The media is full of dire reports on the state of the nation’s supply chains. Ships are backed up at harbors as the nation rushes to get foreign materials and goods into American factories and stores. Immediate concerns about holiday shortages are followed by ominous predictions of the imminent collapse of supply systems. The situation … Read more
The media is full of dire reports on the state of the nation’s supply chains. Ships are backed up at harbors as the nation rushes to get foreign materials and goods into American factories and stores. Immediate concerns about holiday shortages are followed by ominous predictions of the imminent collapse of supply systems. The situation … Read more
Consumers are long accustomed to getting whatever they want when they want it. The frenetic intemperance of having everything instantly and effortlessly defines consumer society. Manufacturers accommodate the immediate expectations by organizing seamless supply lines worldwide that get everything to its destination “just in time.” This world of instant gratification is breaking down. Suddenly consumers … Read more
We are used to thinking about COVID-19 as a health disaster. However, it is also an economic one. COVID suffocates the body by preventing air from entering the lungs. In a COVID economy, we have flooded the system with money and suffocated the nation with debt. The decrees of the Federal Reserve work like a … Read more
Many claim the inebriating idea of unlimited choice is an expression of a marvelous consumer culture. They might even say that the frenetic intemperance of having endless possibilities is the essence of freedom. It does not matter if people cannot exercise even a fraction of these options as long as the choices are there. In … Read more
Little remains of the vast edifice of family, community and faith relationships that once unified and anchored the American way of life. These things have not disappeared from the horizon. They are still important, but they have deteriorated. There is no more consensus about what they mean, and they no longer serve as anchors of … Read more
The book, Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here and Where We Need to Go helps people understand better where we went wrong in our society and culture. Author John Horvat II provides insights into our society in crisis. He also outlines what a … Read more
Not unlike the times of Our Lord, we live in the paradox of a world in disorder yet under the appearance of order. Beneath the veneer of optimism and prosperity, many people experience lives of trial and suffering due to the lifestyles of frenetic intemperance they have adopted. Christmas is especially a time to address … Read more
A “frenetic intemperance” is destabilizing our economy. It is a restless, explosive and relentless drive inside man. It seeks to throw off all legitimate restraints and gratify all disordered passions. The Troubles We Now Face Because of “frenetic intemperance,” our economy is coming apart under crushing debt obligations: personal, corporate, state and local government, out-of-control federal … Read more
Like most teachers, I spent the first few years of my career just trying to keep my head above water, running as fast as I could to keep from falling behind. Then came a horrible realization. Nobody cared how hard I worked as long as enough students got A’s. Give grades that were high enough, … Read more
