Mark T. Mitchell is the co-founder of Front Porch Republic. He is the Dean of Academic Affairs at Patrick Henry College and the author of several books including Plutocratic Socialism, Power and Purity, The Limits of Liberalism, The Politics of Gratitude, and Localism in Mass Age: A Front Porch Republic Manifesto (co-editor).
Mark T. Mitchell
Articles by Mark T. Mitchell
I Want to Be a Consumer
A bit of doggerel from Punch Magazine (25 April 1934). I Want to Be a Consumer “And what do you mean to be?” The kind old Bishop said As he…
Home-Making for Home-Coming
RINGOES, NJ. You’ve seen the commercials.A middle-aged couple drops their son off at college. As they drive away, nest now empty, they feign sorrow. Quickly, though, their mournful countenances are…
Peggy Noonan on the End of Affluence
Peggy Noonan has a piece in the WSJ titled "Goodby Bland Affluence." Seems even NYC is slowing down and, for the first time in its long history, being forced to…
The Dismal Science vs. Community
RINGOES, NJ. In 1944 two very different but related books were published. The first was F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom. In a world that seemed to be succumbing…
Homesteading with Mother Earth
USAToday has a piece on folks who are simplifying their lives as a response to the economic troubles here. For those interested in some concrete advice, see this piece on…
The Ad-Man Cometh (for your Children)
RINGOES, NJ. March Madness is finally over. And for the first time in years, I actively participated in the madness. For most of our married life, my wife and I…
Local Currencies Strengthen Local Communities
USA Today has a piece on local currencies here. Excerpt: "A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money. "Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are…
Tocqueville’s Diagnosis
RINGOES, NJ As brilliant minds, armed with apparently endless supplies of money, thrash about Washington desperately attempting to fix what they have broken, it might be useful to step back…
The Rediscovery of Agriculture?
RINGOES, NJ. Recently, a friend and I visited Polyface Farm outside Staunton, Virginia. Polyface is owned and operated by Joel Salatin, whose parents started farming these verdant five-hundred acres in…
Farming: Practical Advice
For anyone interested in practical advice about farming, check out the small farmer's journal The journal comes highly recommended by two of our own: Allan Carlson and Katherine Dalton. Below…
White House Garden
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090319/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_garden The White House is getting a garden. Will this inspire millions to do the same? Will Obama pull his own weeds? Can a First Chicken Coop be far behind?
Growth or Virtue?
RINGOES, NJ. The numbers keep rolling in. The Dow is below 7000. Unemployment is above 8%. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the economy contracted at a rate of 3.8%.…
Food and Freedom
RINGOES, NJ. Isn’t it interesting how quickly speculation becomes conventional wisdom? Back in the fall, when we began to hear rumblings of economic catastrophe, things were a bit vague. Most…
What our Hands Have Wrought
RINGOES, NJ. In the fall of 2008, Americans were confronted with frightening news. The financial world was, the experts warned, teetering on the brink of disaster. Politicians from both parties…