Do American workers find high-tech working conditions increasingly oppressive and intrusive? Are they finding it more difficult even to earn a living wage than workers did, say, 70 years ago? Compact editor Sohrab Ahmari’s new book examines what’s ailing American labor. But is the solution worse than the problem? Read More… Tyranny, Inc. is the best book yet published by a writer associated with the “postliberal” movement. Ahmari’s argument is focused and topical, he offers spirited critiques without ranting, and...

In 1967, the University of Chicago released the Kalven Report, which in tumultuous times sought to articulate the core mission of the university: to generate and disseminate knowledge. The Report needs to be revisited. Read More… Why the gnashing of teeth over the recent Supreme Court decision on affirmative action? Why have some schools responded by eliminating legacy admissions? What does the controversy tell us about how we understand the university itself? Others have observed that affirmative action debates almost...

What happened to the early promise of liberal democracy and economic growth in South Africa? Marxism is what happened. Read More… In 1994 a momentous change unfolded at the southern tip of Africa as the oppressive regime of apartheid came to a peaceful end. The African National Congress (ANC) and its revered leader, Nelson Mandela, took the reins of power, and at first glance everything progressed perfectly—liberal democracy had won the day. By 1997 foreign direct investment (FDI) to South...

Those in Gen Z appear to have grasped that the collapse of marriage and raising children in single-parent households have had terrible social and personal consequences. So why aren’t they acting like it? Read More… Marriage—an institution as old as time—is increasingly under threat. The marriage rate has fallen 60% since 1970, and the number of children living in working-class, married-parent families fell from 85% to 55% in the same time frame. Two-thirds of Americans believe that two unmarried, cohabitating...

A recent New York Times op-ed took to task the “elites” who thumb their noses at Trump supporters. Maybe if the smart set listened more and harangued less they’d better understand why so many of their fellow citizens vote the way they do. Read More… It has taken some time but there are signs that the cultural elites, members of what has been called America’s “ruling class,” have started to engage in some long overdue self-examination as it relates to...

Spoiler alert: It’s not TikTok. Read More… My professional career was born into a world of remote work. In the summer of 2021, I kicked off my first “real” internship at a pany in Washington D.C.—and never once stepped foot in the office. There was no water cooler, office banter, or real “face time” with coworkers. In fact, my first corporate interactions, for better or worse, were all through the unforgiving, unfulfilling medium of Zoom. I’ve been blessed with perhaps...

What do the Bishop of Rome and an agnostic Austrian economist have mon? The pursuit of human flourishing via respect for the dignity of the acting human person. Read More… Why would a theologian conduct a theological and moral analysis of human action as described by Ludwig von Mises, a represen­tative of the Austrian school of economics? What can an economist and agnostic tell the moral theologian about man? The Church teaches that economics is the science of human action...

Recent legislation and several troubling incidents have challenged freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and even property rights in Australia. Many traditional Christians are extremely concerned about their status within an otherwise tolerant nation. What’s next? Read More… Australia is a liberal democracy monly celebrated as a model of multiculturalism. Its legal framework could be described as a Westminster appropriation of American republicanism. Section 116 of the Australian constitution states: “The Commonwealth [federal government] shall not make any law for...

A new book by the archduke of Austria offers insights into what contributed to his illustrious ancestors’ success in ruling a multiethnic empire. But could any of it be relevant to 21st-century America? Read More… Lord Acton believed that “the only real political noblesse on the Continent is the Austrian.” In The Habsburg Way, Eduard Habsburg, archduke of Austria and Hungarian ambassador to the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta, has written a charming and insightful book. Despite...

As this eight-part series on the passionate conservative” es to a close, there is hope, despite the failures of centralized programs of the past. In cities and towns across America, people of faith, privately and quietly, are still making a difference in individual lives. Read More… Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) summarized what happened to George W. Bush’s 2001 anti-poverty “faith-based” initiative this way: It started out “with a certain merit, and you hope to God, literally, that you’re doing the...