Place. Limits. Liberty.
Join us for FPR’s 2025 Conference on “Work and Leisure”

Mark T. Mitchell

Articles by Mark T. Mitchell

Register Now or Git off the Porch!

Actually, feel free to stay in your rocking chair, but if you plan to attend the conference on Saturday, please register here. This will make things much easier for the…
Mark T. Mitchell
September 21, 2011

Symposium on Place and FPR’s Role in the “New Right.”

The spring issue of The New Atlantis features a symposium on place. Check it out. Of special interest is a piece by Brian Brown titled "The Rise of Localist Politics."…
Mark T. Mitchell
September 9, 2011

FPR Conference Program

You won't want to miss this. Register here. Session 1: Mobility and the Crisis of Community Patrick Deneen: The Liberal Self and Mobility Allan Carlson: Why the Modern Family Keeps…
Mark T. Mitchell
August 24, 2011

Keeping you Safe from Homemade Ice Cream

A story from the Chicago Tribune tells of an enterprising mother named Kris Swanberg, who runs a wildly successful ice cream business. Of course, where food is concerned, the State…
Mark T. Mitchell
August 12, 2011

FPR Conference. Register Now!

FPR's first annual conference will be held at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, MD on September, 24, 2011. The conference title is "Human Scale and the Human Good: Creating…
Mark T. Mitchell
July 20, 2011

Alito: The Court’s True Conservative

In a recent piece in The Weekly Standard, Adam J. White argues that Samuel Alito is a Burkean conservative. By looking at Alito's reasoning and not simply his voting record,…
Mark T. Mitchell
July 18, 2011

The Computer Made Me Do It

The habit of questioning, of civil debate, of negotiating, and compromise are the habits necessary for a thriving democracy.
Mark T. Mitchell
July 11, 2011

Access to the Internet is a Human Right

Dumbing down of the concept of rights is not simply incoherent. It is pernicious.
Mark T. Mitchell
June 14, 2011

Save Nick’s Organic Farm

A farm in Montgomery County, MD may be shut down to build soccer fields. Will the community defend the farm? Nick Maravell has farmed the land on Brickyard Rd. in…
Mark T. Mitchell
June 8, 2011

The Beauty of Tolkien’s Quest

Tolkien understands the deepest of our longings and makes us understand them better than before.
Mark T. Mitchell
June 2, 2011

Academy of Philosophy and Letters Annual Conference

Mark you calendars! The Academy of Philosophy and Letters will hold its annual conference in Baltimore, MD from June 10-12. Check out the program and register here.This is sure to…
Mark T. Mitchell
May 18, 2011

Attributes of the Gentleman or Mr. Darcy’s Rules of Engagement

Even in a democratic age, where social classes are fluid and poorly demarcated, the gentleman is characterized by these five attributes.
Mark T. Mitchell
May 15, 2011

Farmers Ditch Tractors for….Oxen?

A New York Times piece, describes the renewed interest in animal power among some small farmers. Mind you, these are not quaint Pa Ingalls actors demonstrating out-dated farming techniques to…
Mark T. Mitchell
May 5, 2011

Pride and Prejudice and Porn

If we are witnessing the passing of the gentlemen, there is much to lament. Perhaps it’s time for the gentleman to make a comeback.
Mark T. Mitchell
April 24, 2011

School Bans Homemade Lunches

Little Village Academy, a public school in Chicago, has banned sack lunches. Unless they can produce a medical excuse, all students are required to purchase lunch in the school's cafeteria…
Mark T. Mitchell
April 12, 2011

Why Heirloom Seeds Matter

Does it matter what kind of seeds you plant in your garden? Here is an article explaining why heirloom seeds are the way to go. One advantage is the fact…
Mark T. Mitchell
April 7, 2011

Why We Need Jane Austen or How to be a Gentleman with Examples Good and Bad

Austen provides something for which young people—even the jaded ones—secretly long.
Mark T. Mitchell
April 5, 2011

Wendell Berry and the New Urbanism: Agrarian Remedies, Urban Prospects

The problem is a result of the underlying specialization—not of people but of places—for what could be more specialized than designing a town according to discrete zones designated by use?
Mark T. Mitchell
March 20, 2011

Are You Free?

What would Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson say if they were transported to our day?
Mark T. Mitchell
March 7, 2011

FPR Conference

FPR, in conjunction with Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, MD, will be hosting a conference titled "Human Scale and the Human Good: Creating Healthy Communities in a Global Age." …
Mark T. Mitchell
March 3, 2011

FPR Turns Two

On March 2, 2009, FPR was born. We've been going for two years now and our mission remains clear: to advance human flourishing through the promotion of political decentralism, economic…
Mark T. Mitchell
March 2, 2011

A Community Does Good

There are plenty of reasons to lament, but here is a reason to hope. A school in Texas reaches out to some unlikely opponents and shows how a community can…
Mark T. Mitchell
March 1, 2011

A Conference on Place

For those in the LA area, Pepperdine University will be hosting an intriguing conference on the idea of place. The conference is titled A Place in the World: Geography, Identity,…
Mark T. Mitchell
February 27, 2011

World Magazine Notes Trend Toward Localism

Young people are questioning the upwardly mobile aspirations of their parents. Many are opting to put down roots. This is a good sign.
Mark T. Mitchell
February 25, 2011