Remembering the prophet of violence and terror

On the bicentennial of Karl Marx’s birth, says Acton research director Samuel Gregg, the world should be excoriating his ideas and the terrorism they spawned, not excusing or celebrating them. It’s always a risky exercise to draw a straight line between particular ideas and human events. Continue Reading...

The decline of Western civilization, redux

A review of Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics Is Destroying American Democracy by Jonah J. Goldberg, Crown Forum, 2018, 442 pp., $28. Suicide of the West is intended as a “serious” work, which it is indeed. Continue Reading...

Are you an ideological robot?

Since you’re reading this post I assume you spend a lot of time online. You likely engage between dozens and hundreds of people every day, which raises the question: How do you know the people you engage with on social media are not robots? Continue Reading...

Does Russell Kirk still matter in today’s America?

Many might not even recognize the name “Russell Kirk,” and those who do often do not know the true impact of his contributions. Kirk quickly rose to prominence in American political discourse during the 1950s, but fell from the public eye following Barry Goldwater’s defeat in the 1964 presidential election, whom Kirk had firmly supported. Continue Reading...

We need a more Spock-like politics

James Hodgkinson opened fire on a group of congressmen after ascertaining they were Republicans. He wounded several people and was killed himself by Capitol police, who were present to protect House Whip Steve Scalise. Continue Reading...

Fusionism and Western Civ

Pope Leo XIII, writing in the midst of social crisis at the end of the nineteenth century, wisely observed: “When a society is perishing, the wholesome advice to give to those who would restore it is to call it to the principles from which it sprang.” Continue Reading...