“A Clearing.” The Hudson Review published a new short story by Wendell Berry, narrated by Andy Catlett.
“On the Front Porch, Black Life in Full View.” Audra D. S. Burch chronicles the important roles that front porches—“a stage straddling the home and the street . . . ; a gift where community lives and strangers become neighbors”—have played in black communities, particularly in Detroit. (Recommended by Jeff Polet.)
“Oliver Callan on Patrick Kavanagh: Burning Rage, Fiery Genius.” Oliver Callan remembers the Irish poet fifty years after his death.
“Civil Eats’ 2018 Holiday Book Gift Guide.” This is a great selection of recent books on agriculture and food.
“Americans are Moving Less than Ever, and It’s Bad for the Economy.” Dan Kopf thinks it’s bad that more Americans are staying put. It might be bad for the GDP, but it’s probably good for our actual oikoi.
“Confessions of a Jet-Set Conservative.” Ben Sixsmith delivers a satisfying rebuke to Max Boot’s new book.
“Has Liberalism Failed? An Exchange.” Commenweal hosts a symposium on Patrick Deneen’s book. Don’t miss Patrick’s response.
“Prayer Walks.” D. L. Mayfield follows Wendell Berry’s advice to “Listen to the carrion,” and the results are bracing and profound.
“In Conversation: Crystal Wilkinson and Wendell Berry.” The Berry Center hosted a fascinating discussion with two thoughtful, Kentucky authors.
“It Still Bleeds, But It No Longer Leads.” Daniel Kishi writes about the ongoing consolidation of local newspapers and how this hurts small towns.
“Belloc’s Humane Defense of Personhood and Property.” James Matthew Wilson argues that Belloc’s classic The Servile State has wisdom that should guide our political economy.
In a better world Belloc would be the most famous “modern” economist, and Marx forgotten. One would think that having predicted the future accurately should count for something. But alas, Marx was a man of “the left”, and Belloc an icky Catholic.
Marx got some of his diagnoses right. His problems lie mainly in his prescriptions.
His diagnoses were trite and facile, his predictions were completely wrong, and his prescriptions were evil.
There are conservative/traditionalist critiques of capitalism that run more or less parallel to those of Marx. Are they trite and facile as well? It’s been ages since I read The Servile State, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find a few such parallels even there.
Just because he’s “right” that modern “capitalism” is flawed doesn’t mean he got anything actually correct in any detail. Marx basically says “Money is the root of all evil” so his prescription is to eliminate money. That’s about the depth of his analysis. A standard and boring misquoting of the Bible, similar to what any boring ignorant college student says, hence his popularity with that demographic. And literally nothing of what he predicted would happen has come to pass, showing the flawed nature of his analysis. As for his prescriptions, that money and private property should be eliminated, because they cause all the problems, and that those who disagree should be killed, that actually isn’t his fault, as such totalitarian and eliminationist thinking has been an intrinsic part of the left since the French Revolution, and it appears it can’t be removed. Marx just tried to make up an economic explanation for why the vast majority of people rejected their nonsense.
But if you re-read Belloc, you’ll see he (&GKC) pretty much nailed the last century. Economics isn’t a science, but if someone makes accurate predictions, it’s a good sign that they’ve understood fundamental truths. If not, not.
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