Acton Line

Latest Episodes:

Nate Hochman on the intellectual energy of young conservatives Apr 28, 2021

Show notes

Today, we’re bringing you a conversation between our director of communications, Eric Kohn, and Nate Hochman about young conservatives and what’s happening today on the young right.

Nate is a Publius Fellow at the Claremont Institute, a previous contributor to Acton’s Religion & Liberty magazine, and, in my opinion, one of the sharpest and most interesting voices among the young conservatives out there.

This episode is a little different from previous episodes of Acton Line in that it’s much more a conversation between Nate and Eric than the typical interview we host. We hope that you find it interesting and revealing about where some of the intellectual energy is amongst young conservatives, what’s informing how they see the world, the state of the nation and of American culture, and how they think our national political and cultural problems should be addressed.

Toward a Conservative Environmentalism - Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman on Twitter (@njhochman)

Is Critical Race Theory un-American?

Rise of the national conservatives with Matthew Continetti

The particular genius of conservatism

The Virtue of Liberalism

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Helen Raleigh on how China’s aggression has backfired Apr 21, 2021

Show notes

In this episode we speak with Helen Raleigh on her new book, Backlash: How China’s Aggression has Backfired. This book sets out to provide a comprehensive overview of China’s domestic and international aggressions and how they overplayed their hand. We discuss China’s actions in the South China Sea, their cultural tyranny with their social credit system, oppressive international trade, and their handling of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Raleigh was born and raised in communist China, and has 1st hand experience of the cultural and political changes and the socialist experiments that millions of Chinese people had to endure - including her family.

In her book she writes, “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) likes to compare itself to the sun. The party has wielded the power to determine the life and death of over one billion people for more than seventy years and is resolved to maintain such control for many more years to come. No matter how many skyscrapers arise in China, no matter how much China’s economy has shifted to depend on international trade and access to international markets, the nature of the Chinese Communist Party has never changed and it never will.”

There are ongoing protests in Hong Kong, and an overwhelming international distrust in the CCP. The United States future with China is a great unknown with a new administration in the White House.

Backlash: How China's Aggression Has Backfired - Book

The Coming Global Backlash against China - Helen Raleigh

Helen Raleigh on how China is destroying Hong Kong's freedom - Acton Line

Helen Raleigh on how Communist China's coverup caused a pandemic - Acton Line

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Donald Devine on the enduring tension Apr 14, 2021

Show notes

Adam Smith once said, “Every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way, and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of any other man.”

In this episode, Acton brings you a conversation with political scientist and scholar, Dr. Donald Devine and Eric Kohn, director of communications here at the Acton Institute. Devine’s new book, The Enduring Tension: Capitalism and the Moral Order, is a much needed commentary on the sustaining nature of morality and the free market. Devine states that in order for free markets to thrive, there are two missing components: morality and tradition.

In his book, Devine writes, “The moral assumptions of the Western traditional mythos, in which individuals have been created free and equal, are indispensable to legitimizing a pluralist, federalist, traditionalist, capitalist society with free markets and localized powers under a limited central state — a society where liberty and order coexist in creative tension. If its legitimizing source is forgotten or denied, civilization will likely fail.” If our culture continues toward this steep path of socialism, what is left is an oppressive bureaucracy, and a centralized totalitarian government.

Devine writes that what truly sustains humanity derives from Judeo-Christian beliefs, beginning with the initial doctrine of God who made us in His own image, endowing us with a moral worth that exists permanently in every person. This was the faith of the American Founders.

The Fund for American Studies - Donald Devine

The Enduring Tension: capitalism and the moral order

Journal of Markets & Morality

Is there an intrinsic morality of the free market? - Acton Commentary

Free-market Economics - Acton Research

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Darrell Bock and Jonathan Armstrong on virtual reality church Apr 07, 2021

Show notes

Acton Line brings you a conversation with theologians Darrell Bock and Jonathan Armstrong, and Dan Churchwell -- Acton’s director of program outreach. In this episode, they discuss the pros and cons of virtual reality and its impact on Christian worship.

Bock and Armstrong recognize that the world is changing faster each day as we discover new ways of navigating this seemingly infinite digital space. According to the World Economic Forum, we are entering into a Fourth Industrial Age. This age is characterized by a fusion of technologies that blur the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.

In their book, Virtual Reality Church, Bock and Armstrong layout a strategy on how to joyfully communicate the teachings of Jesus Christ through disruptive technologies in this new digital age. They examine how this can affect how we worship in person, but also how we can leverage virtual reality to evangelize the Christian faith where many are persecuted. Virtual Reality Church is a guide on how to integrate revolutionary technologies into our everyday Christian life to be better evangelizers.

Virtual Reality Church

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Dylan Pahman on free speech and cancel culture Mar 31, 2021

Show notes

What is the difference between propriety and virtue, and how does this relate to the constant abuse of free speech we see today? According to economist and philosopher, Adam Smith, propriety is the extent to which our actions accord with social expectations; which themselves are subjective and you could say are relationally determined. Virtue, on the other hand, is the extent to which an action is well-intended and the extent to which it produces that intended result.

Acton Line brings you a conversation with Acton Institute’s Dylan Pahman, research fellow, and Eric Kohn, director of communications. Pahman is also the managing editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality, a peer reviewed academic journal published by The Acton Institute, that promotes intellectual exploration of the relationship between economics and morality from both a social science and theological perspective.

In this episode, they discuss free speech, the cancel culture, and the difference between propriety and virtue.

Journal of Markets & Morality

Clobbering free speech with the Constitution

The constitutional way to defeat cancel culture

The solution to ‘cancel culture’ is true community

Why do we embrace ‘cancel culture’?

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Trent Horn on Can a Catholic be a socialist? Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

We are bringing you a conversation with Trent Horn, staff apologist for Catholic Answers, and Eric Kohn, the director of communications here at Acton. In this episode, they discuss Horn’s new book, Can a Catholic be a Socialist?

Horn explains that, “Societal injustices are the result of deeper moral evils like greed, envy, indifference, and selfishness. However, simply reordering society so people aren’t poor can’t eliminate these vices (and doesn’t solve poverty, either).”

Some Catholics who claim to be socialists look at government as an altruistic solution - if done correctly - to solve all the world's problems with their infinite resources and boundless regulation. This simply just isn't the case. Horn writes that “Governments are really just groups of individuals who have been given weighty responsibilities. Those individuals are not immune to the effects of vice; in fact, the temptations that government officials face make them more susceptible to sin and the magnitude of the problems they face make them more prone to error."

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, socialism is dangerous. Government interference can and will threaten individual freedom and liberty. The Church teaches the principle of “subsidiarity,” which “opposes all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the establishment of true international order.”

We must work towards building a free and virtuous society. As long as humans are running our governments, there will be no “utopia.” The solution is not an overarching government, the solution starts and ends in our homes, where we build virtuous families, and care for our communities. As Horn puts it, “so we can have confidence and peace that in applying ourselves with hard work and diligence we can joyfully participate in God’s co-creation—a task we are urged to take up for the good of our families and our communities.”

Can a Catholic be a Socialist?

Is Raphael Warnock right that ‘the early church was a socialist church’?

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John Mackey on conscious leadership Mar 17, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Acton Institute president and co-founder Rev. Robert Sirico joins John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, to discuss Mackey’s new book, “Conscious Leadership.” This conversation was part of Acton Institute’s Business Matters online conference. Leading experts and CEOs discussed the current challenges, and ethical principles needed for businesses to thrive in the midst of COVID-19, civil unrest, and political turmoil.

A conscious leader, as Mackey defines it, is one who’s more conscious of their purpose, emotions, and what motivates them to move forward in a successful direction with their business. He says that “business people create the most value in the world more so than any government in history.”

A conscious leader creates value for their customers, employees, suppliers, investors, and communities. He furthers his point by saying that “there should be no contradiction between purpose and profit, as they belong together.”

Mackey, also the author of “Conscious Capitalism”, explains the benefits provided to society by entrepreneurs and the free market, while also discussing engaging topics like the effects of raising the federal minimum wage, Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods, and more.

Business Matters 2021 playlist

Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business

Conscious Capitalism and the Higher Purpose of Business

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Stephanie Slade on the future of fusionism Mar 10, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we are bringing you a conversation with Stephanie Slade, the managing editor of Reason Magazine, and Eric Kohn, the director of communications here at Acton. In this episode they discuss the philosophy of fusionism.

Slade writes that Fusionism is the marriage of two value sets: liberty & virtue. “Liberty - in the classical sense of freedom from aggression, coercion, and fraud; and virtue - in the Judeo-Christian sense of submission to God's commands.” In this unifying value set, we can see fusionism as a “distinct philosophical orientation unto itself.”

Rather than a tug of war between two philosophies which we see played out today, fusionism introduces the idea that liberty and virtue should have never been separated. With Fusionism, we see this unbreakable bond between these two philosophies. Thus people can freely choose to live out their individual rights and freely live out the teachings of Christianity.

The founding fathers believed that virtue and liberty were, according to Slade, “Mutually reinforcing—and that neither could survive long without the other. A free society depends on a virtuous populace.”

The question we explore in this episode is this: If a free society requires morality, how do we live virtuously in an age that rejects it?

Stephanie Slade - Reason Magazine

Is There a Future for Fusionism? - Stephanie Slade

The Future of Fusionism - Jordan Ballor

Fusionism and Western Civ - Jordan Ballor

Free marketers should take social conservatives’ concerns more seriously - Sam Gregg

The Conservative Fight over the Size of Government - Sam Gregg

Will-to-power conservatism with Stephanie Slade - Acton Line

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Scott Lincicome on the myth of deindustrialization Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

To listen to economic nationalists, national conservatives and certain politicians, you would believe that we’re in a period of mass deindustrialization. Employment in American manufacturing has been declining since the early 1980s. And manufacturing’s share of the economy has been declining since 1970. These trends, they argue, pose not just social and economic challenges to the country, but national security challenges, as well.

The response from some political leaders in Washington is arguments for increased economic protectionism, tariffs, and subsidies to shore up the American manufacturing sector and the support people who work in it.

But is deindustrialization really happening?

In this episode, we speak with Scott Lincicome, senior fellow in economic studies at the Cato Institute, about his new paper: “Manufactured Crisis: ‘Deindustrialization,’ Free Markets, and National Security.” In it, Lincicome argues that the data paint a picture of the American economy and manufacturing base that is strong and resilient, even as it and the larger economy undergo disruptions, the consequences of which are in most cases beneficial, and in other cases better addressed by policy choices other than protectionism.

Scott Lincicome - Cato Institute

Manufactured Crisis: “Deindustrialization,” Free Markets, and National Security - Scott Lincicome

Busting the ‘Deindustrialization’ Myth - Scott Lincicome

Tariffs (That Biden Won’t Remove) Threaten the U.S. Manufacturing Recovery (That Biden Wants) - Scott Lincicome

Scott Lincicome on how free trade benefits everyone - Acton Line

Scott Lincicome on how free traders crippled the free trade consensus - Acton Lecture Series

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Matthew Continetti on Rush Limbaugh's legacy Feb 24, 2021

Show notes

On February 17, 2021, conservative radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh passed away at the age of 70.

From his humble origins as a rock music DJ in Cape Girardeau, MO, Rush rose to become one of the most recognizable names and voices in radio history, media history and of the modern American political scene.

Enabled by the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, The Rush Limbaugh Show went national in 1988, bringing Rush and his “Excellence in Broadcasting” network to radios from coast to coast. At its peak, the program was heard on over 600 radio stations and attracted more than 20 million listeners a week.A cheerleader for conservative causes, Rush was no stranger to controversy. Indeed, in many ways he courted it by, in his own words, illustrating absurdity by being absurd. In doing so, he inspired derision from his opponents as well as the loyalty of his listening audience.

What is the significance of Rush Limbaugh to American conservatism and what influence did he have our modern political culture?

In this episode, we talk with Matthew Continetti, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, about Rush’s legacy and his place in conservative history and conservative politics.

Matthew Continetti - American Enterprise Institute

Rush Limbaugh, RIP: 6 quotations on socialism, the Founding Fathers, and life - Rev. Ben Johnson

Rush Limbaugh on clergy who accept socialism - Rev. Ben Johnson

Rise of the national conservatives with Matthew Continetti - Acton Line

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