When reflecting on the church’s economic responsibility, some of us may envision an assortment of needs-based “outreach programs,” from food pantries and homeless shelters to short-term mission trips and fundraising drives. While these can be powerful channels for loving and serving our neighbors, we should consider the basic vision for human flourishing that precedes them. In addition to meeting immediate material needs, we are also called to affirm the dignity, callings, and gifts that people already have. “Solidarity means more...

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee spent days prodding Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett over the hypothetical possibility that the government may one day outlaw birth control. One exchange in particular encapsulated politicians’ inability to grasp the proper role of government, the law, and economic incentives. Judge Barrett followed the example set by Ruth Bader Ginsburg during her 1993 hearings, when she declined to state her position on any matter that could e before her on the bench. Barrett...

October 19 is the birthday of Russell Kirk (1918-1994), whose book The Conservative Mind gave shape and direction to a rebounding transatlantic political and philosophical tradition. Kirk rooted conservatism, not in a political platform, but in a deep-seated respect for tradition, faith, order, morality, and precedent. On his birthday, we proudly share six of the greatest quotations from the Sage of Mecosta: Economics depends on morality Sim­i­larly, some peo­ple would like to sep­a­rate eco­nom­ics from morals, but they are un­able...

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden faced off for their second and last debate of the 2020 campaign season on Thursday night at Belmont University in Nashville. The candidates offered viewers a far more staid and substantive exchange than their first debate – a low bar, to be sure. Despite the improved tone, did all of their factual assertions hold up? Here are the facts. Did no one lose coverage under Obamacare? And will BidenCare’s public option...

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed many victims, from the millions who have contracted the virus directly to many others who continue to endure its social and economic disruptions. The suffering has been particularly acute for the children who continue to be confined at home, whether struggling to adapt to remote-learning regimens or remaining mysteriously absent altogether. For e and minority families, in particular, the road is even more difficult. As Jonathan Chait recently put it, “The social damage will not...

A new poll reveals the disquieting extent of young Americans’ support for Marxism. However, it also divulges the reasons behind the popularity of collectivism and the seeds of its destruction. The number of young Americans who have a favorable view of Marxism has increased five-fold in just one year. According to the new survey, nearly one-third of the members of Gen Z – Americans between the ages of 16 and 23 – deem “Marxism” worthy of support. The term’s favorability...

The American people must limit the overreach of the federal government and the intrusion of the public school bureaucracy so that the family can reclaim its proper role in the education of its children, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said Monday night. In a tour de force speech at Hillsdale College, she contrasted the growth federal power with the shrinking power of America’s parents – and the dwindling returns America’s children receive from U.S. public schools. “I’d like to work...

The “new normal” of the COVID-19 pandemic has settled in and, with it, a new host of challenges. Businesses have adapted to the changing needs and desires of individuals in creative ways, sometimes radically changing their products, structures, and strategies. Through the dynamic process of creative destruction, firms that do not adapt to changing customer needs will close their doors panies with real solutions will arise. Businesses in a variety of spheres have demonstrated that they are able to solve...

Donald Trump strode into office in 2016 with a mission and a mandate. The mission was to e a champion for those who were being overlooked by the establishment. The mandate was to overturn the “swamp” and make real changes. Hillary Clinton infamously termed those who backed Trump a “basket of deplorables.” The term became emblematic of both the disdain shown by Hillary and the status of Trump’s base as underdogs. Populism is defined as the revolt of ordinary people...

Judge Amy Coney Barrett became Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Monday night. Barrett has called herself “a different kind of lawyer,” and now she’s breaking new barriers. ACB may serve as an innovative model for professional women, as well as an opponent of misguided government programs and policies that encourage workplace discrimination against women. “Tonight, Justice Barrett es not only the fifth woman to serve on our nation’s highest court, but the very first mother of school-aged children to e...