Our Politics Will Improve When We Turn Off Our Phones

That probably sounds counterintuitive.

Your phone updates you on what’s happening in your hometown and in the country.

It gives you the power to document and share events, good and bad.

So . . .

How Is Going Offline Supposed to Help?

Writer Casey Chalk believes going offline will help soothe tensions and improve our politics.

Drawing on the wisdom of Alexis de Tocqueville and Cal Newport, he argues:

We can improve our communities and relationships in ways more effective than activism
Our phones obscure our most important civic duties

The real question is, Are we willing to put down our phones and do the hard work?

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CATEGORY: ECONOMICS (6 min)

The Father of Capitalism and the Abolition of Slavery

Was the slave trade responsible for the Industrial Revolution?

That’s what some historians (*cough*, activists) will claim.

So let’s talk about Adam Smith.

Adam Smith: Slavery Is Evil and Hurts the Economy

In Quillette, Matthew Lesh explores Smith’s classic works.

Turns out Adam Smith had moral arguments against slavery—and economic ones.

He was one of those early “angels” who argued against slavery before the abolition movement was a thing.

Is he an antidote to academic activism?

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CATEGORY: POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (44 min)

The Constitution of Church and State

There’s still hot debate about whether America is a Christian nation.

To appreciate just how steeped in Christianity America is, you have to brush up on your history.

Listen as Professor Jason Jewell sketches the historical—and tumultuous—development of the relationship between church and state.

Listen Now

What Does the Common Good Look Like Now?

There’s a lot of debate right now about the common good.

And how those debates play out will make a huge difference for the future of conservatism . . . and of the country.

Join us on Thursday, July 2, at 7 p.m. ET with Robert P. George, America’s “most influential conservative Christian thinker” (New York Times Magazine).

Robert P. George will answer such questions as:

Just what IS the “common good” anyway?
Is the common good compatible with liberty and individual rights?
Are there dangers in going too far in pursuit of the common good?

Spots are limited, so reserve yours now.

Reserve Your Spot

"The foundations of our country are not irredeemably racist. Abolition, women's suffrage, desegregation, the Civil Rights movement - these were not appeals to overthrow our values, these were demands that we fulfill them." Marco Rubio

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