brutal pace of life Archives

Who Will Declare the Party’s Over?

by John Horvat II November 10, 2015November 30, 2012

The continuing debate over the “financial cliff” and the general state of the economy raises matters of such a magnitude that we tend to be overwhelmed and confused. Perhaps the best way to address these issues is to leave the almost surreal world of multi-trillion dollar liabilities and come down to earth with some basic … Read more

The Massification of the Culture Leads to the Massification of People

by John Horvat II April 19, 2016November 25, 2012

massified — “extreme individualism leads to the demise of community”

One major consequence of our mass culture is that we no longer see ourselves as social beings, but rather as the center of a separate little world with no essential need of betterment through society. In such a vision, notes philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, we “see in the social world nothing but a meeting place for individual wills, each with its own set of attitudes and preferences and who understand that world solely as an arena for the achievement of their own satisfaction, who interpret reality as a series of opportunities for their enjoyment.” [ref] Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, 3rd ed. (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007), 25.[/ref]

Cryonics: An Example of the False Promises of Technology

by John Horvat II November 21, 2013November 24, 2012

At the time of the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century, technology awakened great expectations and enthusiasm. The prospect of a kind of technological utopia electrified the air. There was a subconscious yet unbounded confidence in technology, vaguely analogous to the absolute confidence that Christians once placed in Divine Providence. So great was the hope … Read more

18,000 Hostess Jobs Gone – The Root of the Issue

by John Horvat II November 21, 2013November 23, 2012

The reporting of the debate between Hostess and its bakery union is not getting to the core of this issue, a critical one which profoundly affects the economy today: The foundation of amicable employer – employee relationships.

Tragically, under this rule of money, men adopt a corresponding set of values that takes root in society. We see an entirely different way of looking at life where social, cultural, and moral values are put aside. In their place is a set of values that attaches more importance to quantity over quality, utility over beauty, matter over spirit.

How do we keep Black Friday from Destroying Thanksgiving?

by John Horvat II November 21, 2013November 23, 2012

Thanksgiving Day should be about God and family, not shopping. But Black Friday is now creeping into Thanksgiving. This is an example of how “frenetic intemperance” breaks down the natural tempering influence of family life on our economy. How do we turn the tide?

We Must Fight for America – Not Secede from America

by John Horvat II November 21, 2013November 21, 2012

While we must kill the cancer, we must also defend the body. For this reason, we must also vigorously defend the many excellent values that still exist in America. In the order of economics, we must defend sound principles like private property and free enterprise, which are according to natural law and form the foundation … Read more

We Must Resist the Temptation to Secession

by John Horvat II June 14, 2016November 20, 2012

In face of the great discontent with the current economic and moral crisis we must resist the temptation to simply write 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 … Read more

This is the Vice that Drags Down our Economy

by November 29, 2016November 10, 2012

Frenetic intemperance is a term we coined to describe a restless and reckless spirit inside certain sectors of modern economy that foments a drive to throw off legitimate restraints and gratify all desires.

Perhaps the most obvious example of frenetic intemperance is that of the speculative
bubble of the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis. It is a textbook case of what can go wrong in modern economy.

Free 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

Financial Crisis

What happened during this crisis? All the parties involved simply threw caution to the wind and succumbed to spirit of reckless abandon. Homebuyers took out loans, which were called them “liar loans” since the prospect did not have to provide proofs for the information on the loan application. These homebuyers took out these loans without any money down and sufficient income to pay.
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Bankers and mortgage companies recklessly extended loans to prospects knowing them to be risky and even encouraging risks to make more profits by selling them to brokers. Brokers bundled up these mortgages and sold them to investors knowing that many of them were risky or “sub-prime.” Many brokers simply did not care about these dangers since they merely charged brokerage fees and passed the risk on to investors.

What Happened on Election Day

by John Horvat II January 19, 2017November 9, 2012

Usually we go to polls to decide which of the two parties will best represent us as a nation. However, on this Election Day, it was as if two nations battled it out and we decided on which one would rule over the other.

This is something that has been building up for decades. The red and blue states have solidified into defined regions to the point we have grown accustomed to seeing maps of our vast red heartland and our blue-spotted urban seaboards. In addition, a Culture War has long divided the nation over the hot button issues of abortion and homosexuality.

However, in past elections, there was a concerted attempt to patch over these differences. Back then, we had recourse to an American consensus that says that despite our differences we must all get along. It used to be that everyone tried to speak in a common patriotic language and follow a vaguely universal American culture. It was always believed that if everyone could just rally in their own way around the triple banner of God, family and country, we could happily remain one indivisible nation.

Economy without the Human Element

by John Horvat II November 21, 2013November 7, 2012

In today’s frenetic globalism, the rusty steel girders of the industrial age have now become barriers themselves and are being hurled down and scrapped. From the ruins of our rust belts, fiber optics cables are spinning the web of a new networked global society radically different from our own.

Such advances break down not local but national trade, political and economic barriers and create ever bigger global networks and structures. At the same time, the cables that connect also bind since all are tethered to these giant networks and are subject to their rules.

Thus, we see the framework of a global economy being built where huge markets are opened, but the regulations of new supranational structures impose themselves upon the nations as can be seen in global trade rules, monetary unions or even the Kyoto protocols.

Likewise, the same technologies that supposedly empower the individual to pursue his own happiness, also power the massive databases of intrusive government that pry into the private lives of individuals, record his every movement and monitor the operation of markets.