In the liberal tradition, Adam is described as the one who must toil against a surrounding lack in order to be properly made man. But Genesis undercuts the idea that toil is man’s “lot,” if by it one means that toil is man’s by nature, in the order of Creation, rather than by punishment, in [...]
To counteract the disorder of a city engulfed by internal strife and upheaval, we in the West would do well to rediscover the true meaning of vocation. We may cultivate an abundant yield simply by applying the virtues we associate with the master craftsman—diligence, recognition of quality, and striving for mastery—to whatever we do, whether [...]
Booker T. Washington did not call for a revolution. Instead, he called for the simplest of building blocks in American society: helping your neighbor. I reread an undergraduate paper comparing the educational methods of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois and realized the comparison was horribly incomplete. I cited only Of the Training of Black [...]
The divine plan in nature calls for human completion, as divine grace in man calls for human co-operation. Work then is the redemption of nature as Christ is the redemption of man, and civilization is the product of both redemptive acts, the completion of the circle by which nature serves man and man serves God. [...]
Everyday life is the true setting for your lives as Christians. Your ordinary contact with God takes place where your fellow men, your yearnings, your work and your affections are. There you have your daily encounter with Christ. It is in the midst of the most material things of the earth that we must sanctify [...]
Mercantilism was an attempt to fashion a national economy at the same time that the so-called New Monarchs throughout parts of Western Europe were attempting to construct the institutions of the modern national state. I. The Historical Background Designed to effect a favorable balance of trade, Donald Trump’s economic policies constitute the revival of mercantilism.[i] [...]
In “Shop Class as Soulcraft,” Matthew B. Crawford tells a story of diminishment, outlining how we went from a nation of independent tradesmen, farmers, and shop keepers to cubicle dwellers. I am not a fan of Ask This Old House, the spin-off of the PBS home improvement program, This Old House. Formerly the companion series to [...]
The irony of the prosperous decade of the 1950s is that the most popular person on the most visible proof of that prosperity—television—was a Catholic Bishop: "America’s Bishop," Fulton J. Sheen, who rejected feel-good, dishwater Christianity and instead boldly proclaimed the truth to his audience, 70% of whom were non-Catholic. Happiness, says the wicked Ambrose [...]
What was it that this non-expert, the funny fat man, had to say? Why did his works become for many a sort of bible? How was it that an artist-turned-journalist was accepted as the idea man as well as the entertainer of people? The people who now know G.K. Chesterton most commonly know that physically [...]
G.K. Chesterton once said, “The opposite of employment is not unemployment, but independence.” Employment, or work, is activity done for some utilitarian end. So, when he says the opposite of employment is independence, he is saying that true independence (or freedom) involves doing things for their own sake. Things done for their own sake he [...]
The classical tradition considered the hands the bodily expression of intelligence, and therefore understood work as a way of knowing the world. A program of education centered on mentorship in forms of human work is indispensable in this regard. Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, by Matthew B. Crawford, (246 pages, [...]
Work is given to man principally as a gift, as a particular way to commune, so to speak, with God, by imitating his own absolute creativity, his perfect work. In an address to the “ministers of the world of culture,” given in 2008, Benedict XVI recalled the central role monasteries played in the development of Europe: [...]
Suppose a man named Hutcheson lends ten pounds to a man named Smith. Then we might say, “Smith owes Hutcheson ten pounds.” Suppose that Hutcheson also teaches and aids Smith. Then we might say, “Smith owes Hutcheson gratitude/esteem/love.” Beyond Hutcheson, Smith might feel that he has been taught and aided by humankind generally, and Smith [...]
President Trump’s protection of the American economy through the implementation of protectionist principles with regard to trade is nothing less than an extension of his desire to protect America’s sovereignty. "Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength." —Donald Trump (First Inaugural Address) The world is full of ironies... and the world of politics especially. [...]