Economics & Empire 369
New World Order
Events of the past several years up close could be compared to individuated and discrete dots, each circumscribed by itself alone, each self-contained and even comprehensible. The housing bubble. The…
The Economic Stork
The answers we get are dictated by the questions we ask, but there was one question which always grated on my wife's nerves, no matter who frequently she was asked.…
Distributism and Global Warming
Not a Single Cube of Ice In November of 2008, the cargo ship Camilla Desgagnés delivered supplies to the Arctic village of Kugluctuk. It did so by traversing the Northwest…
Citizens of the World, Divide!
Moorpark, CA. We are told to be careful with our words, to be aware of how our words might make other people feel or of how we might be misunderstood. …
Christmas Wish ’09: Repelling the Martian Invasion
Christmas celebrates the birth of the Prince of Peace. With all of the clerical cheering on behalf of recent wars, the intertwining of cross and flag, and the blessings bestowed…
Fifty Dollar Tomato
Hillsdale, MI. When I first thought about writing this it was the “Ten Dollar Tomato.” But historians are more or less required to tell the truth, and it now costs…
Defending Local Prohibitions
Since Caleb wants to argue about it, I will comply. This is a post that I wrote back in November; nice to see it get some attention now... Jacob Weisberg…
When Left is Right
Some thinkers on the Left have sniffed the smelling salts and are emerging from their love-fest to notice that the New Boss is increasingly indistinguishable from the Old Boss. As…
President Obama’s Afghanistan Speech
Erie, PA. Presidential speeches are evaluated in two basic areas, style/delivery and substance. President Obama’s Afghanistan speech was well delivered. The president appeared serious, determined, candid, and was articulate. Coming…
Health Subsidiarity, or Solidarity, or Socialism (Take Your Pick)
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Wichita, KS The debate over health care reform in the Senate has moved into overdrive, with one possible compromise following another in rapid succession. The…
Burn the Vineyard
I have just returned from one of the most remarkable journeys of my life, a ten day tour of Romania to promote an anthology of distributist and localist essays, Economic…
Foreign Policy and the Gift of the World
Devon, PA. In February 2007, as the Iraq war crept to the end of its fourth year, I published this short essay, proposing a few notions on foreign policy that…
Imitation and the Art of Flattery: the Cold War of the Imagination
Washington, Connecticut. At the end of his introduction to a re-publication of the Marquis de Custine’s "Empire of the Czar, A Journey Through Eternal Russia," George F. Kennan recalls a…
Localist Principles, Populist Words (or, The Problem Defined)
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] I suppose Front Porch Republic is experiencing growing pains, because all the talk lately is about "what's next?"--what cause, what platform, what principles or agenda…
Nuts
"What a good country or a good squirrel should be doing is stashing away nuts for the winter. The United States is not only not saving nuts, it’s eating the…
Homo Economicus
On today’s campuses, the reigning principle on most academic matters is to avoid meddling in the affairs of others. Beyond very broad curricular requirements, we are to allow respective experts…
What’s Not the Matter With Kansas
Tonight I happened to attend a pair of extremely interesting, and strikingly juxtaposed, events. The first was a Bradley Lecture at AEI delivered by Peter Berkowitz entited "The New Progressivism."…
The Fall of the Wall
In my misspent youth, I was a politician. And in my role as a politician, I did all the things that politicians do. Well, not all the things; I say…
The Agenda: Political or Economic?
Irving, TX. The Front Porch Republic has been graced by two contributions from Mark Mitchell and Caleb Stegall on the political agenda for front-porchers. And while one may quibble with…
Jawboning: A Tale of Two Hardware Stores
Hamilton, Ontario. The other day I was standing in a cavernous mega-chain hardware store looking for gardening supplies. This was not an easy task because the store, which we can…
Empire’s Heir?
As the old saying suggests, be careful what you ask for, because you may get it. The hubristic here in China are well on their way to discovering some uncomfortable…
The “One Salvation” of Ludwig von Mises
There is no doubt that the Catholic Church supports the idea of a just social order, and has expounded on that order in the great Social Encyclicals. However, and despite…
Subsidizing Localism?
A great post over at the League of Ordinary Gentlemen by "Will." Beyond his reliance on a clearly excellent source (ahem), I strongly endorse his closing reflection: Given the inter-connectedness…
Frank Rich Slams Harvard
Frank Rich goes after the "go-go" ethos that has been deeply etched in our elite institutions and advanced by the cultural elite - regardless of Party - over the past…