In this week’s Acton Commentary I weigh in with some reflections on the US presidential results: “Naming, Blaming, and Lessons Learned from the 2016 Election.” I focus on much of the reaction on the Democratic side, which has understandably had some soul-searching to do. The gist of my argument is that “the New Left forgot the Old Left and got left out this election cycle.” For further elaborations on this theme, I mend the following: “The Real Forgotten Man Of...

Today at Mere Orthodoxy, I have an essay building on some of myrecentposts here exploring a healthy Christian response to plex results (other than “Trump won; Clinton lost”) of the 2016 presidential election. In particular, I focus on how to be true to the exhortation of St. Paul: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). I write, Writing to early Christians in Rome, St. Paul the Apostle offered a succinct summary of the Christian...

Daniel Garza at the Acton Lecture Series – November 17, 2016 On this edition of Radio Free Acton, we speak with Daniel Garza, Executive Director of The LIBREInitiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the principles and values of economic freedom within the munity. According to political conventional wisdom, the munity is a natural constituency of progressive politicians and part of an emerging progressive permanent majority in the United States. Garza counters this narrative by noting the fact that conservative...

According to mon political narrative prior to the 2016 elections, progressivism has been ascendent and conservatism has been on an inevitable decline in America in significant part due to demographic changes. Among those changes is the growth of the Latino population, which is assumed to be a natural constituency for progressive politics. In the wake of the election, this may be one among many narratives that need to be re-thought. Evangelicals are one of the fastest growing segments in munities,...

Screenshot of Google Earth Satellite image of Chaeha Market in Sinuiju. Screenshot taken 11/23/2016. “If North Korea shuts downs markets, it will collapse too,” defector Cha Ri-hyuk explains. Satellite images and testimonies from those who have fled the oppressive regime of Kim Jong-un are demonstrating the power of markets. A new report from Hyung-Jin Kim looks at this phenomenon in the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea. These markets, jangamadangs, are primarily supplied with goods smuggled from China or South...

“The mundane progress driven by ordinary economic and social processes in a free society es dramatic only when its track record is viewed in retrospect over a span of years.” –Thomas Sowell In a recent edition of mon Knowledge, economist Thomas Sowell discusses his latest book, Wealth, Poverty, and Politics, which provides prehensive argument for the origins of prosperity. “There’s no explanation needed for poverty. The species began in poverty,” Sowell says. “So what you really need to know is...

While it may not seem like it when you’re at the supermarket checkout, Americans benefit tremendously from relatively low food prices. Consider the typical Thanksgiving feast. According to an informal price survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), the average cost of this year’s Thanksgiving meal for ten people is $49.87—less than $5 per person. The AFBF survey shopping list includes turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped...

Families across the country are aboutto celebrate Thanksgiving, expressing gratitude for God’s overwhelming grace and abundance. And yet even as we offer thanks to God for his provision — materially, socially, spiritually, or otherwise — how often do we pause and reflect on the freedoms and channels that God uses in the process? Will we remember that the very foods we are sure to enjoy on Thanksgiving Day required a great deal of investment, cultivation, and risk-taking? Will we reflect...