Americans make up around four percent of the world population and yet they control over 25 percent of the world’s wealth. What if we were to simply redistribute our wealth to the most needy people on the planet—wouldn’t that end global poverty almost overnight? “The answer unfortunately is no,” says philosopher Matt Zwolinski. “Sharing one’s wealth with those who have less is admirable and it often helps to relieve immediate suffering. But just sharing existing wealth we’ll never be enough...

If you want to sell chicken sandwiches as the Denver Airport you need to check your First Amendment rights at the gate. That seems to be the message sent by the Denver City Council to Chick-fil-A, a fast-food chain that is seeking to open a store at the Denver International Airport. The Council is considering turning away the popular franchisebecause pany promotes a Christian ethic in their business dealings. This offends the Council who is worried about how it will...

Over the past 500 years, some countries have proven to be more receptive to democracy than others. What accounts for the disparity? What causes some countries to be more likely to embrace democratic forms of governance? As empirical evidence shows, one strong predictor is the presence of Protestant missionaries. “Protestant missionaries played an integral role in spreading democracy throughout the world,” says Greg Scandlen. “We could preserve our own if we learn from their ways.” Today we may think of...

Whether they’re old enough to believe in the EcoGospel, or Gaia, or man-made climate change or not, children are the latest weapon pressed into service by the eco-warriors. First, it was co-opting Pope Francis and Laudato Si, and now it’s kids. Will they stop at nothing? The Wisconsin Daily Independent reported this past Monday that a group calling itself Citizens Preserving the Penokee Hills Heritage Park is promoting its environmental agenda with a painting of a young Native American girl...

Pope Francis has started an important global discussion on the environment with the release of his encyclicalLaudeto Si’, which the Acton Institute has been engaging in with vigor since it’s release, and has been ably covered as well here on the PowerBlog by the likes of Bruce Edward Walker and Joe Carter. But this isn’t the first time that Acton has waded into the debate over protecting the environment; Acton Founder Rev. Robert A. Sirico was debating Matthew Fox, proponent...

Liberal and conservative, right and left, red state and blue state—there are dozens, if not hundreds of ways to divide political and economic lines. But one of the most helpful ways of understanding such differences is recognizing the divide between advocates of proximate justice and absolute justice. Several years ago Steven Garber wrote an essay in which he explained the concept of “proximate justice”: Proximate justice realizes that something is better than nothing. It allows us to make peace withsomejustice,somemercy,...

p Last week, the Washington Postfeatured an interview with Donald Trum, entrepreneur-turned-presidential candidate. Trump is clearly no fan of the ments on capitalism and free markets, and his approach to dealing with the pope on this topic is rather unique: Trump wants to scare Pope Francis. mon for someto criticize Pope Francis’s wariness about capitalism, but Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump just took that to a new level, saying he’d try to “scare” the pope by telling him: “ISIS wants...

Many conservatives exhibit a peculiar tendency to be pro-liberty when es to business, trade, and wages, but protectionist when es to the economic effectsof immigration. It’s an odd disconnect, and yet, as we’ve begun to see with figures like Donald Trump and Rick Santorum, one side is bound to eventually give way. They’ll gush aboutthe glories petition, but the second immigration gets brought up, they seem to defer tolabor-union talking points fromages past. When pressed on this in a recent...

What is the difference between paying a tax and donating to a charity? Is it moral to force others to give to the cause of your choice? Is it moral for the government to force others to give to the cause of your choice? Rob Gressis, a professor of philosophy, went on campus at California State University – Northridge, to ask students those questions. You can see an extended version of the video here. ...

There has been no document by a world leader that has received more attention this year than Laudato Si. Three months have passed since Pope Francis released his encyclical on the environment, and yet the media coverage and mentary on it has hardly waned. Here on the Acton PowerBlog, Bruce Edward Walker has piling a daily list of links related to news mentary on the encyclical. To date he has 62 posts with hundreds of links. As the Associated Press...