globalism where products transit the Earth unhindered and markets alone rule. […]
Michael Naughton’s book, “Getting Work Right,” is a wonderful invitation to share a vision of work that goes beyond resume obsession or Thank-God-It’s-Friday attitudes. It’s an invitation to Thank God It’s Sunday and keep thanking all week long. Getting Work Right: Labor and Leisure in a Fragmented World, by Michael J. Naughton (200 pages, Emmaus [...]
The new economy that emerged after 1921 seemed to relegate to the past such painful depressions as the one that troubled the United States during the immediate postwar years. As the 1920s drew to a close, however, the movement toward a new economy was about to encounter impediments that made a mockery of efforts to [...]
Chick-fil-A’s decision to stop donating to the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes last month was met with a lot of anger on the part of conservatives and Christians because it was seen as a betrayal of a large portion of its customer base, many of whom were fans of the place for [...]
The assumptions linked to the more deliberative, publicly responsible model of citizenship, though utopian and far-fetched at least within the perspective of modern, western society, can be thought of in a way that makes them seem more practical. Thomas Jefferson, for example, believed both that good government was possible only when those who governed were [...]
Well, no cannonballs did fly, no rifles cut us down No bombs fell from the sky, no blood soaked the ground No powder flash blinded the eye, no deathly thunder sounded But just as sure as the hand of God, they brought death to my hometown They destroyed our families, factories, and they took our [...]
During the 1920s, America made the first excursion into mass affluence in the history of the world. However, the ethic of consumption that reached its apex in the 1920s fomented a subtle transformation not only of the American economy but also of American culture. I Long considered the haven of corrupt public officials and rapacious [...]