Written by Gary Isbel. As part of the campaign to spread the ideas found in the book, Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need to Go, author John Horvat visited his native Kansas on April 27-30. On April 27, he … Read more
One of the major presuppositions of the book, Return to Order, is that we are facing a crisis that will seriously affect the nation. To use the book’s opening metaphor, our situation is like that of a ship facing a threatening storm. The natural tendency is to take measures and especially stock up on supplies. … Read more
Jesuit Fr. Bernard Dempsey warns against the use of the word “capitalism” in economic debate. The principal reason is that there is really no such thing as capitalism. He claims the word cannot be defined scientifically and really only exists in a Marxist dream world. F.A. Hayak declared that the word is largely the “creation … Read more
It is a popular myth that the huge pharmaceutical companies are the only ones with the resources to develop new drugs. Gigantic research labs and fat budgets will always trump the little guy. But that is not what is happening. Major pharmaceuticals are increasingly looking outside their in-house labs to find promising drugs. In fact, … Read more
Here is an interesting quote from Russell Kirk that explains the importance of order: “Without order, justice can rarely be enforced, and freedom cannot be maintained.” Taken from: Russell Kirk, Enemies of the Permanent Things: Observations of Abnormity in Literature and Politics, Arlington House, New Rochelle, N.Y., 1969 p. 256.
The recent merger between Safeway and Albertsons is yet one more consolidation of a grocery market with ever fewer players. Observers watching the merger note that the deal represents the classical tension between big and local. Giant Safeway offers more purchasing power and distribution channels. More community-oriented Albertsons, while no mom-and-pop store, gives regional managers … Read more
According to legal historian Harold Berman, modern law is based on three elements that come from medieval roots: 1. The discovery of the legal writings compiled under the Roman Emperor Justinian and other Roman codes served as the foundation upon which to build a legal system. It provided the basic legal vocabulary. 2. The scholastic … Read more
For me it was a nightmare. It all happened so quickly. Before I knew it, I lost my job. The manager did not even have the courage to face me. He sent me a text message informing me of the decision and even added the indignity of putting a smiley face figure at the message’s … Read more
One harsh consequence of our technological society is a mania for speed and novelty. Most early inventions of the Industrial Revolution, whether train, steam ship, or telegraph, celebrated speed more than any other aspect. These new technological advances helped unleash pent-up disordered passions deep inside man that exploded like fireworks and found their expression in … Read more
One of the problems with the program Common Core is that it places little emphasis to the body of Western literature that has endured over the ages. Rather, it favors what it calls “informational” texts that contain neither moral judgments nor beauty. The great conservative writer Russel Kirk summarizes well why a literary tradition is … Read more
