Tag Archives: capitalism

Form v. Change: Gay Marriage, Thomism, Capitalism, and Evolution

Posted on April 15, 2015 by

I’ve had a modest insight: the dividing line that I’ve been trying to articulate between Thomists and myself surrounding gay marriage can actually be pretty succinctly stated: Thomists take clues from the nature of form to guide them in how … Continue reading →

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Feminism is not “Anti-Science”

Posted on June 10, 2013 by

Some amusing and idiotic hand-wringing from an all-male panel over the fact that 4 in ten households in the United States now have a woman as the primary breadwinner. You would never know, based on this conversation, that nothing is … Continue reading →

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The Bible Verse Reinhold Niebuhr Chose As Most Essential

Posted on March 26, 2013 by

If but one Bible verse survived after a global cataclysm, what verse would you hope got preserved? The famous theologian Reinhold Niebuhr was asked this question in 1954 of a magazine editor, and here was his response: The passage of … Continue reading →

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A (Dark) Thought for Spring

Posted on March 22, 2013 by

Sara Davis, writing for The Smart Set website from Drexel University, links contemporary zombie fascination with vanitas still life Dutch paintings (and Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible): [T]oday’s bogeyman and morality tale is a decaying body, a walking (or running) … Continue reading →

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Motivational Speaker Dies

Posted on November 28, 2012 by

That would be Zig Ziglar. He was 86. __________ This is part of the New York Times obituary: “Our whole philosophy’s built around the concept that you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough … Continue reading →

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Is Evolution Not Just True, But Good (Something To Be Embraced)?

Posted on August 16, 2012 by

Jared Burton has written a beautiful and soulful folk song capturing humanity’s uncomfortable and ambivalent relationship to evolution. I find the lyrics emotionally and intellectually challenging. But I can’t decide if I agree or not with the orientation to Nature … Continue reading →

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Paul Ryan’s Ayn Rand Problem: Not Atheism, but Selfishness

Posted on August 11, 2012 by

Paul Ryan, as is well known, has recently attempted to distance himself from Ayn Rand’s influence on his thought, most specifically her atheism, but if he becomes Mitt Romney’s running mate, it’s not Rand’s atheism, but her advocacy of selfishness–one … Continue reading →

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Bill Maher on How Mitt Romney Got His Money

Posted on July 31, 2012 by
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What’s the Difference Between an Environmentalist and a Free Market Conservative?

Posted on July 25, 2012 by

Actually, not that much.  Both are children of the Romantic tradition, but whereas one is enamored of nature, the other is enamored of capitalism. One posits leaving nature (with its natural selections) alone; the other posits leaving the market (with … Continue reading →

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Adam Smith and Capitalism for Beginners

Posted on July 4, 2012 by

One of the books the Scottish philosopher Adam Smith (1723-1790) wrote, The Wealth of Nations (1776), theorizes about the nature of capitalism. The word “capitalism” derives from the word capital, itself deriving from the Latin word caput, meaning head (as … Continue reading →

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Karl Marx for Beginners

Posted on June 24, 2012 by

First, let’s get a handle on two terms: bourgeoisie and proletariat. Bourgeoisie comes from the French word for those who live behind walls; those who dwell in bourgs, fortified market towns. For example, in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), a book-length allegory of the … Continue reading →

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John Gray Skewers Slavoj Zizek

Posted on June 23, 2012 by

In the New York Review of Books, John Gray’s review of Slavoj Zizek’s career and most recent book, Less Than Nothing, is damning. At bottom, Gray pegs Zizek as an armchair revolutionary lending intellectual and moral support to terrorism and … Continue reading →

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Sweatshops Are A Good Thing?

Posted on June 12, 2012 by

I’m uncomfortable with the arguments made in the below video, but I can’t think of any holes in them. And the calm rationality on display seems to invite complacency. But I was already complacent.

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Chris Hedges the Prophet: Liberal Democracy Headed for Breakdown

Posted on April 25, 2012 by

Chris Hedges thinks the writing is on the wall, Nebuchadnezzar. In his most recent essay at Truthdig (“The Globalization of Hollow Politics”), he writes the following: A breakdown of liberal democracy [in the United States], which seems to be where we … Continue reading →

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Can You Have Your Lent and Capitalism Too?

Posted on February 26, 2012 by

This past week, have you been indulging or denying yourself? The warring sides of human existence—the selfishly sensual and the altruistic—are brutally depicted in the below painting by Pieter Bruegal titled, “The Fight Between Carnival and Lent” (1559). At left … Continue reading →

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Mitt Romney, Playing the Demagogue, Tells an Occupy Protester to Love America or Leave It

Posted on January 20, 2012 by

In the below video is some shameless demagogic grandstanding on the part of Mitt Romney. In it, he tells an Occupy protester that his concerns are not American. The exchange says a lot about Romney. The Occupy protester asks him … Continue reading →

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When the Western Atlas Shrugs: The Economic Consequences of the Islamic Brotherhood Ruling Egypt

Posted on January 16, 2012 by

The majority of Egyptians are on the verge of getting their wish—a theocratic state—but they may rue the day that they did. The following quote comes from Middle East analyst Theodore May, and appeared as part of an opinion piece … Continue reading →

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Is This Mitt Romney’s Way of Flipping the Bird at the Losers He Conned and Fired?

Posted on January 15, 2012 by

There’s something deeply tribal about the below image of Mitt Romney with his buddies at Bain Capital in 1984. It’s more than just an expression of joy at making money: it’s the glee of spiking a football before the losers … Continue reading →

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Mitt Romney Campaign Theme Song Suggestion: Live and Let Die

Posted on January 12, 2012 by

After watching, dumbfounded, “When Mitt Romney Came to Town“—the 28 minute documentary on Mitt Romney’s shenanigans at Bain Capital (the one put out by Newt Gingrich’s wealthy friends), I think Romney’s campaign theme song should be Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let … Continue reading →

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When Mitt Romney Came to Town: Watch the Full 28 Minute Documentary Here

Posted on January 11, 2012 by

I just watched the full 28 minute documentary on Mitt Romney’s shenanigans at Bain Capital—the one put out by Newt Gingrich’s wealthy friends. It’s emotionally manipulative, but, I must admit, it’s extremely damning—really devastating. Vulture capitalism indeed seems to be a … Continue reading →

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