A new book on a “just economy” from a Catholic perspective has more to say about injustices wrought by neoliberalism than it does about crony capitalism and the fraught history of the statist solutions it mends. Read More… Anyone looking for an engaging overview of what modern Catholic social teaching (CST) has to say about economic matters will find it in Anthony Annett’s book Cathonomics: How Catholic Tradition Can Create a More Just Economy. Yet Cathonomics is much more than...

The Batman is more than just another reboot of the now-all-too-familiar tale of crime and punishment. The film asks deep questions that linger long after you leave the theater. Read More… The Batman plunges us straight into the middle of a crisis of faith. Gone is Bale’s confident and charismatic playboy. Robert Pattinson’s Batman hasn’t slept for a week. He journals, sulks, and obsesses over details. A Goth in Gotham—a concept that sounds like it shouldn’t work, but does. The...

In this 2015 starring the ic Zelensky, we witness what is now an absolutely surreal depiction of a man from nowhere thrust into history with the weight of his people’s fate on his shoulders. Imagine such a thing happening in real life. I know I can’t. Read More… Three Ukrainian oligarchs, a shadow Triumvirate as it were, stand on a balcony overlooking a gorgeous town square. An election for president is imminent and they’re tired of wasting millions on backing...

The 225th birthday of Blessed Antonio Rosmini is a good time to remember that heated debate on the intersection of faith and reason, philosophy and the Word of God, is to be encouraged. You you never know what light will be shed—or when a saint is in the making. Read More… Christian philosophy and morality were far from my intellectual radar during the 1970s when I decided to focus on economic studies. At the time I was captivated by the...

Mark Bauerlein’s follow-up to his 2008 book, The Dumbest Generation, delivers a depressing assessment of what hollowing out the academic canon has produced in the lives of students subjected to the dumbed-down curriculum. Read More… In his “Parable of the Madman,” Nietzsche, reflecting on the death of God, observes that “this tremendous event is still on its way,” continuing that “deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard.” The Madman notes the irony that even though “this...

Russia and individual Russians have been hard hit by sanctions imposed by nations around the world, all intended to deter Vladimir Putin from pursuing his illegal war in Ukraine. But what moral principles should guide our decisions about whether to impose sanctions and the form they take? Read More… Are economic sanctions morally permissible? That question has been asked by many people since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of a range of economic sanctions on Russian entities and...

Ukraine is under siege, and if history is any indicator, should Russia prove victorious, freedom of religion will also be under siege. Read More… Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues. Ukrainian resistance so far has been fierce, but Russian forces retain a huge advantage in firepower. A victory by Moscow would mean installation of a puppet government in Kyiv, with harsh repression to follow. Politically Russia was unfree even before the war. However, fear of popular protest led Russian president Vladimir...

Determined to destroy the Western, masculinity, and every shred of self-respect, this 12x-Oscar-nominated film from Jane Campion finally catches up to its own conceits, but far too late. Read More… My long series on Oscar movies ing to an end with angry words about Hollywood. To summarize, I liked Wes Anderson, loved Paul Thomas Anderson, was amused by Ridley Scott, disappointed by Steven Spielberg, and disgusted by Guillermo Del Toro. Of course, this is of no importance to the artists...

As a genre of dark intrigue, stoic protagonists, and femmes fatales, film noir has continued to beguile and entertain filmgoers for decades. But does it also have something to say about the relationship between happiness and justice? Read More… Recently I spoke at Hillsdale College on film noir as part of a program that introduced audiences to four of the most impressive movies in the genre that defined the tough detective in America and the less popular type of doomed...

The material and the spiritual were never meant to be opposed to each other, which is why we at Acton work to realize spiritual benefits in the context of the hustle and bustle of the material world. Read More… In the Genesis account of creation, we read that God “looked at all he had made and found it very good.” Today’s feast, which celebrates the Annunciation to Mary and the Incarnation of the Son of God, reminds us that no...