Last night, Las Vegas hosted the fight of the century (and, no, I’m not talking about Wilder vs. Fury). If Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) referred to Congress as “the Arena,” then the debate stage was the Thunderdome. Except instead of only one fighter emerging in the end, only one fighter was clearly eliminated: former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D R I D). Ordinarily, after enduring yet another political debate, I tell people they didn’t really miss anything. Not...

Joaquin Phoenix has been rightly lambasted for his acceptance speech at the 2020 Academy Awards, in which he lent the weight of his celebrity to stamping out the grave evil of domesticating cattle. However, Phoenix made a vital, if less noticed, point that deserves our appreciation. It’s worth noting at the outset that this is not to say that the condemnation of Phoenix, who accepted an Oscar for his leading role in Joker, came undeserved. After rehearsing the usual bromides,...

It’s hardly news to say that Argentina is in deep economic trouble. With only a few exceptions, that has been a given for decades. But recent developments underscore just how much it is the responsibility of Argentine populist politicians and, to be blunt, those who persist in voting for them. This dynamic was recently well-summarized by Fergus Hodgson writing in the Epoch Times. He begins by outlining the dire economic challenges facing the country: Argentina enters 2020 with $332 billion...

Everyone knows that there is a difference between knowing about something and knowing how to do something. The first is a superficial way of knowing, not a bad way to begin, but it is no substitute for the mastery es by integrating knowledge into experience. It is the difference between a dilettante and a true student, which is the same as the difference between a bad and a good teacher. The dilettante teacher is the punchline of the old joke,...

The media have written Michael Bloomberg’s political obituary since his performance in the NBC Democratic debate on Wednesday night, but he has experienced a series of damaging leaks since he entered the presidential race. Many of these were self-inflicted wounds that reveal his concerning approach to work. One of these formed the basis of this week’s Acton Commentary, “Michael Bloomberg’s fatal conceit.” Video has surfaced showing Bloomberg saying that farming took less “gray matter” than work in the modern information...

February 2020 marks the third anniversary of the death of the American Catholic intellectual and the 1994 winner of the Templeton Prize in Religion, Michael Novak. Perhaps most famous for his 1982 book, “The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism,” Novak’s ideas were immensely influential for several decades in American public life, numerous munities and the world of political economy. On February 19, I was interviewed about Novak’s life and work by someone who I consider to be among the best and...

A new chapter of the state’s oppression of religion in the Balkans began last December, when the socialist government of Montenegro passed a law allowing the government to strip a longstanding, recognized church of its property and potentially transfer it to another sect under more amenable leadership. In the wee hours of the morning shortly after Christmas, politicians in Montenegro passed the Law on Religious Freedom. The Balkans have known no shortage of religious repression – collectively under Communism, and...

Sixty-two miles north of Grand Rapids, MI sits the village of Mecosta with a population of only 450. Right off Main Street, tucked away in an arbor of oaks and ferns, stands a large brick house. Here, what was once a furniture repair shop has now e a home and a haven for conservative study and discourse. This is the home of Annette and Russell Kirk. Russell Amos Kirk was born in 1918 in Plymouth, MI. He set out to...

It’s not news that America’s trust in public institutions is falling. Gallup polls reveal that confidence in the church is at an all time low, and similarly, Pew Research has found that Americans’ trust in the federal government and in each other is “shrinking.” In his new book, titled “A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How mitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream,” Yuval Levin argues that the widespread lack of...

“That is never going to amount to anything. Don’t waste your time.” This was my initial reaction when our Tanzanian director told me about the first savings groups she had seen in action, almost 15 years ago. “But Scott,” she said, “it is so wonderful to see the women each save 25 cents a week in a metal box.” To me, 25 cents a week barely seemed worth saving. But I have been proven wrong many times since then. The...