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Articles by Joseph Sunde
To Reenchant Our Lives, It’s Kenosis All the Way Down
The American entertainment complex has long been decried as blindly marching toward moral degradation—distorting the truth, indulging the profane, and opting for stories latent with a nihilistic detachment and despair. And yet something has started to shift in the cultural imagination. Recent blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick, Project Hail Mary, and James Gunn’s Superman have all built their successes on sunny optimism and traditional hero archetypes.
A Gentleman in Moscow Is More than Mere Entertainment
When Vladimir Lenin seized control of Russia in 1917, his Bolshevik government ended centuries of autocratic rule, replacing it with an all-consuming tyranny of its own. Within half a century, over 18 million Russians would pass through forced-labor camps and more than 25 million would be dead. The Soviets would spend years trying to control and contort the country’s moral and social norms for the cause of communism.
Frederick Douglass Found Hope on the Fourth of July
On July 5, 1852, nearly a decade before the start of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass, a freed slave and statesman-abolitionist, offered a profound speech on seeing the Fourth of July through the eyes of a slave. The speech — commonly known as “What to a slave is the 4th of July?” — illuminates the Read Full Article » Show comments Hide Comments
How Frederick Douglass found hope on the Fourth of July
On July 5, 1852, nearly a decade before the start of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass, a freed slave and statesman-abolitionist, offered a profound speech on seeing the Fourth of July through the eyes of a slave. The speech — commonly known as “What to a slave is the 4th of July?” — illuminates the drastic disconnect between our founding principles and the severe oppression of slavery that somehow managed to endure.
Eric Kohn
Eric Kohn is director of communications at the Acton Institute. In that role, he works to bring Acton's vision of a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles to a wider audience. Prior to joining Acton, Eric was director of community management at the Illinois Policy Institute, one of the nation's premier state-based think tanks. He was also the founder and CEO of Curious Task Strategies, a public affairs consulting firm.
David Mills
David Mills is a senior editor of The Stream and a columnist for several Catholic publications. Posts by David Mills January 27, 2022 In the classic way of religious institutions, the pope picked up the term just as it seems to be going out of regular usage. It feels a bit like yesterday’s news. Continue Reading...
Paul Kengor
Paul Kengor, Ph.D., is professor of political science at Grove City College in Grove City, Penn. He is author of nearly 20 books, including "A Pope and a President" and his most recent, "The Devil and Karl Marx." Posts by Paul Kengor January 21, 2022 “I broke sharply with all questions of religion,” said Vladimir Lenin, with typical vituperation.
Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola
The Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola is bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland. Posts by Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola January 12, 2022 On April 29, 2021, the prosecutor general of Finland decided to bring charges against me and Member of Parliament Mrs. Päivi Räsänen. We will be summoned to the Helsinki district court for the court session on January 24, 2022. Continue Reading...
Rachel Ferguson
Rachel Ferguson is a professor of business ethics, assistant dean of the College of Business, and director of the Free Enterprise Center at Concordia University Chicago. She is a board member for LOVEtheLOU, a neighborhood stabilization ministry in North St. Louis; the Freedom Center of Missouri; and ReThink315. She is also on the editorial board of the Journal of Religion, Culture & Democracy.
Peter Chattaway
Peter T. Chattaway is a freelance film critic who has written for Christianity Today, Books & Culture, and BC Christian News. He has also contributed essays to several books about movie adaptations of the Bible, including "Re-Viewing The Passion," "Scandalizing Jesus?," "The Bible in Motion," and "The T&T Clark Handbook on Jesus and Film." He keeps a blog, "FilmChat," at Patheos.com and lives in Surrey, British Columbia.
Samuel Gregg
is director of research at the Acton Institute. He has written and spoken extensively on questions of political economy, economic history, ethics in finance, and natural law theory. He has an MA in political philosophy from the University of Melbourne, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in moral philosophy and political economy from the University of Oxford.
Doug Bandow
Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. A former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author of several books, including Foreign Follies: America’s New Global Empire. Posts by Doug Bandow January 05, 2022 Communism has spawned only one full-scale monarchy: the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. On December 17, 2011, 70-year-old Dear Leader Kim Jong-il died.
Trey Dimsdale
Trey Dimsdale serves as counsel for First Liberty Institute (FLI) and executive director of the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, an FLI initiative focused on education and cultural advocacy for freedom. Posts by Trey Dimsdale January 03, 2022 Earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Carson v. Makin.
Beyond material prosperity, economic freedom fosters virtue and relationship
In addition to boosting material welfare, capitalism has the potential to strengthen the bonds of a virtuous society, inspiring sacrifice, generosity, trust, patience, friendship, self-governance, and more. […] Read More… In defending the cause of economic freedom, it can be easy to focus only on the material fruits, whether it be new innovations and efficiencies or the ongoing expansion of opportunity and abundance.
Czechs vote communists out of parliament
While the latest election marks a decisive symbolic victory against communism and progressivism, it’s but one development in a larger realignment marked by a mix of populism and centrism. […] Read More… Since 1925, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia has had a seat at the table in Czech parliaments.
The current labor crisis started before the pandemic and has much to teach us
The United States is facing a labor shortage of epic proportions. With over 10 million jobs currently available and almost 9 million available workers waiting on the sidelines, “the U.S. now has more job openings than any time in history,” according to NBC News. The Biden administration surely bears some of the blame, having worked persistently to overextend federal unemployment benefits and distort return-to-work incentives well past the darkest days of the pandemic.
Rising to the challenges of ‘so-so automation’
If we assume a chaos narrative, humans have little hope of competing with our robotic competitors. But through the lens of God’s creative design, humans become protagonists in a bigger, more mysterious story of economic abundance. […] Read More… Fears about job loss and human obsolescence continue to consume the cultural imagination, compounded by ongoing strides in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
For nature and neighbor: A Christian vision of work and the economy
We are routinely told that work is just a tool for our survival – that if purpose is to be found, it’s in personal provision and personal success. Thankfully, the Christian vision is far richer than this. […] Read More… Abounding in freedom and plenty, Americans continue to grapple with competing forms of workism and careerism, struggling to find meaning and identity in an increasingly secular age.
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.
Welcoming the stranger: The dignity and promise of Afghan refugees
The Taliban has rapidly retaken Afghanistan, just weeks before the final withdrawal of U.S. troops. With the country bracing for another wave of oppression, thousands of Afghans have fled to the airport in Kabul, hoping to escape the return of sectarian violence and tyrannical rule. Social media was soon filled with shocking videos of the crisis, marked by chaotic scenes of desperate Afghans clinging to American transport planes as they readied for take-off.
A disconnected society: Americans have replaced relationships, civic involvement with ‘games and spectacles’
The decline of civil society has become a running theme of social and political commentary, marked by disruptions in marriage and family, diminishing church attendance, and the dilution of social capital. Wherever one looks, community life seems to be fading. Why?
Finding meaning in work: Christian vocation means working with ‘holy intent’
America’s new secular religions of “workism” and “careerism” are leading to all sorts of cultural decay, from cults of self-esteem to the decline of the family and beyond. Our work has plenty of meaning, but without the right moral foundation and transcendent focus, our quests for economic purpose can quickly devolve into a base idolatry of the self. When individualism becomes the driving force of our meaning-making, anxiety and alienation are sure to follow.
Rugged entrepreneurs: How the ‘frontier experience’ shapes economic cultures
In our efforts to spur economic growth and retain American dynamism, we tend to be overly consumed by surface-level tweaks to our economic systems. Yet economists continue to discover that the distinguishing features of flourishing societies are more readily found at the levels of culture.
Sunde: Biden’s minimum wage proposal would prolong pandemic pain
By Joseph Sunde - Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, America’s planning class has relied on a predictable mix of so-called stimulusand monetarist tricks to curb the pain of economic disruption. Such heavy-handed interventionism has long been misguided, but for many, the government’s efforts have not gone far enough. Last spring, California Gov.
Sunde: The forgotten child: Pandemic policies are leaving kids behind
By Joseph Sunde - The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed many victims, from the millions who have contracted the virus directly to many others who continue to endure its social and economic disruptions. The suffering has been particularly acute for the children who continue to be confined at home, whether struggling to adapt to remote-learning regimens or remaining mysteriously absent altogether. For low-income and minority families, in particular, the road is even more difficult.
Cuba Loosens Restrictions on Private Businesses to Battle COVID-19
Over the past decade, Cuba’s private sector has experienced slow-but-steady growth thanks to a mix of entrepreneurial grit and incremental policy changes. Although the Communist government continues to waffle on the scope and duration of various restrictions, the number of self-employed Cubans has risen from 150,000 to 600,000 since 2010 – that is, until the outbreak of the global health pandemic. COVID-19 has brought new challenges to the Cuban economy.
What’s driving the decline of religion in America? Secular education
In his observations about 19th-century America, Alexis de Tocqueville pointed to religion as the first of the country’s political institutions—sweeping in its influence on our customs and powerful in its propensity to preempt and prevent tyranny. Yet today, American religiosity is in decline. Weekly church attendance is trending downward, as is self-identification with a formal religion, denomination or belief system.
Secular Education Drives American Religion's Decline
In his observations about 19th-century America, Alexis de Tocqueville pointed to religion as the first of the country’s political institutions – sweeping in its influence on our customs and powerful in its propensity to preempt and prevent tyranny. Yet today, American religiosity is in decline. Weekly church attendance is trending downward, as is self-identification with a formal religion, denomination or belief system.
Secular Education Drives American Religion's Decline
In his observations about 19th-century America, Alexis de Tocqueville pointed to religion as the first of the country’s political institutions – sweeping in its influence on our customs and powerful in its propensity to preempt and prevent tyranny. Yet today, American religiosity is in decline. Weekly church attendance is trending downward, as is self-identification with a formal religion, denomination or belief system.
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.
Chick-fil-A’s fast-food witness: Lessons on ‘Christian business’
Over the past decade, Chick-fil-A has rapidly risen as a leading contender in the fast-food wars, with soaring sales, ever-increasing market share, and a strong reputation for hospitality and customer satisfaction. In the last year alone, revenue rose by 16.7% to $10.5 billion, making Chick-fil-A the third largest restaurant chain in the United States.
Why ‘Young Hearts’ Tend Toward Socialism
The common clichés about “kid socialists” are now well-embedded in the American imagination. The path is well-worn: young person attends college, reads Karl Marx in Sociology 101, buys Che Guevara t-shirt, attends progressive protests, supports socialistic candidates, and, eventually, grows up. That’s a bit of an oversimplification, of course. But it’s also a bit of a thing. Why?
Let’s Talk About Big, Bad, Greedy Capitalism
“When you see the greed and the concentration of power, did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism and whether greed is a good idea to run on?” That question was famously asked by Phil Donahue to economist Milton Friedman in a popular exchange from 1979. If you’re a defender of free markets, it’s a question you’ve surely wrestled with.
The Virtues of Boredom in an Anxious Age
Today’s parents are fixated on setting their children on strategic paths to “success”— cramming their days with lessons, sports, clubs, camps, and so on. The goal: to enrich their kids’ lives with new knowledge and experiences. Or, more commonly, “to keep them busy.” We do the same for ourselves, of course, stocking our calendars with tasks and activities and our free time with the excessive consumption of media and entertainment.
Joy For The World: The True Source Of Our Economic Witness
Before and beyond the Christmas season, let us surrender any primary allegiances to contrived cultural action. Instead, we have a far greater task: to draw from and rest in the joy of God in Christ in all that we do. Let it flow and overflow in and throughout our daily lives, all while remembering that the distinct difference of the life sacrificed unto Christ—“the work of the Spirit in our minds, hearts, and lives”—also happens to be the best light for civilization.
Study: The opportunity costs of ‘soft socialism’
Democratic socialism is on the rise in America, inspired by Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential run and recent midterm victories by outspoken advocates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib. But while the movement emphasizes “popular” vs. “state” control, glazing socialist rhetoric with democratic and communitarian vocabulary, how different is the movement from socialist manifestations of the past? What might it portend for the future of the American economy and broader society?
Video: Samuel Gregg on Russell Kirk’s contributions to conservatism
This is the fourth in a series celebrating the work of Russell Kirk in honor of his 100th birthday this October. Read more from the series here. On October 3, Acton’s Director of Research, Samuel Gregg, joined a panel at the American Enterprise Institute to commemorate the life and legacy of Russell Kirk, one of the leading American intellectuals of conservative thought.
From ideology to imagination: How Russell Kirk brought me back to conservatism
This is the third in a series celebrating the work of Russell Kirk in honor of his 100th birthday this October. Read more from the series here. As a young college student entering the fray of campus debates, I became enthralled with a particular variety of libertarian thought. Though once a conservative, I began to pack my brain with the likes of Bastiat, Mises, Hayek, and Rothbard. I grew confident in my opinions about policy and was proud of the ideological consistency that held them all together.
Conquering Famine: 3 Reasons Global Hunger Is On The Decline
“Worked with the governments of Mexico, India and Pakistan to introduce a combination of modern agricultural production techniques and his new high-yield wheat varieties. As a result, Mexico became a net exporter of wheat by 1963. Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India, greatly improving the food security in the subcontinent.
Study Debunks 'Find Your Passion' Advice
Americans love to say things like "follow your passion," "pursue your dreams," or "do what you love and love what you do." But do these mantras truly represent the path to vocational clarity, personal fulfillment, and human flourishing?
Workplace as community in an age of isolation
Despite the countless blessings of modernity, expansions in freedom and economic prosperity have been accompanied by a widespread decrease in community involvement and steady increase in loneliness.
Startup Cuba: Lessons from the country’s emerging entrepreneurs
Although the Cuban people continue to suffer and struggle under the weight of communist rule, many have been encouraged by even the slightest of Raul Castro’s incremental changes toward private businesses. Out of a total population of roughly 11 million, the number of self-employed Cubans has risen from 150,000 to 500,000 in recent years.
The logic of the soul: 6 quotes from Whittaker Chambers’ ‘Letter to My Children’
In a recent Acton lecture, Greg Forster highlights the work of Whittaker Chambers, the former Soviet spy who converted to Christianity and became one of the most influential public voices in the fight against Communism. Chambers’ most famous and enduring work, Witness, is an astounding personal memoir and a literary treasure.
‘The Economics of Apocalypse’: Billy Graham’s sermon on money and materialism
In light of Reverend Billy Graham’s recent passing, we’d do well to pause and reflect on his life and legacy, which was defined by the spreading of the Gospel, and doing so in a way that inspired deep faith and authentic relationship with Jesus. Although Rev.
'A Christmas Carol' Teaches Key Lessons in the Christian Vocation
“Is Christmas too materialistic?
How Our Culture Came to Scorn Physical Work
As economic prosperity continues to spread, and as the American economy completes its transition into the age of information, manual labor is increasingly cast down in the popular imagination. When our youth navigate and graduate from high school, they receive a range of pressures to attend four-year colleges and pursue various “white-collar” careers, whether in finance or law or tech or the academy.
When Lightning McQueen brought jobs to rural America
“Main street isn’t main street anymore. No one seems to need us like they did before.” Americans continue to face the violent winds of economic change, whether stemming from technology, trade, or globalization.
Acton Institute PowerBlog - Promoting free societies characterized by liberty & religious principles
In an age of continuous economic disruption and social fragmentation, what can possibly hold society together? Many are quick to turn to politics for such answers, pushing for increased price controls, trade barriers, and subsidies to prevent or mitigate the effects of such change. Others are just as quick to shrug off the disruption altogether, encouraging faith in “economic progress” and the enduring promise of productivity.
How free trade fosters a creative, collaborative world
In their defenses of free trade, advocates routinely focus only on the long-term, economic benefits, and understandably so. The overall expansion of trade in recent years has led to greater economic growth, innovation, and prosperity for all, including America. Protectionist policies may offer immediate relief and security, including a host of short-term political and economic solutions and benefits for particular industries or corporations.
Does globalization destroy culture?
Globalization is routinely decried for its disruptive effects, particularly as it relates to local culture and community enterprises and institutions. Even as it’s proven to drive significant economic growth, questions remain about its steamrolling influence on the culture. “Even if we grant that global competitive markets create prosperity, is it worth the fast food chains and the big box chains we see everywhere we go?” asks Michael Miller in an excerpt from PovertyCure.
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