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R.R. Reno is editor of First Things.

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Eliot and Liberalism

From First Thoughts

I‘ve been rereading T.S. Eliot's Idea of a Christian Society. He wrote the book as World War II was beginning. It was a time when many were questioning whether liberal democratic societies had any future. Fascism and Communism seemed the vital new movements that had the upper hand. The gist of . . . . Continue Reading »

While We're At It

From the January 2016 Print Edition

Crybullies. Roger Kimball coined the term to describe the students who both weep when speaking about how they feel “unsafe” and hound university leaders out of their jobs. As Kimball reports in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, when Amy Wax (a regular in our pages) spoke about affirmative . . . . Continue Reading »

Liberalism's Future

From the January 2016 Print Edition

When it comes to equality, the rising generation of liberal leaders may talk the talk, but they’re unlikely to walk the walk. At least that’s what a new study recently published in Science suggests. Elite opinion among a younger, left-leaning cohort favors economic efficiency over equality, and . . . . Continue Reading »

The Crisis of Our Time

From the December 2015 Print Edition

In this issue, David Hart commends Pope Francis as a critic of global capitalism. I’m less enthusiastic. Yes, there’s a great deal about the global economic system to criticize, but the Holy Father tends to use a rhetorical machete rather than an analytical scalpel. He bloodies topics like . . . . Continue Reading »

While We're At It

From the December 2015 Print Edition

Boys aren’t doing well in school these days. They’re less likely than girls to graduate from high school and college. The gender gap is especially wide for poor kids. Researchers are putting on their thinking caps to try to figure out why. One observed, “Boys particularly seem to benefit more . . . . Continue Reading »

Deadly Progressivism

From Web Exclusives

We’re in the midst of a crisis. The New York Times reports that Angus Deaton and Ann Case, two Princeton economists, have identified increases in suicide and drug and alcohol related deaths among high school educated white Americas as the cause for a remarkable spike in the overall death rate for . . . . Continue Reading »

While We're At It

From the November 2015 Print Edition

Good for Carly Fiorina. She challenged complacency about our abortion regime. Referring to the tapes released this summer that exposed Planned Parenthood’s harvesting of body parts from aborted children, at the second Republican primary debate she said, “I dare Hillary ­Clinton [and] Barack . . . . Continue Reading »

Crisis of Solidarity

From the November 2015 Print Edition

Written by Friedrich Hayek during World War II, The Road to Serfdom sought to shape thinking about the post-war reconstruction of society. Hayek believed the West faced a decisive choice. Are we to affirm the central importance of individual freedom? Or will we embrace central planning and . . . . Continue Reading »