Vocation

January 09, 2020

How California’s new ‘gig-work’ law threatens local artists

Capitalism is routinely castigated as an enemy of the arts, with much of the criticism pointed toward monsters of profit and efficiency. Others fret over more systemic features, worried that commercialization and consumerism will inevitably detach artists from healthy creative contexts. Continue Reading...

January 09, 2020

Gertrude Himmelfarb: Teacher of the Free and Virtuous Society

Since the passing of Gertrude Himmelfarb I have been reflecting on just how much she taught me through her voluminous historical scholarship. In this week’s Acton Line Podcast I interviewed Yuval Levin, Resident Scholar and Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at AEI, who was also her student. Continue Reading...

December 31, 2019

Gertrude Himmelfarb (1922-2019): The historian of moral revolution

I just heard some devastating news. Gertrude Himmelfarb, historian, moralist, wife, and mother, has passed. David Brooks has written a touching obituary detailing the life and legacy of this fascinating woman: Economists measure economic change and journalists describe political change, but who captures moral change? Continue Reading...

December 19, 2019

Christmas consumerism: Spending for the glory of God?

The Christmas shopping season is well underway—and with it, a peculiar blend of hyper-generosity and hyper-consumerism. Indeed, while many celebrate the social and spiritual glories of gift-giving and merriment, others are quick to warn about the steady creep of materialism and self-indulgence. Continue Reading...

December 11, 2019

Wilhelm Röpke on liberalism and Catholic social teaching

This week’s Acton Commentary, adapted from my preface to the newest Acton Institute publication The Humane Economist: A Wilhelm Röpke Reader, illustrates what makes Röpke such an interesting and vital economist: Röpke saw his project in holistic terms involving intersecting and interdependent spheres or orden that to be fully appreciated and understood scientifically must be examined in their economic, social, and moral dimensions. Continue Reading...

December 06, 2019

Vocation isn’t about ‘doing what you love’

We’ve seen a renewed focus among Christians on the deeper value and significance of our work, leading to plenty of fruitful reflection on how we might find and follow God in our economic lives. Continue Reading...

December 04, 2019

Catholic social teaching is for all of life

Senator Marco Rubio’s interest in Catholic social teaching is exciting even if confused in its economic analysis and public policy recommendations. On the Acton Line Podcast released today I discuss with Fr. Continue Reading...

November 07, 2019

The vocation of a country vet: Creative service in ‘All Creatures Great and Small’

Lately, I’ve been watching All Creatures Great and Small, the television adaption of James Herriot’s best-selling books. Alongside the beautiful vistas of the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales, the viewer also catches a glimpse of a difficult but rewarding vocation: veterinary practice in a (then) highly agricultural community. Continue Reading...

October 23, 2019

Celebrating ‘intrapreneurship’: The power of employee-innovators

In our pursuit of economic prosperity and progress, we tend to focus heavily on the role of the entrepreneur—and rightly so. Many of the world’s most transformative discoveries have come from people willing to take significant risks and endure painful sacrifices to bring new enterprises to life. Continue Reading...

October 07, 2019

Free kids, free society: Overcoming the myths of ‘safetyism’

As America’s “great awokening” continues to unfold, we see the emergence of a peculiar new brand of safetyism and self-protectionism. Whether observed in the range of student-led riots and intimidation efforts at college campuses or the fear-mongering of white nationalists, the foundations of liberal democracy are increasingly being called into question—all that a select set of personal beliefs, fears, and anxieties might somehow be appeased. Continue Reading...

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