Forty years ago today, Alexander Solzhenitsyn delivered a mencement address at Harvard University. The Nobel-prize winning Russian novelist’s criticism of the West was a stinging rebuke at the end of the “Me Decade.” Although largely forgotten, the speech remains an important, and prophetic, reminder of the sickness that plagues Western culture. Here are 20 key quotes from the 1978 speech: 1. “A decline in courage may be the most striking feature that an outside observer notices in the West today....

Note: This is post #82 in a weekly video series on basic economics. In the previous two videos in this series we’ve looked at a simplified Solow model. On one end of the model is input, and on the other end, we get output. What do we do with that output? Either we can consume it or we can save it, says Alex Tabarrok of Marginal Revolution University. This saved output can then be re-invested as physical capital, which grows...

President Trump will begin a historic summit tomorrow with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Here are five facts you should know about the Kim family, the secretive autocratic regime that has ruled North Korea for more than sixty years. (Note: To avoid confusion, I’ve labeled each of the Kim dictators with a numeric designation: Kim Il-sung, the grandfather, as K1; Kim Jong-il, the son, as K2; and Kim Jong-un, the grandson and current dictator, as K3.) 1. Following...

Global poverty is on the decline. Innovation and exploration continue to accelerate. Freedom and opportunity are expanding across the world. Meanwhile, political pundits and chin-stroking “experts” continue to preach of our impending doom. Why so much pessimism in a prosperous age? “I have found that intellectuals hate progress and intellectuals who call themselves ‘progressive’ really hate progress,” says Steven Pinker, author of the new book, Enlightenment Now. “Now, it’s not that they hate the fruitsof progress, mind you…It’s the ideaof...

The changes in U.S.-North Korean relations over the past year have been drastic enough to give any casual observer whiplash: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump have gone from openly exchanging threats of nuclear war to agreeing to the first ever meeting between a North Korean head of state and a sitting U.S. president, set to be held Tuesday in Singapore. While the progression from threats of war to overtures of peace and possible denuclearization should...

Some mental images are especially vivid. One phrase stands out in the war of words preceding the brewing U.S.-EU trade war. “Global trade is not a gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” said French finance minister Bruno Le Maire last Thursday, after President Trump imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminum. The most famous shoot-out in the Old West has been immortalized in the 1957 film of the same name, as well as numerous other Hollywood vehicles. To my mind, none...

Last month the Acton Institute co-sponsored the 2018 Kuyper Conference hosted by Calvin College & Seminary. Acton’s support of the conference included the organization of a panel discussion on “Faith, Freedom, and Education,” which featured Harry Van Dyke of Redeemer University College, Charles L. Glenn of Boston University, and Beth Green of Cardus. Kevin den Dulk of Calvin College moderated the discussion, which included some parisons and lessons for today. The video of the session is now available: The Abraham...

There is much to lament over the Republic of Ireland’s repeal of the Eighth Amendment, including the death of reason among some who mented on it. This last was lamentably displayed in an essay written by First Things senior editor Matthew Schmitz and published in the Catholic Herald on Thursday. Schmitz improbably blames last month’s Irish referendum e on the twin evils of capitalism and democracy. Schmitz, who describes himself as a “socialist Roman Catholic,” writes that the referendum succeeded...

“While classical education has exploded in recent decades, this movement of diverse schools lacks a philosophical figure who centers the goals of classical education,” says Josh Herring in this week’s Acton Commentary. “Edmund Burke could fill that need.” Burke was a minority figure in his own day, speaking truth in opposition to those who praised the revolution. Classical education is also a minority movement in the Western world today. While writing about his own world at the turn towards modernity...

Last year, four out of 10 Venezuelans had property or money stolen. Hardly surprising since Venezuela was the least secure out of 144 nations, according to the most recent Gallup Law and Order Index. Chaos in Venezuela is creating a power vacuum, pulling regional and global powers into the South American country. Brazil has long attempted to e the regional leader and to guide other South American countries into prosperity, but has failed to properly respond to the socialist threat....