Last week, Rule of Faith, a new Orthodox Christian online journal, published my article, “V. S. Soloviev and the Russian Roots of Personalism.” The article examines the nineteenth-century Russian Orthodox philosopher Vladimir Soloviev’s philosophy as it relates to the twentieth-century social philosophy known as personalism. While the tradition includes much variety — spanning figures such as Martin Buber, Nicholas Berdyaev, Jacques Maritain, and Pope John Paul II — several mon to these figures can be found in Soloviev’s thought as...

I just was introduced to Bastion Magazine , founded by a group of young libertarians who have realized that in order to have a limited state, we also need strong civil and cultural institutions and especially strong families. I have only skimmed the site, but it looks well done. As one of the founders, C. Jay Engel, the founder and publisher explained to me, they began to realize that insights from thinkers like Edmund Burke and Robert Nisbet about civil...

Alejandro Chafuen, Acton’s Managing Director, International, published a piece in Forbes yesterday on the place of state-owned enterprises in international trade. The question also extends to industries that, even if not owned by the state, are significantly influenced by government interests, regulation, and so on. Oil is a prime example of this, but there are many other instances, more recently including the data and tech industry. I have witnessed many harsh debates during off-the-record meetings between policy leaders and advocates...

Early last month there was a great debate over the question “What is Liberalism?” on the Free Thoughts Podcast. The debate was between Helena Rosenblatt, professor of history at City University of New York and Daniel Klein, professor of economics at George Mason University. Klein’s work has been mentioned on the PowerBlog before and I referenced his insightful scholarship in my talk, “Lord Acton, Liberty, Conscience, and the Social Order” at this year’s Acton University. Rosenblatt’s recent book, The Lost...

The Thomistic Institute has a new video series introducing the work of St. Thomas Aquinas called Aquinas 101. The videos are well done, concise, and clear, and if you are looking for an introduction to St. Thomas, this is a good place to start. I started showing it to my older children, and they liked it. The videos begin with an introduction to Aquinas and address some of his key ideas. People often feel daunted by the idea of reading...

Here is a by no means exhaustive prehensive but simply occasional set of links to some reading from yours truly that might be of interest to readers of the PowerBlog this Reformation Day… Essays: “The further reformation of all of life,” Acton Commentary, October 31, 2017. “The Secularization of Vocation,” Public Discourse, October 30, 2017. “The Church’s Social Witness and the Further Work of the Reformation,” Journal of Christian Legal Thought 5, no. 2 (Fall 2015): 11-16. “Doing much good...

It’s been a good week for the left throughout Latin America. In Columbia, center-left and left-wing parties did well in regional election. Argentina also took a left-turn with a left-wing Peronist easily winning the presidency, and bringing the former president Cristina Kirchner back to office as Vice-President. In Bolivia, long-serving left-populist president Evo Morales looks as if he is going to get away with stealing an election. Events in Chile are also a cause for concern. What started as a...

The Acton Institute continues our outreach to the 275 million people who speak French as a first language with a new translation of an article on a vital topic. In this case, we share the news of a UN official who countered the all-pervasive pessimism over climate change, telling young people: Live your lives without fear. Peter Taalas, the UN’s chief climate official, offers a less catastrophic alternative to the doomsday scenarios of Extinction Rebellion or young Swedish activist Greta...

Struggling under the weight munism, North Korea is increasingly known as a land of poverty and hardship, ranked last among nations when es to economic freedom and religious liberty. What’s less discussed, however, is the importance of each of those features, taken together. Economic and religious life are closely connected, making the preservation of both absolutely essential if society is to flourish. In a new short film from Voice of the Martyrs, we get a small glimpse of this reality...

Their last remaining dispute in the Chicago schools strike could be resolved if both sides understood a basic economic concept taught by one of the nation’s Founding Fathers. Although the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union announced a tentative agreement Wednesday evening, the Second City’s 300,000-plus students still began their eleventh day outside the classroom Thursday, because the CTU added a new demand Wednesday night. They want the city to pay union members for every day they went...