false happiness Archives - Page 17 of 17 -

What Do We Mean by an Organic Christian Society?

by John Horvat II March 23, 2021December 11, 2012

Perhaps the best way to describe an organic Christian society is to take an example of a society from the past, which existed in the Christendom of old. In that society the most vibrant of all the elements was the family. Indeed, although the State and other lower social groups are born from the very … Read more

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 Last Twinkie

by John Horvat II November 21, 2013November 29, 2012

Written by Gary Isbell * From an economic point of view, it was an almost insignificant event. A major American firm lamentably went bankrupt as many do. These things are to be expected in the present financial climate. However, from a cultural point of view, this particular failure, and the manner in which it happened, … Read more

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

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

The Different Roads of the Authentic and Inauthentic Elites

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira October 12, 2020November 19, 2012

When a person acquires a fortune, whether by his own merit or inheritance, two roads lie before him: He can take the arduous road to secure for himself, or his descendants, an entrance into the traditional elites; or he can take the easy path, becoming a toad.

The Case Against Secession

by John Horvat II November 21, 2013November 16, 2012

I can understand the angst of many Americans after the last elections. There is the growing sensation that government is not responsive anymore to the needs and desires of countless citizens in the vast red-state heartland.

Many want out and see secession from the Union as a way to leave the problem behind. Others simply want to register their protest and as a knee jerk reaction signed one of the numerous petitions asking for secession. All this is understandable – although if one’s problem with the government has reached the point of asking for secession, the last place I would want my name is on a petition lodged on the databases of the White House’s computers.

While I can understand the frustration, I take issue with secession for several reasons. The first is because I do not think it will resolve the problem. I am only too willing to admit that the federal government inside the beltway leaves much to be desired. However, our federal legislators come from the states. The main problem lies with the insufficiency of our whole political class and it extends across state lines. The dearth of leadership we experience is universal. I do not see any guarantees that the problems that are the cause of so much frustration on the federal level will not repeat themselves on the state level. Exchanging one set of federal unresponsive leaders for a set of similar state leaders hardly seems a solution.

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.