Localism

June 27, 2017

When progressive business owners oppose the $15 minimum wage

Progressives are known for making blanket denunciations of “corporate greed” with little distinction or discernment, rushing to support a range of regulations, price controls, and market manipulations to mitigate the supposed vices of free and open exchange. Continue Reading...

August 03, 2016

What Eric Whitacre’s ‘virtual choir’ teaches us about globalization and community

The rise of globalization and the expansion of trade are continuously decried for their disruptive effects, particularly as they apply to “authentic community.” Indeed, our strides in global connectedness have often come at a local cost, with the small and familiar being routinely replaced by the big and blurry, the intimate with the superficial, and so on. Continue Reading...

October 07, 2015

In the Quest for Globalization, Let’s Not Forget About ‘Internal’ Free Trade

“Globalization must do more than connect elites and big businesses that have the legal means to expand their markets, create capital, and increase their wealth.” –Hernando de Soto When assessing the causes of the recent boom in global prosperity, economists and analysts will point much of their praise to the power of free trade and globalization, and rightly so. Continue Reading...

September 30, 2015

How ‘Buy-One, Give-One’ Models Can Dilute Charity and Hurt Local Economies

The highly popular “buy-one, give-one” models — as epitomized by the popular TOMS Shoes brand — have long held the attention of Western do-gooders. It’s quick, it’s easy, and hey, people like the shoes. Continue Reading...

June 29, 2015

Are We Better Off if We Buy Local?

Over the past few decades buying locally produced goods and services over those produced farther away has become increasingly fashionable. However, this “modern” trend is really a reversion to an earlier period when most all products were produced and bought from people in a localized area. Continue Reading...

June 11, 2015

Isolation and Self-Sufficiency: The Logical Ends of Protectionism

When it comes to free trade, critics insist that it hurts the American worker — kicking them while they’re down and slowly eroding the communal fabric of mom-and-pops, longstanding trades, and factory towns. Continue Reading...

March 15, 2013

Rod Dreher on Community, Calling, and Life with Limits

In his forthcoming book, author and journalist Rod Dreher chronicles his journey back to his hometown of St. Francisville, Louisiana, in “the wake of his younger sister Ruthie’s death.” After spending time in St. Continue Reading...

November 28, 2011

A Person’s a Person, No Matter How Far

Glenn Barkan, retired dean of Aquinas College’s School of Arts and Sciences here in Grand Rapids, had a piece worth reading in the local paper over the weekend related the current trend (fad?) Continue Reading...

October 13, 2011

Belloc, Distributism and Political Power

I can always find common ground with the Distributists I meet. We want to replace the government-corporate cronyism that characterizes so much of our current economic system. And we want our culture to raise up young people with the skills, virtues and freedom to accumulate productive capital and invest it in ways that promote human flourishing for themselves and others. Continue Reading...

March 02, 2011

Olasky on the New-Old Local

Acton senior fellow Marvin Olasky has the cover story for the upcoming issue of WORLD magazine, and it’s worth reading in full, “The revival of localism.” Olasky’s basic narrative focuses on “young men and women who understand that they are Christian pilgrims in this world—but they expect to stay in one place, making friends and being of service, unless and until God moves them on.” Continue Reading...