Frenetic Intemperance The key to understand the economic crisis is to look for its cause. Deep inside the soul of modern man we find this cause: frenetic intemperance. This vice can be defined as a restless spirit inside certain sectors of modern economy that foments a drive within men to throw off legitimate restraints and … Read more
There are those who normally play a leadership role in society by representing the community. Such representative characters are those leaders who perceive the ideals, principles, and qualities that are desired and admired by a community or nation, and translate them into concrete programs of life and culture. Their importance cannot be underestimated since they … Read more
Sometimes the simple explanations are the best. People are not free when enslaved to their vices. As Russell Kirk explains, “People are born free only in the sense that they are born to the right to seek what suits their nature.” (Russell Kirk, The American Cause, Gleaves Whitney, ed., ISI Books, Wilmington, Delaware, 2002, p. … Read more
Charleston, and the book Return to Order, seem to fit together naturally. South Carolina’s premier city represents a traditional order of things that attracts people. Its splendid townhouses and restored downtown are proof that this order is not a relic of long ago but a dynamic force linked with its past that definitely has a … Read more
We must resist the temptation of simply writing off the present system with all its problems. We must avoid the defeatist attitude of those who advocate isolating themselves from society and awaiting better days. In individualist fashion, they would take care of their own little worlds and disregard the cause of the common good. Nothing … Read more
There are those who try to ascribe to economics an exactitude that is only found in the exact or physical sciences. Such an effort is doomed to failure since it is based on human action which is so fickle and unpredictable. Economic scholar Harry Veryser notes that, “Aristotle pointed out the fatal flaw in trying … Read more
There are those who affirm that only small businesses or properties are proportional to our human condition. Our ability to know things beyond the local and the small leads us to affirm that there can also be proportion in bigness. We must, of course, reject monstrous proportions. Yet it cannot be denied that nature does … Read more
In a society where honor rules, the craftsman has a special place. He is not a person who makes things mechanically without skills or thought. Rather he is an expert who develops sophisticated skills that communicate an artistic element to that which is produced. What makes a craftsman? Richard Sennett writes that the standard measure … Read more
A return to order means a return to our roots. As a native Kansan, my recent book tour in the state represented something of this return. The late September weekend visit represented a homecoming of sorts since it served to help recall examples of many of the topics discussed in the book, Return to Order. … Read more
The Navy Yard shootings has reignited the controversy over guns in society. Once again, people are pondering over what went wrong. Many have asked why the behavior of this shooter and others has failed to raise red flags that might have alerted authorities and prevented the tragedies. The shooting incidents should indeed raise red flags … Read more
