The Limits of Liberty

By |2023-01-22T21:00:13-06:00January 22nd, 2023|Categories: Bruce Frohnen, Civil Society, Freedom, Government, Liberty, Rule of Law, Senior Contributors, Social Order, Timeless Essays|

While the rule of law is an essential public good, the actual number and extent of laws also are important factors in determining whether there will be liberty—and, indeed, the rule of law itself. Moreover, as too much law undermines freedom and its own proper character, it also tears apart the very fabric of the [...]

The Social and Political Significance of “You”

By |2020-12-15T13:53:24-06:00December 21st, 2020|Categories: Democracy, Language, Politics, Social Order|

Unlike most European languages, in which there is a formal and an informal mode of addressing someone else, the English word “you” lacks this distinction and the tremendous psychological barrier that accompanies it, and was thus crucial to promoting political democracy and social democracy. There are many, many things that strongly affect a person or [...]

Is the End of the American Office a Good Thing?

By |2020-08-02T15:25:25-05:00August 2nd, 2020|Categories: Community, Coronavirus, John Horvat, Modernity, Social Order|

As the coronavirus lockdowns stretch into months, the apparent success of the remote-work experiment is fraying at the edges. Lack of personal contact has worsened the situation of an already polarized and fragmented society, and the idea that everything can be made virtual has been proven a myth. As the lockdowns swept the nation, governments [...]

Are the Rioters Winning?

By |2020-07-02T23:40:51-05:00July 2nd, 2020|Categories: Civil Society, Pat Buchanan, Social Institutions, Social Order, Western Civilization|

Consider what else the radicals and rioters have accomplished. They have made mass civil disobedience an acceptable and even praiseworthy form of protest, if you are justifiably outraged. They have won near-immunity for burning and looting stores. Blanket amnesties at the state and city level appear to be in the cards. The Seattle Commune is [...]

The Politics of Resentment and Revenge

By |2019-12-26T17:18:54-06:00April 27th, 2019|Categories: Civil Society, Community, Dwight Longenecker, Modernity, Senior Contributors, Social Order|

It seems as if the cycle of Resentment and Revenge is so fundamental to human nature that it cannot be cured by humanistic solutions—but could it be countered by the theological virtues? What’s wrong with the world? Chesterton famously said, “I am, yours sincerely G.K. Chesterton.” However, two thinkers can help us understand the chaotic [...]

Storytelling and Modernity

By |2023-01-12T19:43:21-06:00January 2nd, 2019|Categories: Civil Society, Civilization, Community, Culture, George Stanciu, History, In Honor of Eva Brann at 90 Series, Modernity, Myth, Senior Contributors, Social Order|

The storytelling of a tribe gives each member a common remote past, communal heroes to emulate, shared social rules, and an answer to “Who am I?”  Editor’s Note: This essay is part of a series dedicated to Senior Contributor Dr. Eva Brann of St. John’s College, Annapolis, in the year of her 90th birthday. The [...]

Manifest Destiny and the American Nimrods

By |2021-04-22T18:28:33-05:00November 30th, 2018|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Bradley J. Birzer, History, Nationalism, Politics, Revolution, Social Order, Tyranny|

By the beginning of the Mexican war, even famed newspaper editor John L. O’Sullivan began to doubt his own expansionist infatuations. What would America do, for example, if she tried to incorporate not just Mexico but actual, honest-to-God Mexicans into the republic? Standing with his father as they watched the Battle of Bunker Hill in [...]

The Battle of Empty Minds: Can’t Anyone See Beyond the Hatred?

By |2018-11-16T00:51:51-06:00November 11th, 2018|Categories: Ideology, John Horvat, Modernity, Social Order|

Contrary to popular belief, the more violent Leftists are not fanatics drawn to an extremist ideology who see themselves as its foot soldiers. They are souls full of emptiness, inhabiting a world of chaos and darkness. More often than not, they will end their lives with nihilistic fury and flourish… The rash of violence leading [...]

Allan Bloom’s Six Ways That Universities Corrupt the Youth

By |2018-11-02T09:22:01-05:00November 1st, 2018|Categories: Civil Society, Culture, Education, History, Social Order|

In the late 1960s, revolutionary protests were directed at the conduct of the war in Vietnam and in advocacy of a "Civil Rights" movement. Leftist activists, assessing how best to capitalize on this unrest, concluded that revolution in the United States would not arise from America's working class and began to focus on American colleges [...]

Martin Luther King’s Forgotten Dream

By |2020-04-04T00:19:47-05:00August 12th, 2018|Categories: American Republic, Equality, Martin Luther King Jr., Social Order|

Are we a nation of ethnic and racial groupings, or are we a nation of individuals, each unique and deserving of equal opportunity unhampered by racial or gender prejudice? For the first two centuries of our nation’s history—indeed, for most of the world’s recorded history—the great Cult of Exclusivity held sway. More commonly known as [...]

The Mouse That Roared & Defeated Walmart

By |2018-07-24T10:02:47-05:00July 23rd, 2018|Categories: Economics, John Horvat, Social Order|

Everyone is taught to believe that gigantic retailers are the most efficient distributors of goods to the general public. Small stores may be able to fill tiny niches. They may be quaint and picturesque. However, only the gigantic retailers have the capital and economy of scale to offer everyday lower prices and variety to the [...]

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