Month: September 2016

September 30, 2016

‘You are the spring that puts all the rest in motion’

“You are the spring that puts all the rest in motion; they would not stir a step without you.” John Wesley (1703–1791) was talking about the slave trade and was impugning the buyers and owners of slaves as equally culpable as those who captured and sold them, those who “would not stir a step” without buyers for their wares. Continue Reading...
September 29, 2016

How Christianity created the free society

While many Christians have undermined human liberty, says Samuel Gregg, the Director of Research for Acton, a new book of essays shows just how much of our contemporary freedom we owe to the Christian church, Christian thinkers, and Christian practice rather than liberals and liberalism. Continue Reading...
September 28, 2016

Are libertarians too anti-pollution?

“There are no solutions,” says economist Thomas Sowell. “There are only trade-offs.” Sowell’s claim is especially true when it comes to the issue of pollution. We have no solution that will allow us to eliminate all pollution, so we are forced to make trade-offs, such as exchanging a certain level of pollution for economic growth. Continue Reading...
September 28, 2016

Utopias Denied: Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon at 75

“In the world of literature,” says Bruce Edward Walker in this week’s Acton Commentary, “perhaps only Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn did more to expose the lies and cruelty of 20th century totalitarianism.” What makes Darkness at Noon such an enduring artistic work is Koestler’s firsthand knowledge of his source material. Continue Reading...
September 28, 2016

Candidates must address school-to-prison pipeline

Given the overpopulation of American jails and prisons, it would stand to reason that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump be pressed to explain how they would dismantle the unfortunate relationship between low-performing schools and the criminal justice system. Continue Reading...
September 27, 2016

Explainer: What you should know about NAFTA

In last night’s presidential debate, Donald Trump said that NAFTA was the worst trade deal the U.S. has ever signed, and that it continues to kill American jobs. Here is what you should know about the perennially controversial trade agreement. Continue Reading...