2013 Archives

May 03, 2013

Audio: Sirico on Law and Virtue

May 1st was Law Day across America, and here in Grand Rapids, the Acton Institute joined the Catholic Lawyers Association of West Michigan to sponsor a Law Day Celebration at the St. Continue Reading...

Rev. Sirico addresses the 2013 Law Day Celebration

May 03, 2013

Justice Scalia Echoes Lord Acton’s Warning on Corrupting Power

Reading through Scalia Dissents: Writings of the Supreme Court’s Wittiest, Most Outspoken Justice, I came across this gem: “No government official is ‘tempted’ to place restraints upon his own freedom of action, which is why Lord Acton did not say ‘Power tends to purify.'” Continue Reading...

May 03, 2013

Retirement and the End of Work

“Retirement as a cultural concept needs to go away.” So says Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry in a thought-provoking piece today over at Forbes. I agree with the sentiment, in large part because good work never ends. Continue Reading...

May 03, 2013

What’s the Secret to Ending Poverty?

The Fund for American Studies produced a video, narrated by economist Michael Cox, that shows how one nation rose from poverty to unprecedented wealth in just a few generations. Continue Reading...

May 03, 2013

21st-Century Suburbanism: Poverty And Racial Diversity

If anyone tells you that people have been moving to the suburbs in the past ten years or so to pursue a life of comfort, ease, and safety you can know for a fact that they are stuck in a 1980s vision of American life. Continue Reading...

May 02, 2013

Religious Freedom Around the World

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s Annual Report has been published. The commission places countries in three “tiers”, with tier one being nations that are designated “countries of particular concern” in terms of religious freedom. Continue Reading...

May 02, 2013

Will the Pentagon Court-martial Servicemembers for Sharing Their Faith?

U.S. troops who proselytize are guilty of sedition and treason and should be punished to stave off a “tidal wave of fundamentalists.” That’s what Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, told Fox News. Continue Reading...

May 02, 2013

No Executive Is An Island

As Michael Novak observes in The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, “A successful corporation is frequently based upon the principle of subsidiarity. According to this principle, concrete decisions must be made on the level closest to the concrete reality. Continue Reading...

May 01, 2013

North Korean Death Camp Survivor: ‘Don’t Forget Us’

“Vanish the Night,” a new single by UK band, Ooberfuse begins with Shin Dong-hyuk, the survivor of a North Korean death camp, saying, “Don’t forget us.” The band released the song to coincide with North Korea Freedom Week (April 28-May 4) and to draw attention to the atrocities happening in North Korea. Continue Reading...

May 01, 2013

Is the Constitution Failing Us?

From the American Enterprise Institute: “It’s what makes America, America.” Continue Reading...