John Médaille is a businessman in Irving, Texas, and also an Instructor in Theology at the University of Dallas, where he teaches a unique course on the Social Encyclicals for Business Students. He is the father of five, grandfather of two, and husband of one. He is the author of The Vocation of Business: Social Justice in the Marketplace and is finishing up another book, Equity and Equilibrium: The Political Economy of Distributism. John also blogs at The Distributist Review.
John Médaille
Articles by John Médaille
Reflections on the Revolution in America
This article first appeared in Ethika Politika, the Journal of the Center for Morality in Public Life. To all appearances, nothing happened. On Monday, we had a Democratic President, a Democratic…
The Music of The Spheres and The Terminally Tone-Deaf
I was watching a film called Chartres Cathedral and the Geometry of the Sacred the other day. For some reason, the Gothic gargoyles put me in mind of the Republican…
There is No Such Thing as a Bank Loan
“Dexia” is not a word familiar to most Americans, and if told that it is a French bank in need of a fresh bailout, the knowledge would likely elicit no…
Friends and Strangers: A Meditation on Money
I start my meditation with a true story that will serve as a parable. On his 21st birthday, the nature writer Francis Thompson was presented by his father with a…
Distributism and the Supremes
My latest book was cited as an "authority" before the Supreme Court in Florida v. HHS, the "Obamacare" case. You can read the brief here, if you are bored. This…
Which Way for Catholics?
For all the Porchers in the New York City area, Christopher Ferrara and I will be speaking at the Una Voce Symposium, Libertarianism or Distributism: Which Way for Catholics? The…
Easter and Economics
Robert T. Miller and I discuss two opposed views of Catholic Social Teaching as it relates to economics in this month's issue of Dappled Things. Robert defends that "... for…
We Have Met the Enemy, and He is Us
One has a free choice of whether to take one's cocaine in crystal or powdered form. However, while this may be a free choice, it is never a choice of…
Will There Be Zombies?
But that is not so with computers, for no matter how many doctorates one holds in computer science, at some point the system disappears into a world of magic.
City of Dreams
Imagine designing a city for people rather than cars: Curitiba, Brazil
The Mosh-Pit of Philosophy, the Pedestal of Science, and a Plate of Green Beans
Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of addressing the ISI Conference at Taylor University, “Whose Capitalism? Which Free Market? Exploring the Moral Dimensions of the Market.” My message to the…
Whose Capitalism? Which Free Market?
Those Front Porchers in the Indianapolis-Fort Wayne area might want to attend the ISI Conference, "Whose Capitalism? Which Free Market?: Exploring the Moral Dimensions of the Market Economy," Saturday, April…
The No-Suicide Pact
You cannot slit your wrists. It says so, right here in your employment contract. And besides, we've installed suicide netting on all of our buildings. So if you manage to…
A Tale of One City
It was the best of times; It was the worst of times. Charles Dickens begins A Tale of Two Cities with a paradox, but one that is easily resolved because…
The Left-Coast Republic
California, we are told, will have a $25 billion budget deficit over the next 20 months. However, they seem to be caught in a trap. If they were to actually…
Is capitalism in need of repair or retirement?
Join in this debate between myself and Brian Domitrovic (Econoclasts) at the ISI "First Principles" blog.
انه الاقتصاد، غبي
Here are two scenarios: one leads through democratic enlightenment to peace and prosperity, and the other through intractable economic problems to war and disintegration.
ResPublica’s 10 Best for 2010
I am proud to say I made the list.
Women, The Cosmos, and Cosmetics
I still do not understand why, in a prison and particularly in a jungle prison, where needs multiply like rats, why the need for lipstick should vault to the top…
Strauss and Schmitt Go to China
"Faced with the poverty, incompetence, and weak tyranny that real, existing socialism had delivered, many Poles I knew had begun a similar intellectual journey. And today, it’s the turn of…
Monarchy and the American Constitution
The American Constitution, as it was originally written and understood, is the most monarchical-democratic document in the modern world.
Monarchy and Regalism
A thing without proper limits becomes its own opposite, and benevolence quickly becomes a tyranny which threatens both civil and religious order.
Why I am a Monarchist
herefore, it behooves me to cut directly to the chase, and state very clearly why I am a monarchist: “I am a monarchist because I am a democrat.”
Humanity and Honor, Culture and Clarity
Sometimes when you sit in the pew you get the feeling that the preacher is talking to you. Of course, this impression is magnified when the preacher loudly calls your…