Latest Posts

June 10, 2020

Understanding Pinochet

Writing a biography of someone like General Augusto Pinochet is fraught with potential pitfalls. Does it become an exercise in whitewashing someone whose regime oversaw a brutal repression which included the “disappearing” of approximately 2,228 people? Continue Reading...
June 09, 2020

Riots and the broken window fallacy

The cost of the nine days of rioting following George Floyd’s death has already exceeded $100 million. Yet some economists believe that damage actually benefits our country. In the epicenter of the riots, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has appealed to the federal and state governments to foot the bill for the destruction, which stands at a preliminary estimate of $55 million. Continue Reading...
June 05, 2020

‘Little England’ comes to Hong Kong’s rescue

As U.S. cities seek to rebuild from chaos, Hong Kong continues to resist the imposition of order—a draconian order emanating from Beijing that will crush freedom of thought and expression. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has intervened with an historic proposal: He would allow nearly half the citizens of Hong Kong to immigrate to the UK. Continue Reading...
June 05, 2020

Kuyper, Pope Leo XIII and the social question today

I was a guest on the Working Man podcast this week, discussing the connections between the Dutch theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper and Pope Leo XIII. In 1891 both Leo and Kuyper published important documents providing Christian reflection on the “social question.” Continue Reading...
June 04, 2020

Finding civil society as Minneapolis burns

On May 25, George Floyd was murdered on the streets of Minneapolis, killed by “asphyxiation from sustained pressure” after his neck was pressed for over eight minutes under the knee of a police officer—a supposed public servant who was sworn to “serve and protect.” Continue Reading...
June 03, 2020

Black looting victim: Our business ‘is our ministry’

The nation has reached a baffling moment in our history: looting and torching minority-owned businesses for racial equality. The weeklong pandemic of mob violence following the death of George Floyd has destroyed minority business owners’ dreams, denied young minorities jobs, and left neighborhoods depleted, depressed, and alone. Continue Reading...
June 02, 2020

What turns protests into riots?

On Saturday night, the riots came to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Vandals looted and damaged 100 businesses and destroyed seven police cars. Officers are now seeking photos and videos to track down rioters. Continue Reading...