Yesterday, December 2, Lawrence Kudlow hosted our editor, R. R. Reno, and PovertyCure director and Acton Research Fellow, Michael Matheson Miller, on CNBC’s “The Kudlow Report” to discuss capitalism and Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. It’s important, Reno noted, to always keep in mind that the fundamental purpose of human life is not simply material:
I think we have to be sure we don’t fight the last war. It seems to be that Pope Francis is responding to the fact that global capitalism is triumphant and we have to deal with its limitations and its excesses and that’s going to require something more than just free market measures . . . . Because if we’ve become too ra-ra about capitalism, what we’re really saying is that wealth creation, which capitalism is supremely good at doing, is really the be-all and end-all of human life. And that reinforces the secularist mentality.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
