the stream

May 01, 2019

Rev. Ben Johnson: The socialist bizarro world of David Bentley Hart

When you come across a think piece so catastrophically wrong as David Bentley Hart’s April 27 New York Times column, “Can We Please Relax About ‘Socialism’?” you marvel at the effort, intentional or not. Continue Reading...

May 19, 2016

Sanders’ Policies Won’t Get Us Scandinavian ‘Socialism’

Today at The Stream, I examine the dissonance between the goals of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and his recommended means: [W]hile Sanders’ goals may seem comparable to Scandinavia, there’s little Nordic about his means. Continue Reading...

February 15, 2016

Is Donald Trump a mercantilist?

Being “pro business” doesn’t necessarily mean “pro free markets.” Reality TV star and wannabe Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump reminds us of this. Writing for The Stream, Acton’s Director of Research, Samuel Gregg, argues that not only does Trump seem to be a mercantilist, but, if implemented, this medieval economic system would weaken the United States. Continue Reading...

September 16, 2015

Video: Jonathan Witt On Tolkien’s Vision Of Freedom

As we prepare to kick off the fall portion of the 2015 Acton Lecture Series tomorrow (featuring Don Devine speaking about how America can find its way back to a harmony between freedom and tradition), we take a look back at the final lecture of the spring series, which was delivered on May 21 by Jonathan Witt, who aside from being a former English professor, a Research and Media Fellow at the Acton Institute, and Managing Editor of The Stream, is also the co-author of The Hobbit Party: The Vision of Freedom That Tolkien Got, and the West Forgot. Continue Reading...

July 13, 2015

The Pope’s Economic Populism. It’s a Problem.

Acton’s Director of Research, Samuel Gregg, recently wrote a piece for The Stream about Pope Francis and his visit throughout Latin America. This part of the world is dominated by “leftist-populist governments.” Continue Reading...

July 10, 2015

Living The Hamster Or The Hobbit Life

When it comes to urban planning, nobody beats the Soviets. First, they wanted to plan: no mish-mosh, haphazard cities, towns and burgs sprouting up like in the decadent West. Of course, structures had to address equality. Continue Reading...

June 22, 2015

Dear Patriarch And Archbishop: When You Preach, You Should Sound Like Christians

Dylan Pahman has a bit of an issue with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. It seems the two have written an op-ed for the New York Times in response to Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. Continue Reading...

June 22, 2015

A Healthy Dose Of Skepticism For Scientific Consensus

My husband and I had a conversation about science on the way home from church yesterday. Since he is a scientist, it drives him a little buggy when people talk about “consensus” as a way to come to a scientific conclusion, or that scientific facts can be “bent” to uphold a particular opinion or viewpoint. Continue Reading...

June 10, 2015

Radio Free Acton: Partying with Hobbits and Jonathan Witt

On this edition of Radio Free Acton, your humble host bravely battles a late-spring cold to bring you an interview with Jonathan Witt, Managing Editor at TheStream.org, and author of The Hobbit Party: The Vision of Freedom that Tolkien Got and The West Forgot. Continue Reading...

May 11, 2015

Raising The Minimum Wage Is The Right Thing To Do: Wherein Robert Reich Gets It All Wrong

Robert Reich seems to be a smart man. He served under three presidents, and now is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Continue Reading...

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