Praise for Return to Order Archives

High-Frequency Trading: Markets on Steroids

by John Horvat II November 21, 2013November 27, 2012

The purpose of the stock market is to provide liquidity to investors who know with certainty that they can buy and sell their shares at any time. In this way, the market serves as a constant encouragement to invest capital in sectors of the economy while limiting risks. Thus, the market fulfills a need in society and can contribute to economic prosperity.

However, it is no secret that the stock market has often favored reckless activities and speculation that depart from this purpose. It has given rise to crashes, manias and panics that turns this instrument of sound investment into a financial casino where everyone plays the market in hopes of cashing in at the right moment. Stockbrokers are always coming up with new ways to beat the market. Such practices are perfect examples of what has been called frenetic intemperance – a reckless and restless spirit inside modern economy that seeks to throw off all restraint.

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]

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?