One of the justifications for overuse of communication technology is that it saves time and increases contacts with others. Ever faster and efficient machines supposedly produce more possibilities to connect in less time, thus leaving more time for leisure. However, this rationale does not always ring true. New phones and gadgets only encourage greater speed … Read more
Some people celebrate the “unlimited” choices open to them at a Wal-Mart, for example, despite the evident impossibility of exercising even a fraction of these options. The questions this week: Does such “unlimited” choice maximize satisfaction? What is the true criteria for product satisfaction? Do you often find yourselves unsatisfied with today’s “unlimited” choices?” Can … Read more
“Return to Order is a very timely and valuable publication. The author Mr. Horvat does an excellent job in excavating the underlying root of the recurrent economic crises. It is the loss of the golden mean of virtuousness, the consequence of replacing prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance as the guiding principles of economic activity with … Read more
Today, we have huge interdependent global networks—in communications, Internet, transportation, shipping, finance, government and so many other fields. While these interdependent networks may facilitate the workings of an economy, they also leave us very vulnerable since if one piece of the puzzle breaks down, the whole process is stopped. What is the proper balance in … Read more
Bogle claims such practices may help Wall Street brokers but clearly hurt investors who would be better off to hold stocks for the long term and avoid transfer fees. Now, the tendency is to flit from one stock to another in the hope of hitting the jackpot. This “rent-a-stock” mentality can be seen in the … Read more
“John Horvat has put together a compendium of good thinking about a lot of diverse subjects and integrated them into a coherent outline of a worldview. His integrated understanding of diverse human phenomena would be eagerly and widely accepted in the Europe of the Middle Ages. More recently he would likely fall into the company … Read more
Everyone can agree that the horrific massacre of innocent grade-school children in Newtown, Conn. was truly monstrous. It was an event that defies the imagination to conceive how someone might do something so cruel and inhuman. Worse yet, this is not an isolated incident. Similar cases are occurring with greater frequency, prompting many to ask … Read more
Individualism sets each person up as the center of his own little world. He is “the master of his fate and the captain of his soul.” This limited vision of the world excludes the influence of role models. This vision does not like the idea of dependency on others, which it interprets as a weakness. … Read more
Temperance is the virtue whereby man governs and moderates his natural appetites and passions in accordance with the norms prescribed by reason and the Faith. How is the virtue of temperance NOT being practiced in today’s economy and culture?
By Norman Fulkerson * The biggest shopping day of the year, known as “Black Friday,” has now invaded the most family-centered holiday. The electrifying shop-till-you-drop excursion formerly began in the wee hours of the morning after Thanksgiving. It eventually crept up to midnight of the same day and this year stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, … Read more
