Civic Engagement

January 15, 2024

Forty Years of Cross-Racial Bonding

We celebrate the January 15, 1929, birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. on the Monday closest to his birthday every year—and this year that Monday is today, January 15. King’s single most quoted sentence is probably this: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Continue Reading...

October 20, 2021

We are a fractured nation, but there is still hope

It’s become a commonplace observation that while we are indeed a divided nation, we have been divided before and, some claim, in much worse ways. The first part is undoubtedly true, while the second seems more debatable, and this particularly in light of a recent poll coming from the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) at the University of Virginia that shows roughly half of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum seriously indulging fantasies of secession. Continue Reading...

August 26, 2021

How America’s ‘creative class’ learned to love conformity

In 2000, columnist David Brooks wrote Bobos in Paradise, hailing the dawn of a new phase in America’s longstanding story of meritocracy. The “bobos” were a peculiar breed — part bohemian, part bourgeoisie — blurring class divides in a way that would introduce a new form of enlightened, activist citizenship in a country with an otherwise ambivalent middle class. Continue Reading...

July 14, 2021

The antidote to Americans’ crisis of ‘meaning’

What do you want? Or, better yet, what do you want from what you want? It turns out, more than money or praise, humans yearn for a purpose. And new data indicate Americans are lacking that meaning and connection in their lives. Continue Reading...

May 24, 2021

The ‘man of public spirit’: Politics as art, not science

Politicians have given us many occasions to be critical of their actions. Politics, like all sausage making, is rarely palatable. Nevertheless, Aristotle observed that man is by nature a political animal, drawn into association with others in order to satisfy inherently social needs. Continue Reading...

June 23, 2020

America’s founding vision must be retrieved

Grand Rapids, my home for the last 30 years, a tranquil and polite place, has recently experienced demonstrations and violence like other American cities. A lot of confusion and pain abound. Continue Reading...

April 01, 2020

April Fools’ Day: Italians are not joking around anymore as civil unrest builds

Culturally the first of April – April Fools’ Day – is the same in Italy as in America. It’s a day of practical jokes and laughs. Only here it’s called April Fish Day, because it is related to the ancient end of the Pisces or Fish sign in the zodiac. Continue Reading...

March 30, 2020

How freer markets can help during the coronavirus crisis with Rev. Robert Sirico

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Rev. Robert Sirico, president and co-founder of the Acton Institute, shares thoughts on how reducing regulatory and tax burdens can help our struggling economy as we fight the virus. Continue Reading...

March 30, 2020

Thoughts from Rev. Robert Sirico during the coronavirus pandemic (Video 1)

During uncertain times, Rev. Robert Sirico, president and co-founder of the Acton Institute, offers his thoughts on human flourishing, subsidiarity, and more. (This video was recorded and released on March 20, 2020.) Continue Reading...

Video still from Rev. Robert Sirico video on coronavirus pandemic

March 29, 2020

The other ‘coronacrisis’: Are our free associations heading to the catacombs?

As alarm bells continue ringing for the coronavirus pandemic, governments have aggressively stepped up heavy-handed measures to flatten the curve of contagion – especially through forced social distancing. While surely beneficial to slow the pace of infection, such radical isolation has halted virtually all public gatherings and most private free associations at work, worship, school and private charities. Continue Reading...

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