WINTER 2020 | VOL.30 | N0.1

ACTON INSTITUTE'S INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RELIGION, ECONOMICS AND CULTURE

Social media censorship: Regulation or innovation?

The age of Lower taxes, Socialists to ‘censureship’ higher giving confiscate church property Cover Photo: Mark Zuckerberg in 2018. (Photo credit: Anthony Quintano. CC BY 2.0.)

can reverse 150

Lower Taxes,Lower Higher Giving true community Should the government control media? social Sin and vice do not belong in the GDP Brexit: A new era dawns John Foster Dulles: The in devil’s (not) details the Return of the false gods Acton Briefs years of anti-Catholic prejudice Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński The solution to ‘cancel culture’ is

ESSAY 07 Teather Richard 15 16 17 18 20 02 03 12 (1901-1981) 13

Regulation or innovation? Regulation

The age ‘censureship’ of Socialists to confiscate Social media censorship:

Rev. Robert A. Sirico ESSAY 22 ESSAY 05 church property in Montenegro JovanTripkovic COVER STORY 09 Ed Morrow ------

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EXECUTIVE EDITOR

editor Rusty Reno engaged Reno editor Rusty WINTER 2020 WINTER Return of the Strong Gods Strong the of Return This issue has been made possible inpossible made been has issue This Complete access to information lies atComplete access to information Education forms the forms Education First Things First Anne Rathbone Bradley reminds us that us reminds Bradley Rathbone Anne Ed Morrow notes how search enginesEd Morrow notes When “the owners of these platforms of these “the owners When

01 Jeffrey andCynthia Littmann. Jeffrey and Cynthia Littmann are champions of con and the good stewardship ofservation God. from gift a as resources natural our the heart of any free society. the heart of any part thanks to a generous donation from most historical and popular church; it alsomost historical and effectively forbids parents a parochial education. children their young fromgiving first-time author – describes anew law in that could allow the govern Montenegro to seize the property of the nation’sment schools presents cause for alarm, for cause presents schools Revenue of Department Montana v. private funding streams dammed by the state. Similarly, Jovan Tripkovic – another Blaine Blaine amendment in tutions. 37 state While consti entanglement funds with private of – especially religious – federal Austrian Economics Center in Vienna. in Center Economics Austrian issue, as a U.S. Supreme Court case con the overturn could choice school cerning Reno expounds on his views in his latest on his views in expounds Reno book, reviewed in this issue by Kai Weiss of the humanizing presence of true community. presence humanizing in two debates with Rev. Sirico over Christian the approach to state regulation. distort reality. The solution to the dehu writesmedia, social of tendency manizing Bradley J. Birzer of Hillsdale College, is the the same decentralized information flow that establishes prices is at so work on news of fact-checking spontaneous in the grievously can either Regulating media. cial websites – and the laws that would rectify or formalize this behavior. sureship.” This insight should this topic. on discussions guide all and news right-of-center disadvantage objectionable,” objectionable,” writes co-founder Rev. Robert Sirico, this should Acton “cen but censorship called be properly Institute not desire to shape news coverage, and the coverage, and desire to shape news this issue. proper response, frames they deem content suppress or delete “Almighty God hath created the mind God hath created “Almighty free,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. Others be lieve that leaves too much to chance. The EDITOR’S NOTE EDITOR’S BenRev. Johnson Prosperity and the ‘Four Big government and Acton Institute ranks among Horsemen of the Optimist’ corruption correlate: Study world’s best in think tank report Patrick Oettig Joshua Gregor Rev. Ben Johnson ACTON INSTITUTE ACTON INSTITUTE ACTON INSTITUTE

Currently, less than 10 percent of the global Alejandro Chafuen, Acton’s Managing A report on the global impact of think tanks population lives in extreme poverty. Yet a Director, International, writes in Forbes has ranked the Acton Institute among the study from the Barna Group recently found about the relationship between econom- world’s most influential thought leaders. that 67 percent of Americans believe the ic freedom and corruption. Transparency The University of Pennsylvania released its global poverty rate is increasing. The good International released its 2019 Corruption “2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Re- news is broader and more expansive than Perceptions Index in January, and Chafuen port” on January 31. This year, the annual poverty measures. Globally, people are living correlates these results with countries’ report – which was “designed to identify longer, eating more calories, drinking clean- rankings in the Heritage Foundation’s In- and recognize centers of excellence in all er water, becoming more educated, expe- dex of Economic Freedom. the major areas of public policy research” riencing less violence, and suffering lower As a general rule, greater economic – opened the ratings to all 8,248 think maternal death rates during childbirth. freedom and lower corruption seem to go tanks in its database. In his latest book, More From Less, An- hand in hand. He wrote: The report has recognized the Acton drew McAfee attributes this unprecedent- Although I was born and raised in a coun- Institute since 2010, and, once again, Acton ed global progress to the “Four Horsemen try where corruption, especially petty ranked well in the categories with which it of the Optimist”: technological progress, corruption, had become part of many has become most closely identified. capitalism, responsive governments, and aspects of life, I only began studying the In “Top Social Policy Think Tanks,” the political awareness. These advances have issue more thoroughly when corruption category Acton values most dearly, the re- come at the same time that we are experi- measurements were published. The first port rated the Acton Institute in the top 20 encing what McAfee calls “dematerializa- of these was that of Transparency Inter- worldwide. This year, the Acton Institute tion.” Since the beginning of the Industrial national, which released the Corruption moved up one spot to number 12 – behind Revolution, exponential economic growth Perceptions Index (CPI) in 1995. The an- the Heritage Foundation and the Cato In- nual index continues to be expanded and has meant that we were increasingly hard stitute, but ahead of the American Enter- improved. It covers 180 countries and ter- on our planet – using more energy, more prise Institute (AEI, 14) and the UK-based ritories around the world. … In 1997, Eu- raw materials, and creating more pol- genio Guzmán, then a recent graduate of Civitas (31). lution. But in the past 50 years, this has the London School of Economics and to- The report ranked the Acton Institute changed dramatically. day the dean of the school of government number nine in the world for “Best Ad- One small but significant example is at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile, vocacy Campaign.” Acton finished in the the weight reduction of aluminum cans in and I conducted the first study correlating top 25 globally for “Best Think Tank Con- packaging. By employing innovative tech- economic freedom with corruption data ference,” ahead of the Council on Foreign nology in a competitive environment, over from Transparency International. Relations. Despite competition from think six decades U.S. manufacturers have re- The study, which shows that there is a tanks with much greater size and funding, duced the average weight of an aluminum strong and significant correlation be- the Acton Institute rated in the top third can from 85 grams to just 12.75 grams. “If tween higher economic-freedom scores (31) of the “Top U.S. Think Tanks” in 2019 all beverage cans weighed what they did in and lower corruption scores, was pre- – behind the National Bureau of Economic 1980, they would have required an extra ceded by an analysis of the theories and Research (NBER, 25) but ahead of the Pew 580,000 tons of aluminum,” McAfee writes. studies of corruption which had been Research Center (32) and the Economic conducted until then. Since that first ef- This decoupling of economic growth Policy Institute (35). fort in 1997, I have conducted studies and from natural resources has come largely The United States has more think tanks correlated the data on a regular basis, and from the advance of technology and capi- the basic conclusion and insights remain than any other single country, with 1,871. talism. Technological progress provides us the same: Economic freedom is a major India is a distant second, with 509. with innovation, while capitalism supplies deterrent to corruption. Top free-market think tanks outside us with the incentives to innovate in the the United States included the Fraser In- The 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index first place. Businesses, pursuing greater stitute (Canada, 18), Transparency Inter- and the 2019 Heritage Index of Economic profits by reducing input costs, find ways Freedom are no exception. As the chart national (Germany, 20), the Adam Smith to produce more and better goods for shows, more economically free coun- Institute (UK, 58), and the F.A. Hayek consumption with fewer raw materials. tries are also less corrupt. The opposite Foundation (Slovakia, 128). If we truly want to help the world’s also holds: countries with the most cor- The report reflects the Acton Insti- poor and at the same time create a cleaner rupt leaders and institutions show dismal tute’s growing recognition as the world’s environment for ourselves and our chil- scores in respect for economic freedom. premier think tank addressing the re- dren, we will need to harness the power of For further reading take a look at A The- lationship between markets and ethics, technology, greater access to global free ory of Corruption, coauthored by Acton especially within an ecumenical religious markets, and governments that maintain Research Director Dr. Samuel Gregg and context. Your kind donation helps us ex- sound institutions of justice. Osvaldo Schenone. pand our impact.

02 ESSAY the Massachusetts Bay Colony was “to The high-water mark of bigotry raise a bulwark against the kingdom of against Catholic schools came that winter Anti-Christ which the Jesuits labour to with the Blaine amendment, introduced rear up in those parts.” Anti-Catholic big- by James G. Blaine, the onetime Speaker ots worried aloud that Catholicism was of the House, President James Garfield’s incompatible with the American experi- secretary of state, and failed 1884 Repub- can ment (a position they strangely share with lican presidential candidate. Blaine tried to today’s Catholic Integralists). As a result, amend the U.S. Constitution so that “no North Carolina did not allow Roman Cath- money raised by taxation in any State, reverse 150 olics to hold public office until 1835. for the support of public schools, or de- The same year, abolitionist Lyman rived from any public fund therefor, nor years of anti- Beecher encapsulated this view when he any public lands devoted thereto, shall wrote that Catholicism is a “despotic reli- ever be under the control of any religious gion” that “never prospered but in alliance sect.” Blaine fell four votes shy of Senate Catholic with despotic governments … and at this mo- ratification, but 37 states added similar ment is the main stay of the battle against amendments to their state constitutions. prejudice republican institutions.” (Emphasis in orig- The amendment targeted the burgeon-

inal.) The hub of the purported conspir- ing number of Roman Catholic schools, as Photo: Kendra Espinoza, with daughters Sarah and Naomi. (Photo credit: Institute for Justice. CC BY 4.0.) acy, he wrote, lay in Catholic parochial U.S. public schools already taught Prot- Rev. Ben Johnson schools. “Catholic powers are determined estant Bible lessons, prayers, and hymns. to take advantage” of American children But soon, government-sponsored dis- “by thrusting in professional instructors crimination would boomerang. The Su- ultural critics, in politics and aca- and underbidding us in the cheapness of preme Court struck down state-led prayer demia, insist that the United States education – calculating that for a morsel of in public schools (Engel v. Vitale, 1962), C must atone for its shameful his- meat we shall sell our birth-right,” he wrote. state-led Bible reading (Abington School tory of discrimination against minorities. His views took pictorial form when District v. Schempp, 1963), direct state fund- Thankfully, the Supreme Court’s Espinoza cartoonist Thomas Nast produced the ing of religious schools (Lemon v. Kurtzman, case gives justices the opportunity to do most virulently anti-Catholic cartoon in 1971), posting the Ten Commandments in just that: to strike down antiquated, coun- American history for Harper’s Weekly on public schools (Stone v. Graham, 1980) and terproductive, and discriminatory laws September 30, 1871. Nast depicted Cath- state-sponsored prayer at public school disfavoring religious schools and paving olic bishops as alligators, rising from “The graduations (Lee v. Weisman, 1992). The the way for greater school choice. American River Ganges” to devour inno- public schools – established to teach “reli- Perhaps the only prejudice in U.S. cent American children, as the “U.S. Public gion, morality, and knowledge” – had be- history not highlighted by the “woke” is School” stood as the ramparts against the come the freeway to the Secular City. And America’s pervasive anti-Catholicism. Vatican’s onslaught. The magazine re- the Blaine amendment in 37 states now John Winthrop wrote in 1631 that the first printed the cartoon, by popular demand, denied Protestant schools state funding. reason the Pilgrims wished to establish in May 1875. This should serve as a lesson for those of

03 WINTER 2020 ACTON.ORG any faith who embrace “The Caesar Strat- Indeed, in 1947, justices ruled that the egy” of using the power of the state for state could directly reimburse parents for their own religious ends; the power they the cost of transporting students to pa- establish will be used against them once rochial schools (Everson v. Board of Educa- the state is controlled by their opponents. tion of the Township of Ewing). And in 2002, However, “[s]tudents and teachers do not the Supreme Court upheld Cleveland’s ‘shed their constitutional rights to freedom school choice program in Zelman v. Simn- of speech or expression at the schoolhouse mons-Harris, even though 96 percent of gate,’” as the Trump administration recently students chose religious schools. Justices noted in a federal guidance to school dis- found the city “provides assistance direct- tricts. This comes against the backdrop of ly to a broad class of citizens who, in turn, the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard oral direct government aid to religious schools arguments in January in Espinoza v. Montana wholly as a result of their own genuine and Department of Revenue, which could strike independent private choice.” down all 37 Blaine amendments. The danger is that government funding In 2015, the Montana legislature gave a will bring government regulation, such as dollar-for-dollar tax deduction of up to $150 insisting on a curriculum that violates the to anyone who donated to a private, non- religion of the recipients. A tax deduction profit scholarship fund for needy school- solves this problem, while respecting pa- children. The independently administered rental rights. scholarship let parents send their children The rights of parents to educate their to any private school, religious or secular. children in their faith should be primary But state officials told Kendra Espinoza not to all people of faith. “The prime truth in to apply, because she sends her two children the whole schools issue,” Abraham Kuyper to a Christian school in Kalispell. wrote, is that parents are the only peo- With the help of the Institute for Jus- ple “called by nature … to determine the tice, she and two other parents sued, ar- choice of school” for their children. “Pa- guing the state infringed their religious rental rights must be seen as a sovereign rights under the First Amendment. In De- right in this sense, that it is not delegated cember 2018, the Montana Supreme Court by any other authority, that it is inherent ruled that, through the program, state in fatherhood and motherhood, and that revenues “indirectly pay tuition at private, it is given directly from God to the father religiously-affiliated schools.” To assure and mother.” no such entanglement of funds, justices Similarly, the Roman Catholic faith struck down the entire program. defines parental rights as primary and There is reason to believe the Supreme pre-political. “Parents have the first re- Court will overturn their ruling, and more sponsibility for the education of their reason people of faith should hope it does. children,” according to the Catechism of the One of these is plain logic: A tax deduction Catholic Church. is not a subsidy. By offering a tax deduc- Curiously, those who decry paternal- tion, the state does not give anything to the ism when the government bans people school or the taxpayer; it merely refrains from using food stamps for junk food have from taking some portion of the taxpayer’s nothing to say about the state constricting earnings. The IRS allows tax deductions for the authority of parents to educate their charitable gifts, the largest share of which own children. Often, they demand it. go to religious institutions. This does not Those who believe education provides constitute government “funding,” unless the key to lift bright young students out of you believe all citizens’ money properly poverty should champion children’s access belongs to the government. to the best quality education, public or Supreme Court precedent is on Espino- private. And those concerned with making za’s side. In the 1983 Mueller v. Allen rul- reparations for America’s “tragic history” ing, justices upheld a state tax deduction should support overturning these relics of for the cost of tuition, books, and trans- anti-Catholic discrimination. portation to any school, public or private. The write-off constitutes an “attenuated Rev. Ben Johnson is executive editor of financial benefit, ultimately controlled by Religion & Liberty, managing editor of the the private choices of individual parents, Acton Institute’s transatlantic website, and that eventually flows to parochial schools an Eastern Orthodox priest. from the neutrally available tax benefit.”

04 ESSAY education of the youngest children, and minister. President Đukanović is a former limit parents’ ability to raise their children Communist, and his political party is the in their faith. direct legal and ideological successor of On December 27, 2019, despite popular the League of Communists of Montenegro. Photo: Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in Korotor, Montenegro. (Photo credit: Adam Jones, Ph.D. CC BY-SA 3.0.) Socialists to opposition, the Parliament of Montene- It could be said that Đukanović is the only gro passed the law on “freedom of reli- Communist head of state who survived the gion or beliefs and legal status of religious fall of the Berlin Wall. confiscate communities.” Before the members of the During this time, Đukanović has been ruling Democratic Party of Socialists and accused of autocratic rule, corruption, church their coalition partners voted on the law, censorship, discrimination against the 18 Members of Parliament – who belong Serbian national community, illicit traf- property in to the opposition Democratic Front – were ficking of tobacco, and war crimes during arrested. The law passed in the dead of the siege of Dubrovnik. Thanks to diplo- night and without a proper dialogue with matic immunity and the constant support Montenegro the largest and oldest church in the coun- of the West, which considers him as a loyal try, the Serbian Orthodox Church, nor with ally in the region, Đukanović has not faced Jovan Tripkovic other religious communities. Furthermore, legal repercussions. it passed without popular support. This In 2000, the Democratic Party of So- law and the process by which it was ad- cialists began agitating for the indepen- opted speaks volumes about the govern- dence of Montenegro from the Federal vents in Montenegro underscore ment of Montenegro and about socialism’s Republic of Yugoslavia, a campaign led how property rights, parental rights, disregard for religious and parental rights. by Đukanović. Montenegro won indepen- E and religious liberty go together. Since 1991, Montenegro has been ruled dence in a 2006 referendum to separate That nation’s socialist leadership passed a by Milo Đukanović, the president of the from Serbia, its key historical ally. For al- law allowing the government to seize reli- Democratic Party of Socialists. Previous- most 14 years, President Đukanović and gious property, declare a monopoly over the ly, Đukanović served four terms as prime his political party have been working on

05 WINTER 2020 ACTON.ORG nation-building. A crucial aspect of that pro- adherents, the government of Montene- of the law prohibits religious communities cess is the creation of a new national church. gro decided to assist it in acquiring some from forming primary schools, creating an In June 2019, at the convention of of these things. The Democratic Party of artificial state monopoly over the educa- the Democratic Party of Socialists, Pres- Socialists proposed and adopted a law tion of the youngest children. Articles 51 ident Đukanović repeated his call for the that would weaken the Serbian Ortho- and 52 clearly limit parental rights to ed- creation of the Montenegrin Orthodox dox Church in Montenegro. Article 62 of ucate their children about their own reli- Church. During his speech, he emphasized the law could transfer its property to the gion. According to these two articles, par- the importance of this church in strength- newly minted church. Specifically, the law ents do not have the right to teach their ening the Montenegrin national identity. states that religious buildings or lands children over the age of 11 about religion Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro used by any religious community in Mon- without the children’s consent. Violators and the Littoral, the head of the Serbian tenegro – which were built by the state may be fined €2,000 ($2,200 U.S.). So, the Orthodox Church in Montenegro, said that or financed by public revenues; or based socialist government wants to usurp pa- “this would be the first time in history that on the joint investment of the citizens; or rental rights over religious education un- a declared atheist is creating a church.” were owned by the state before Decem- til the children are 11, then transfer those Yet Đukanović sees the Serbian Or- ber 1, 1918, without the proper evidence of rights directly to the children. thodox Church in Montenegro as the big- ownership – shall constitute state proper- Along with opposition politicians, gest obstacle to creating his own national ty as the cultural heritage of Montenegro. members of the Parliament, and citizens church. So, for years, Đukanović has been Put simply, if a religious community of Montenegro, the new law on “freedom accusing the Serbian Church of undermin- cannot provide evidence of private owner- of religion” has been criticized by all ma- ing the sovereignty of Montenegro. ship, the government of Montenegro has jor Christian leaders, including Ecumeni- The Serbian Orthodox Church has been the right to assert state ownership over cal Patriarch Bartholomew I, Pope Francis, an integral part of Montenegro – under the property, confiscate it, and redistrib- Russian Patriarch Kirill, and the Metropol- different names, due to complex histor- ute the property to the state-supported itan of All America and Canada Tikhon of ical circumstances – since the thirteenth Montenegrin Orthodox Church. the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), century. Since 1920, the Serbian Orthodox This article opens the door for massive among others. Patriarch Bartholomew I Church has been present in its current ad- corruption and backroom deals. The state wrote a letter in which he explicitly said ministrative capacity: a metropolitan who also covets land owned by the Serbian Or- that the Ecumenical Patriarch recognizes oversees three dioceses. The jurisdiction thodox Church for the development of the the canonical jurisdiction of the Serbi- of the Serbian Orthodox Church over the hospitality industry. It seems fitting that an Orthodox Church over Montenegro. In territory of Montenegro is recognized by the government of Montenegro is trying a subsequent interview, he said that he all canonical Orthodox churches, including to confiscate church property, consider- would never recognize the Montenegrin the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ec- ing that the regime has not yet returned Orthodox Church as canonical. umenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. church property the Communist regime Since the Parliament of Montenegro Contrary to the long tradition and his- nationalized in the 1940s. adopted the controversial law, protests tory of the Serbian Church, a non-canon- Besides confiscation of ecclesiastical have spread across the country. Tensions ical Montenegrin Orthodox Church was property, the new law establishes an ex- have risen in Montenegro after protesters founded in 1993 and officially registered tremely complicated and lengthy regis- clashed with police. There have been mul- as a religious community in January 2000. tration process for religious communities. tiple reports of violence. The new church was founded in the town The seat of the religious community regis- The Serbian Orthodox Church is call- of Cetinje, the historical capital of Mon- tered in the territory of Montenegro must ing for a structural change. President Đu- tenegro. Since 1997, Mihailo (born Miraš) be resident in Montenegro. This would kanović and the socialist government refuse Dedeić has been the leader of the non-ca- have a major impact on the Serbian Or- to abandon their positions and the creation nonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church. As thodox Church, which will have to obtain of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. Par- a priest, Dedeić was excommunicated by special status in Montenegro to continue liamentary elections are due to be held no the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantino- its activities. later than October 2020. Will the new “re- ple, His All-Holiness Bartholomew I. The Last but not least, state authorities ligious freedom” law have an impact on the church he leads is not recognized by any shall decide the proper name of a religious election’s outcome? Will the ruling Demo- canonical Orthodox body. Additionally, it is community. Politicians justified this under cratic Party of Socialists finally become the well known that the Montenegrin Ortho- the guise of preventing confusion between party of opposition? Is this the beginning dox Church has a very small membership. churches. However, this provision could of the end of Đukanović’s regime? What is It is worth mentioning that in June 2018, potentially strip the Serbian Orthodox the future of Montenegro? All supporters of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church went Church of its name and transfer it to the religious liberty should follow this closely – through a split, so currently the country leadership of the non-canonical Montene- and draw the appropriate conclusions. has two non-canonical, unrecognized re- grin Orthodox Church. ligious communities with the same name. In addition to property rights and the Jovan Tripkovic is a graduate student in Since the Montenegrin Orthodox registration process, the Democratic Party European and global studies at the University Church lacks a living tradition, historical of Socialists, as the true successor of the of Padova. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree connection with the people, significant Communist Party, decided in the new law in political science and government from church buildings, and a large number of to constrict religious education. Article 54 Caldwell University.

06 their belief in private charity with their JustGiving worked with a group of uni- own time and money, while some social- versities to survey the website’s users. ists regard charities as inappropriate ri- Political views were included. vals to the state. Arthur Brooks, in Who In line with the American experience, Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About this survey found that the biggest politi- Compassionate Conservatism, discovered cal group amongst those who donated to that conservatives give vastly more to charity through the JustGiving website philanthropy than statists, despite hav- were Conservative voters. Among those ing lower incomes. That holds true at the who expressed a political viewpoint, community level, as well. Of the top 25 34 percent of JustGiving’s donors were states that give the most to charity, 24 Conservatives and 32 percent support- ESSAY vote Republican. ed the Labour Party. This was at a time It isn’t just about money. Peter Sch- when Labour was comfortably ahead in weizer wrote in Makers and Takers that opinion polls. conservatives are one-and-a-half times Overall, that makes Conservative Lower taxes, more likely to volunteer at a charity (27 voters proportionately more likely to percent vs. 19 percent), and nearly three give to charity than Labour voters. At times as likely to believe it is important the time (2010 to 2011), some 41 per- higher giving to “get happiness from putting others’ cent of the population supported the needs ahead of their own” (55 percent vs. Labour Party, but they made up only 32 Richard Teather 20 percent). Conservatives are even more percent of donors to charity. In contrast, likely to give blood. Conservatives at the time made up 37 But those data come from the U.S. percent of voters and 34 percent of do- Do they reflect American exceptionalism nors, roughly in proportion. (The level of onservative voters tend to be or the strong influence of the “Religious party support is based on 345 published more selfish,” a socialist friend Right”? (It should be noted that Brooks opinion polls from the UK Polling Report recently told me. The allega- found conservatives still give more to website, over the same time period as tion is that fiscal conservatives charity when all religious donations are the JustGiving survey.) If anything, this Csupport lower taxes and less government excluded.) Do other countries display the probably underestimates Conservatives’ intervention for their own benefit. But same tendencies? charitable donations. As an online do- is the caricature of someone who has There is certainly one difference be- nation platform, JustGiving likely serves no personal need for welfare spending, tween the U.S. and the UK: Whereas there a younger demographic than donors and so wants to pay as little as possible is plenty of American research into cor- in general, and young people are more towards it, true? I wanted to test the hy- relations between charitable giving and likely to be left-wing. pothesis against verifiable data. political beliefs, there is almost none in Not that Conservatives rank high- Of course, there are many reasons Great Britain. The Charities Aid Foun- est proportionately. Some 22 percent besides avarice for opposing government dation, which provides administrative of donors were Liberal Democrats at a welfare. It is inefficient – not just- be services to other charities, publishes an time when only 11 percent of the pop- cause it is administered by an often-dys- annual “Giving Report” that delves deep- ulation supported the party. However, functional bureaucracy, but also because ly into the demographics of charitable the Liberal Democrats broadly favour politicians regularly fail to direct money donors, comparing them by age, sex, re- the free market. Then-leader Nick Clegg where it is most needed. Government gion – virtually everything but political was in a coalition with former Conser- spending programs can create perverse views. There is only one brief paragraph vative Prime Minister David Cameron incentives, discouraging people from in its 2017 report on the issue, with the and backed the “Big Society” initiative, working, encouraging family break-up, unsurprising news that “those who vot- which was designed to “lift the burden and propelling themselves forward by ed for the Green Party … are significantly of bureaucracy,” “empower communities their own inertia. more likely to have given to conserva- to do things their own way,” and “diver-

But stereotypes are not proved or dis- tion charities” and “those who voted for sify the supply of public services.” So, Photo: Petty Officer first class David Kolmel. (Public domain.) proved by economics or philosophy. What UKIP [the party that spearheaded Brexit] the principle holds. I wanted to see was how people actually … are significantly less likely than any As with Americans, UK citizens on behave. Do supporters of low taxes and other party to have given to overseas “the Right” are more likely to give to smaller government donate their time aid.” Interestingly, the charity must have charity than those on “the Left.” This and resources to charity? Do those who collected political data but not published seems to be an international trend, which favor high taxes and government inter- anything on how they correlate with undercuts the claim that conservatives vention personally assist others, or do overall levels of charitable giving. are selfish. they substitute demands for wealth re- However, there is one study on how Those who advocate a basically distribution for personal philanthropy? political views affect practical philan- free-market philosophy support private Abundant evidence from the United thropy in Great Britain. The owners of charity initiatives more than those who States shows that conservatives support the online charity fundraising platform accept socialist tax-and-spend policies

07 WINTER 2020 ACTON.ORG and wealth redistribution. tiatives are a better way to help those absolute poverty by the opportunities Donors’ motivations also prove illu- in need than taxpayer-funded welfare offered by globalisation. That has taken minating. By far the two most common programs – are more likely to give to place overwhelmingly in countries that reasons they gave the JustGiving survey charity. And it indicates that the main have embraced global markets and, no- for choosing to donate to a charity were: motivations of people who donate are tably, not among the main recipients of • “the cause and/or mission of the the desire to choose where their money government-to-government aid. charity” – 79.1 percent said that goes, and to know that it will be used For those of us who wish to help oth- this was “very important”; and efficiently. This is in stark contrast to ers, including Christians following the government spending, which is often Bible’s injunction to love our neighbour, • “a sense that my money will be misdirected by politicians and squan- it is perfectly rational to reject taxation used efficiently and effectively” dered by bureaucrats. and government spending in favor of – 68.3 percent saw this as “very Rather than the stereotype of self- other methods. Many private charita- important.” ishness, it seems that, where it actu- ble initiatives deliver better results than ally matters, conservatives and those the government – and solve problems In contrast, the urgent “emergency” who want a smaller government fol- caused by the government. For example, appeals made by some charities do not low through on their beliefs of funding UK food banks alleviate delays caused seem to resonate with donors: philanthropy outside government. On by the government’s bureaucratic wel- • Only a third (33.4 percent) saw the other hand, statists – despite claim- fare system. the fact that “the charity urgent- ing that they support increased gov- Therefore, people who are broad- ly needs funds (e.g., after a disas- ernment action to help the poor – are ly conservative have both philosophical ter)” as a “very important” reason noticeably less likely to take personal and practical reasons to support chari- to give; initiative to help others. For them, sup- ties, whether they are motivated by be- porting the government seems to replace lief in the efficiency of the free market, • About a third (32.5 percent) saw concrete action. love of Burke’s “little platoons,” or the being “personally affected by a This is only one survey in the UK, but Sermon on the Mount. And more to the cause” as a “very important” rea- it correlates with the much more abun- point, they act on their convictions. It is son to give; and dant data from across the transatlantic worthwhile both to note the action and • Barely a tenth (10.6 percent) saw sphere, especially in the United States. to spread the philosophical, theological, media “coverage of a specific char- Conservatives are not selfish; they are and economic views that catalyze it. ity or cause” as a very important personally generous. motivator. Looking at the wider picture, markets Richard Teather is a senior lecturer in tax are often a better solution to poverty law at Bournemouth University. His person- This means that those who support fis- than government spending; the biggest al website is www.teather.me.uk. R & L cally conservative, tax-cutting political reduction in poverty the world has ever parties – and believe that private ini- seen is the billion people lifted out of

08 FEATURE Social media censorship:

Regulation or Photo: Mark Zuckerberg in 2018. (Photo credit: Anthony Quintano. CC BY 2.0.) innovation?

Ed Morrow

09 WINTER 2020 ACTON.ORG n the past, when some wild-bearded During the 2016 election cycle, employees results and, even then, they may be buried rebel emerged from the jungle to cry of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., under left-leaning analysis. The eventu- I “Revolution!” and tried to topple the and its subsidiaries donated $5,870,470 to al outcome is unsurprising. A study con- generalissimo of some humid non-democ- Democrats, according to GovPredict.com, ducted by Allsides.com in 2018 revealed racy, among the first things on his to-do while donating just $403,042 to Repub- that the Google News homepage returned list was to take over the radio and televi- licans. Their donations to Hillary Clinton’s results that were 75 percent left-leaning, sion stations and newspapers. This was be- campaign did not produce the desired re- 20 percent centrist, and just five percent cause controlling the news was extremely sult. A leaked video released in Septem- right-leaning. important. If the rebels could convince the ber 2018 vividly revealed the emotional Not only does this lessen the exposure nation that the revolution was desirable, reaction of Google executives to Hillary of conservative sites, but it also reduces the or unstoppable, the generalissimo’s sol- Clinton’s defeat. ad revenue they generate. YouTube, which diers might drop their rifles, as his cronies After Clinton’s loss, Google executives is owned by Google, is the foremost venue scamper for the border and tap into their held a “woke” wake, where they wept and for video sharing. It lets content creators Swiss bank accounts. El Jefe could then be hugged, discussed white male privilege, post their creations, while it sells ad space introduced to a firing squad while the pop- and pondered the options for employees accompanying their videos. The makers re- ulace blinked up at a new flag and fingered who wanted to leave the United States ceive a share of the ad revenue if their video currency bearing unfamiliar faces. because of Donald Trump’s election. CFO is viewed the required number of times. In Today, we have more than radio, tele- Ruth Porat promised that Google would 2016, in response to complaints, YouTube vision, and newspapers as news sources “use the great strength, and resources, allowed advertisers, who previously had no for the power-hungry to covet. Websites, and reach we have to continue to advance control over where their ads were placed, search engines, and social media are the really important values.” Google followed to choose not to have them accompany new instruments of political power. up by incorporating a clumsy fact-check- videos with which they didn’t want to be A majority of Americans get their news ing feature into its search engine. This was associated. This led to some creators being from news websites (33 percent) or social justified as “providing users with context demonetized. This was called the “Adpoc- media (20 percent), according to a Pew around stories, so that they can know alypse,” for its catastrophic effect on cre- Research Center survey from August 2018. the bigger picture.” A Daily Caller News ators who relied on ad income. While some Young people were nearly twice as likely Foundation investigation exposed how videos warranted ad removal, the threat to rely on social media (36 percent). These the feature targeted conservative news of “cancel culture” boycotts could scare numbers suggest that, in time, news web- sources while ignoring liberal bias. Google squeamish advertisers away from videos sites will remain strong and social media’s removed it in 2018, but claims of Google advancing conservative ideals. influence will grow. These will likely pro- manipulating search results remain. A disrespectful video of a Japanese vide the best avenues for those seeking Unfortunately, conservative con- suicide victim led to an “Adpocalypse 2.0,” political power by controlling the news. tent does not have to be censored to be in which YouTube increased the threshold Google’s search engine is the preem- slighted. Journalists are predominately a creator must pass to earn remuneration. inent way to find information on the in- left-leaning, so any news search is likely Conservative creators with small audi- ternet, becoming the most-visited website to produce left-leaning results. The com- ences were cut off from compensation. in the world, but Google hasn’t been an mon impulse is to click on the top results A squabble between progressive com- impartial guide. It has bent to govern- returned by a search already biased toward mentator Carlos Maza and conservative ments demanding talk show host and censorship, most humorist Steven notably Commu- Crowder produced nist China. There, “If conservatives want their truths told, “Adpocalypse 3.0.” Google participated It led YouTube to in “The Great Fire- they will have to create more content, resist place great reliance wall of China,” until censorship, find sources of revenue, and on an algorithm to criticism caused it identify content to back out. Cen- claim their place in social media.” containing hate sorship, however, speech or other can be subtler than the e-thuggery Red one side. This increases those websites’ forbidden material. It blindly demone- China employs. It can be disguised as pi- traffic and, as the Google search engine tized or deplatformed channels that cov- ous fact-checking, or it can be inherent in values traffic, those sites are more likely er sensitive issues. One channel set up to an algorithm that disadvantages certain to rank first in future searches. Since there teach high schoolers about World War II viewpoints. Conservatives have good rea- are fewer right-leaning news sites, fewer was removed because it included video of son not to trust Google to provide a level are returned in any search, and they will the Nazis, a vital part of covering that war. playing field. come lower in the results. This reduces A similar politically correct AI effort, a During Barack Obama’s administra- their traffic, pushing them even lower in YouTube fact-checking program designed tion, Google representatives attended future search results. Only when specific to counter the spread of conspiracy theo- White House meetings more than once a search terms found on conservative sites ries, failed in 2019 when it displayed text week on average, The Intercept reported. are used are they likely to be returned as debunking 9/11 plots next to the video of

10 the Notre Dame cathedral fire. Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Some creators, who left YouTube be- believe that some sort of review panel cause of censorship or because they were should be permitted to grade the verac- demonetized, sought financial support ity of these ads. While a private entity through Patreon. This platform allows is free to deny a platform to anyone, creators of videos and other art to receive establishing the platform’s opaque pro- donations from supporters, in exchange cesses as semi-official judges of truth in for a cut of the proceeds. In 2018 Patreon our elections is troubling. banned commentators Milo Yiannopoulos, Twitter’s chief executive, Jack Dorsey, James Allsup, and Carl Benjamin (better evaded the issue by announcing that Twitter known as “Sargon of Arkkad”). Conse- would ban all political ads. Facebook boss quently, some who had sought support for Mark Zuckerberg has resisted fact-checking conservative and libertarian views through but is said to be considering labeling ads as Patreon, which had previously declared a not fact-checked, capping the number of belief in free speech, are now seeking to ads a single candidate can run at a time, establish a similar service with a stronger and banning ads in the three days leading commitment to viewpoint freedom. up to an election. Conservatives are leery Social media offered a less centralized of such restrictions, while progressives alternative to “corporate” news. Skipping want more, despite being hostile to the intermediate steps of reporter, editor, Facebook. Billionaire George Soros, who and publisher, news was being reported by has put millions of his own fortune into “citizen journalists.” The news might be progressive causes, claimed at the recent insignificant – such as the cute thing Tid- World Economic Forum in Davos that dles did with his toy mouse or what Tif- Zuckerberg is conspiring with Trump to fany thought about her ex-friend Brandi help Trump win re-election. Perhaps it – but there were also personal accounts was a gambit to pressure Zuckerberg into of hurricanes, near-instant reports of accepting the fact-checking of political ads mass shootings, and real-time reactions as a way to distance himself from Trump. to presidential debates. It is unlikely conservatism will over- The numbers reveal social media’s come the Left’s dominance of the news gargantuan reach. Twitter has 126 million media. But if conservatives want their daily users. Snapchat has 210 million daily truths told, they will have to create more users. Reddit has 330 million users. As of content, resist censorship, find sourc- September 2019, 1.62 billion people on av- es of revenue, and claim their place in erage log onto Facebook daily. social media. There is reason for opti- Inevitably, ugly content appeared, and mism. Conservatives have produced me- every social media platform enacted cen- dia surprises. Rush Limbaugh revitalized sorship policies. Facebook has a guidebook AM radio, making it the rare conserva- detailing the content it blocks. Most of it tive-dominated medium. Fox News set is common sense: no terrorism, child por- up a “fair and balanced” alternative to nography, cannibalism, etc. In February the unified choir of ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN/ 2019, The Verge published an article de- PBS. President Trump turned Twitter into scribing the harsh life of Facebook con- a pointy stick to jab his way through the tent moderators, faced with thousands of legacy media’s coverage, which has been images of atrocious violence and perver- 90 percent negative, and communicate sion. It is hard to imagine an eight-hour directly with the American people. day doing what they do, 40-hours a week, Who knows? Perhaps there is a conser- week after week. But content modera- vative entrepreneur with a neatly trimmed tors also screen for politically incorrect beard who wants to help facilitate the next material, and here conservatives tend to communications revolution. Photo: Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński. (Public domain.) get poor treatment. In 2018, for example, moderators pulled videos posted by Prag- Ed Morrow is an author and illustrator who er University which criticized conditions in lives in Vermont with his wife, Laurie, and Islamic countries and the current state of their son, Ned. Morrow’s books include The masculinity, branding them Islamophobic Halloween Handbook, 599 Things You and sexist. Should Never Do, and The Grim Reaper’s Facebook has recently been criticized Book of Days. His work has appeared in Na- by the Left for not fact-checking po- tional Review, The American Spectator, litical ads. Politicians such as Elizabeth and many other outlets. R & L

11 WINTER 2020 ACTON.ORG IN THE LIBERAL TRADITION

CARDINAL STEFAN WYSZYŃSKI (1901-1981) Marcin Rzegocki

ardinal Stefan Wyszyński was by becoming the spiritus movens be- born in 1901 in eastern Poland, hind the celebration of the millen- C then part of Russia. In 1924, nium of the baptism of Poland. This he was ordained a priest. He earned a celebration, which concluded in 1966, Ph.D. in canon law and, during World was a moral triumph of Catholicism War II, served as a chaplain with the over the Communist rulers. Cardinal Home Army, a Polish resistance or- Wyszyński took part in the Second ganization. In 1946, he was ordained Vatican Council and imposed a con- Bishop of Lublin and, in 1948, became servative interpretation of its reforms the Primate of Poland. In 1953, the on his parishes. year of Stalin’s death, the Vatican ele- In August 1980, when the social vated him to cardinal. tensions reached their height, he pac- Wyszyński initiated an agreement ified the situation. “Above all, today’s with the Communist government of difficulties require peace, stability, Poland to guarantee the basic rights of prudence, and responsibility,” said the Catholics. Contrary to his critics, this cardinal on August 1980 at the na- came from his sober analysis of the tional Marian shrine in Częstochowa, socio-political circumstances, rath- the spiritual capital of the anti-Com- er than his sympathy to Communist munist movement. He underlined pa- intellectual work and prayer. In pris- ideology. When it became evident the rental rights and upheld the family on, he wrote his beautiful diary, ti- state would not keep its promises, the as the primary unit of social order, as tled A Freedom Within: The Prison Notes. bishops issued a new document known well as the right to life. “The order of This book reveals his devotion to the as “Non possumus,” highlighting the family life requires: liberty of religion, Blessed Virgin Mary and her divine persecution of the church in Poland, liberty of culture, security of family Son, which produced his patience and especially state attempts to control life,” he stated. firm confidence in God. Suffering- re the appointment of bishops. “If ex- In the economic difficulties of the pression was an “honor,” he wrote. “I ternal factors would prevent us from 1980s, the cardinal warned Poles that was afraid that I would not have a appointing competent people to spir- the excessive desire for material goods share in the privilege of other mem- itual positions, we are determined to would increase the national debt. He bers of my seminary class,” who suf- leave them unfilled, rather than to give said a better future comes from hon- fered or died in Nazi camps, Soviet the religious rule of souls to unworthy est work, which has both economic gulags, or Polish prisons. hands,” Polish bishops wrote. and spiritual dimensions. At the same After his liberation in October The letter was the last straw for time, he publicly reminded the gov- 1956, Cardinal Wyszyński tried to nor- Communist officials, who arrested the ernment about basic property rights, malize the relationship between the primate in September 1953. Cardi- the basis of human development. church in Poland and the government, nal Wyszyński spent more than three Cardinal Wyszyński passed away in believing Poland needed peace as a years in isolation in remote parts of 1981. Pope Francis approved a decree basic condition of social and economic Poland. Yet he refused government for his beatification on October 3, 2019. development. demands that he resign from his eccle- Cardinal Wyszyński earned the siastical office. Marcin Rzegocki earned his Ph.D. from nickname “Primate of the Millennium” This time of trial provoked intense the Warsaw School of Economics.

12 TRANSATLANTIC ESSAY The solution to ‘cancel culture’ is true community

Bradley J. Birzer

remember well the first time some- Now, I look at my computer and The grand Anglo-Irish statesman Ed- one told me about the existence of shudder. My inbox contains 10,763 un- mund Burke argued that our true affec- the world wide web and the possi- read messages and another 5,604 in the tions must begin at the most local and bility of electronic mail. It was the “junk folder,” predestined there by some immediate level possible, recognizing Ispring of 1992, and I was in my second algorithm I’ll never comprehend. (Calvin what the Roman Catholics call subsidiar- year of graduate school. I was thrilled would scratch his head, as well.) When I ity, a manifestation of power at its most with the possibility of sending mail with- look across social media platforms like personal. We do not love abstractions out paying for U.S. postage and, as a Facebook and Twitter, I see anger – lots such as the nation, for example, but we rather hardcore libertarian, I felt this was of it, on every hand. Mostly, though, I see do love our fathers, our mothers, our sib- the best way to circumvent the govern- a modern form of the ancient heresy of lings, our uncles and aunts, our cousins, ment monopoly on the postal service. Manichaenism arise in all of its vicious- our friends, our mentors, and our neigh- However, I soon noticed that the new ness, pitting us against them. This is not bors. Burke wrote: technology brought changes into my life. how I envisioned communications devel- We begin our public affections in Prior to this, I had prided myself on oping all those years ago. our families. No cold relation is a writing seven-, eight-, or even nine- In his magisterial Letters from Lake zealous citizen. We pass on to our page handwritten letters. My family and Como, the German-Italian philosopher neighbourhoods, and our habitual friends had filled our letters with news, and theologian Romano Guardini argued provincial connections. These are with details of great adventures, with that one could judge any technology by inns and resting-places. Such di- reviews of the latest books we had read its humane quality. Does it leaven the visions of our country as have been and music we had heard. We filled the human experience or diminish it? Does formed by habit, and not by a sud- entire page with snippets of poems or it make us more human or less human? den jerk of authority, were so many lyrics, with some rather inexpert doodles; Is it at our scale, or does it overwhelm little images of the great country sometimes, I’d paste photos into the let- us? Among the greatest of Christian hu- in which the heart found some- ter or squiggle in some band name such manists, Guardini was not alone in such thing which it could fill. The love as Rush, Talk Talk, or Yes. There was an an analysis and a fear. He shared them to the whole is not extinguished by individualistic art to long-form letter with Thomas Merton, Russell Kirk, J.R.R. this subordinate partiality. correspondence. Tolkien, E.F. Schumacher, C.S. Lewis, and I still have boxes and files full of these Wilhelm Röepke. Indeed, unless we love that which is near, letters received from friends, and I cher- As Aristotle famously wrote, the hu- we will never love that which is distant. ish them as some of my finest posses- man person, by nature, is meant to live Only by loving those who nurture and sions. I hope and trust the recipients of in community. Only in community do we guide us can we begin to love those who my letters feel the same. These letters sharpen our excellent qualities, attenu- protect them. Once we love our neigh- Photo: (Public domain.) represent small but mighty little commu- ate our weaknesses, and pursue our acts bors, we might love our country (if our nities: neighborhoods, suburbs, towns, of charity. Yet, what is community, and country is lovely) and, from there, all republics, and – sometimes – dynasties how does one come to love, understand, creation. of letters. shape, and delimit community? Here’s the rub: When we write a letter

13 WINTER 2020 ACTON.ORG to an individual or to a small group of in- gargantuan flaw in my argument, as the past half-decade, our hugs were fre- dividuals (say, a family), we create and well as in the arguments of Guardini and quent and sincere. This very article came leaven community. However, when we his allies, regarding technology. Tech- about because of a friendship on Twitter. post something on Facebook or Twitter, nologies become humane through our One of my favorite rock musicians, we are creating abstractions of com- own free will. That is, with proper eth- Mark Hollis (RIP), wrote a song in the munities, not tangible ones. To put it ics and understanding, we can do much 1980s, “Life is What You Make It.” It’s a in Burkean terms, a handwritten letter to keep our technologies from escaping catchy Steve Winwood-style track, and it strengthens our little platoon. To tweet, our own control and taking on a fate of revels, rather stoically, in the mysteries though, has us screaming at the abstrac- their own. Yes, Facebook and Twitter can of free will. After all, nothing forces me tion of a nation. As such, the intensely be brutal. But, they can also be beauti- not to write long, handwritten letters. personal becomes the profoundly public, ful. How many times have I sighed deeply Nothing forces me to be on social media. and, yet, it all remains personal. and happily when seeing my friends and Nothing on social media forces me to re- At their worst, Facebook and Twit- my former students – spread through- act bitterly. ter destroy all bonds among women and out the world – posting pictures of births I still choose, as do you. men, and each person and each commu- and achievements? How many times have The next time you are on social me- nity loses touch with its past, with real- I sighed deeply and sadly when seeing my dia, and you see something bitingly ab- ity and its future. As such, it resembles friends and my former students relating surd, forgive it, bless it, and sanctify what the great Harvard scholar Irving news of deaths and setbacks? it. See an anti-Semitic comment? Post Babbitt wrote about the collectivist no- As angry and sad as social media a picture of Simon Wiesenthal without tions of the state. In pursuing an abstract can make me, the times in which it has comment. See something anti-Christian? collectivism, the state destroys “its his- done more good than harm are count- Post a passage from St. John. See some- torical continuity, its permanent self, less beyond calculation. With one Face- thing supporting abortion? Post a picture as it were, that unites its present with book friend, I started a lecture series. of an adorable baby. That is, every time its past and future. By an unprincipled With another Facebook friend, I wrote a we see the inhumane, we can choose to facility in changing the state such as is progressive rock album. With yet another make it humane. We can make the tech- encouraged by Rousseau’s impressionis- Facebook friend, I lamented the loss of nology work for humanity, not against it. tic notion of the general will, the gen- a family member. As I look across Face- In the end, we will all be a bit happier. erations of men can no more link with book – a social network to which I’ve After all, life, like social media, is what one another than the flies of a summer. belonged for over a decade now – I see we make it. They are disconnected into the dust and friends I’ve never actually met, but for powder of individuality.” and with whom I would gladly buy a beer, Bradley J. Birzer, Ph.D. is Russell Amos Kirk One could write something similar attend a concert (or a baptism), or start chair in American Studies and professor of about the nastiest parts of social media. We a political party. Last fall, I finally got to History at Hillsdale College. He is the author become, each, flies of the summer in the meet one of my oldest Facebook friends, of several biographies and the co-found- collectivist morass of anger and division. Charles in New York. After all the en- er and editor-at-large of The Imaginative There is, of course, a huge, massive, couragement we have given each other Conservative. R & L

14 COLUMN Should the government regulate social media content?

Anne Rathbone Bradley

ome conservatives believe that the left-wing or progressive must wait until the next election cycle to try to vote them out. bias of social media giants like Facebook is so egregious that And this only works when large numbers of your fellow citizens Sthe only solution is to have the federal government regulate want to vote them out. Nobel Laureate James Buchanan said it the content. In 2019 Mark Zuckerberg himself, founder and CEO well: There is no political counterpart to Adam Smith’s invisible of Facebook, called for more government regulation of the inter- hand. Because the state itself is a monopoly, and run as a bu- net. This raises the question: Can the government do this in an reaucracy, there are no market mechanisms to help it with our unbiased fashion which properly respects the freedom of speech? problems: knowing what to do, knowing how to do it, and doing To ask for the government to be the arbiter of internet content it “fairly.” assumes that the government has the knowledge to do this, the So, what are we left with? The dangers of harmful and false understanding of what content is “bad” and requires removal or content on social media platforms are real and need governance, reform, and that it can do all of these things in an unbiased manner. but that does not mean they need government. Republicans are Essentially, it requires the state itself to be unbiased, which it is not. wrong to ask the state to arbitrate social media posts, because it The two key problems in asking for the state to regulate content will be politically managed. Thus, it will entirely depend on who come down to knowing what to do and doing it in an even-handed holds power and has the power to change the rules. manner. States are incapable of either. This is true whether we are The best defense here is that we all need to be guardians of the talking about the central allocation of scarce resources or whether culture. A vibrant free market requires a certain ethos: prudence, it can control politicized or harmful information. virtue, truth-seeking, and competition. This includes the compe- Nobel Laureate economist F.A. Hayek, in his groundbreaking tition of ideas. The best way to defeat false information is to en- article “The Use of Knowledge in Society,” helps us understand sure that all ideas have a platform, so the ideas can compete, and that the knowledge that we need to make use of in society does truth can win. The best thing for Facebook would be for people to not exist in concentrated form, but rather is decentralized and call out falsehoods and bring attention to them. This way, harmful local. No one has access to “data” in entirety. Thus, we need and dangerous content which violates life and liberty can be reg- decentralized planning mechanisms. In markets, prices help us ulated by Facebook itself and its users, and the dangerous content gather this decentralized knowledge so that we can plan. They can be eliminated. False political information is not best vetted work, because they are themselves decentralized. by government nor the employees of Facebook – as this, too, will The same principle applies to the current debate over social lend itself to their bias – but rather by allowing all political con- media content. Social media is a clearinghouse of decentral- tent to have space and to let the users sort through it. Zuckerberg ized posts, information that can be used for both good and bad. himself has defended this claim more than once recently: He be- Facebook is organic; individuals and firms add content for many lieves the users need to evaluate political ads themselves. reasons. This content can be used by politicians and firms for The principles that encourage freedom in markets are the strategic reasons. In reality, both want your vote: Firms want you same principles we should rely on to sort through the brave new to shop with them, and politicians want you to vote for them world of social media. and support them financially. This obviously lends itself to false claims, exaggerations, harmful content, misinformation, and Anne Rathbone Bradley, Ph.D. is the George and Sally Mayer Fellow outright propaganda. Businesses have less of an incentive to do for Economic Education and the academic director at The Fund for this because, once you purchase their product, you as consumer American Studies. Previously, Dr. Bradley served as the vice president are the arbiter of whether the product lives up to its market- of economic initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, ing hype. If it does not, and there are many alternatives, you where she continues research toward a systematic biblical theology Photo: (credit: DPP Law. CC BY 2.0.) will likely stop shopping there. This is successful, as it disciplines of economic freedom. In addition to her work with TFAS, she is a pro- firms to be truthful. fessor of economics at The Institute for World Politics and Grove City The analogy does not extend to political markets. There are College. She is a visiting professor at George Mason University and has no prices, no profits and losses. If politicians who want your vote previously taught at Georgetown University and Charles University do not tell the truth, or even spread falsehoods about their com- in Prague. She is currently an Acton Affiliate scholar and a visiting petitors, it is more difficult to “punish” them. If they win, you scholar at the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy. R & L

15 WINTER 2020 ACTON.ORG the activity measured is constructive or de- structive. It is this indifference that is wrong. The SNA’s proponents at the UN fail to consider that theft and corruption destroy the fabric of society. Economic transactions involve moral and ethical actions. They create relationships that increase social cohesion or undermine the rule of law. En- trepreneurs must trust that their business partners will fulfill the terms of their con- tract, and employers must trust that their employees won’t pilfer from the store while they’re away. Economic measures that treat the theft of an item no differently than its sale fall short of their purpose. There is yet another objection to such ESSAY Gross Domestic Product, which is a calcu- indifference, which the Western tradition lation of all goods and services in a country has upheld from Aristotle to America’s for a given year, as part of its metrics. Founding Fathers. Sinful habits corrupt a Sin and vice However, United Nations officials pro- people, but limited government and free moting adoption of the SNA increasing- markets depend on virtuous citizens. ly recommend that nations include illegal A lawless or vice-driven society cannot do not belong goods and activities like drugs, prostitution, experience flourishing in any regard, illicit gambling, and business theft. They including long-term economic growth. in the GDP claim such “transactions” represent a sig- Nations abandon these links to their peril. nificant amount of economic activity. Ex- Saint Thomas Aquinas defines the vir- John Horvat II cluding them, they argue, will distort GDP tue of justice as “to render to each one his and ruin the uniformity of analysis. own.” Justice facilitates virtue by clearly Five years ago, the European Union be- defining the terms of ownership, thus di- conomics can be a brutal science. Its gan including illegal activities in its national minishing discord. Economics focuses on focus is limited to a particular part accounting. Others followed suit by adopt- commutative justice, which is the particular Eof human activity that deals with ing the SNA’s guidelines. Participating gov- kind of justice that assures that one party the process of wealth creation, acquisition, ernments can record no direct benefits from will render to another in transactions what production, and consumption. It measures the metrics, since the activities are still il- is due. Justice ties trade to moral actions in what has, and not what should have, been legal and, therefore, not taxable. However, favor of the common good and away from done. Economics is also a science of mea- they claim the practice will help set policy. exaggerated self-interest and short-term surements. By calculating profits and loss- Although the amount of illegal activi- gain. Justice creates the trust and security es, businessmen can plan for the future. ty is not easy to estimate, it is enormous, that allow markets to flourish. On a larger scale, international standards perhaps amounting to hundreds of billions When economists admit business theft of measurement help economists develop of dollars. Canada has especially focused on as a metric for economic analysis, they break monetary policy, make economic forecasts, its illicit cannabis sales which, despite the this trust. Injustice takes an equal place be- and monitor growth. But greed, fraud, and legalization of marijuana, still account for side justice. Immoral actions like prostitu- theft can easily find their way into financial 0.4 percent of its GDP. Estimates of unlaw- tion – that offend human dignity and God’s transactions. That is why economics must be ful activities in the United States are around law – line up alongside professions of honor subject to those higher normative sciences one percent of GDP. Theft from business and decency. It is a formula for failure. like ethics that regulate all human behavior. alone would add $109 billion to the total Standards of measurement are import- However, there is increasing pressure to amount of national “goods and services.” ant in economics and must be employed change the moral dimension of econom- The only real obstacle to the universal judiciously. However, economies fail much ic measurements. Traditionally, economic adoption of the SNA standards is the Unit- more by the lack of moral metrics than by figures only dealt with the value of legal ed States. It is not ready to include these want of statistical analysis. The basis of activities. Now officials are arguing that -il figures on its fiscal portfolio. Thankfully, it economic thought must be a passion for the legal transactions should also be included. has kept Illegal gambling, theft, drugs, and cardinal virtue that should govern all trans- According to the Wall Street Journal’s Jo prostitution off the official ledger. actions: justice. Craven McGinty, the main force behind the The SNA debate over adding vices and push for including illegal activities in stan- illegal goods to the metrics is a typical ex- John Horvat II is a scholar, researcher, educa- dards is the United Nations. The UN pro- pression of modern economics divorced tor, international speaker, and author of the motes its System of National Accounts, or from ethics. The SNA would reduce eco- book Return to Order. He is also the vice pres- SNA, as the universal standard of econom- nomics to the mere mechanics of com- ident of the American Society for the Defense ic analysis. The SNA includes the familiar modity exchange, irrespective of whether of Tradition, Family and Property. R & L

16 what was happening completely. When Boris Johnson visited a chemical works in the northeast of England, the broadcast- er showed a woman asking a question designed to trip up Johnson (who sort of obliged). What they did not show was 20 men in hard hats, safety jackets, and hard- ened faces holding up a sign saying, “We love Boris.” The seat flipped. The road ahead is strewn with obstacles designed to push our newly free nation off course. Prime Minister Johnson himself is an enigma; on his watch, more big govern- ment, state intervention, and government spending may be the order of the day. In addition, there are many with a vested The mistake made by the Remain es- ESSAY interest in Brexit’s failure. Yet, there are tablishment – and, indeed, most of the unique and broad opportunities to strike a British establishment, from politics, to blow for liberty in at least three areas. big business, to the Church of England, First, political freedom must be ex- backed “Remain” – was to argue the next panded. There are already suggestions Brexit: A new three years about economics. Leaving the that any future arrangement between the EU will threaten jobs, damage trade, and UK and the EU will include the jurisdic- era dawns lead to food shortages, they declaimed. tion of the European Court of Justice. In There is, of course, an economic case for the memorable words of Thatcher, “No, Rev. Richard Turnbull leaving the EU, but the point that was no, no.” Reclaiming sovereignty for the missed was that Brexit was really about nation and the elected British Parliament a fundamental desire of humanity: our does not mean immediately surrendering thirst for liberty. The Remain side argued orty-seven tortured years have that hard-won victory back to the EU. We about things which were not the prime come to an end. The United King- also need to beware of the Supreme Court, motivators of the Leave voters. Indeed, dom joined the European Union whose activist judges sought to frustrate F one might argue that “sovereignty,” “im- on January 1, 1973, and left at 11 p.m. on Brexit. Perhaps constitutional reform will migration,” and “fear of EU expansion” are January 31, 2020. The UK suffered nearly need to go further. all expressions of the same issue: sover- five decades of the step-by-step erosion Second, the UK can seize all the ben- eign control over laws, borders, and fi- of the idea of the free nation state. The efits of economic liberty. There will un- nances. One way or another, some 94 per relationship was dominated by attempts doubtedly be a battle between those who cent of respondents were effectively mo- to impose a common currency (which the wish UK trade and regulatory standards tivated by sovereignty or political liberty. UK repeatedly rejected), extract exces- to remain aligned with the EU in return In a very real sense, this was symp- sive financial demands to subsidise other for zero tariffs and so-called frictionless tomatic of the Remain problem. They countries (to which Margaret Thatcher trade. This is a siren song. If that were spent the entire time from the referen- famously replied, “We want our mon- the objective, there would be little point dum to the December 2019 general elec- ey back”), and inexorable moves toward in leaving the single market, the cus- tion using every means at their disposal to a single political union (which, again, toms union, or the EU itself. We need to frustrate the clearly expressed will of the Thatcher emphatically rejected). We nev- encourage a new outlook for trade that people in a national ballot. Parliamentary er really belonged in the EU, and the UK’s champions innovation, the free exchange procedure was manipulated, the Speaker national character has been restored. of goods and services, and consumer of the House enlisted, the Supreme Court Those who wanted the United King- choice. The freedom to negotiate trade used and abused. The left-of-center La- dom to remain a member of the European deals and arrangements with our closest bour Party had a particular problem in Union missed a fundamental point. In the allies like the United States – which has that, although it is clearly a Remain party, aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum, been illegal whilst we have been members perhaps around a quarter of its electors Michael Ashcroft’s polling company in- of the EU – or any other sovereign country voted Leave and they were concentrated terviewed more than 12,000 people about that wishes to trade to mutual advantage

in electoral districts in the midlands and Photo: (credit: Shutterstock.com) why they voted Leave. The results were lies at the heart of the opportunities that north of England. as follows: beckon after Brexit. Increased choice for The earthquake occurred on December the consumer (maybe Brits would prefer to • Sovereignty – 49 per cent; 12, when around 50 of these voting districts buy American goods rather than French), • Immigration – 33 per cent; flipped from Labour to Conservative, many price competition (Tim Martin, a lead- • Fear of EU expansion – 13 per cent; and for the first time ever. The BBC (think CNN ing pro-Brexit businessman, is adamant • Economics – 6 per cent. funded by compulsory taxation) missed

17 WINTER 2020 ACTON.ORG he can cut prices in his pubs because he BOOK will be able to import from outside the EU more cheaply), and tariff reduction (will the Germans want tariffs on all the cars they sell in the UK?) are all examples of John Foster Dulles: The the opportunities of trade freedom. The EU single market concept is pred- icated on a common regulatory frame- devil’s (not) in the details work. Again, the cries will be that we must continue to follow this common frame- John D. Wilsey work or else our standards will decline. Divergence, though, is a virtue. The reg- ulatory standards that the UK seeks may be higher than those offered by the EU, did not like John Foster Dulles when I first met him. or, perhaps, they might just be different. Of course, I have never actually met him; he died 10 years before I was born. Perhaps we might benefit from less, rath- IBut I have been studying him and writing about him for seven years now. And I er than more, regulation. The consumer is first encountered him almost 30 years ago, while I was a student majoring in history more than able to assess the relationship at Furman University. of price and quality; a centrally imposed Back then, I was taking a course on “U.S. history since 1945” with one of my aca- framework is simply not necessary. Diver- demic heroes, Dr. Marian Strobel, who still teaches at Furman. Dulles came up a lot in gence expands choice. that course. John Foster Dulles was instrumental in the formation of the United Na- Third, Brexit will bring new opportu- tions, served on the postwar Council of Foreign Ministers, led the negotiations which nities for inward investment, encouraging produced the Treaty of San Francisco in 1951 that formally ended hostilities with Japan, technological innovation, low corporate and held the position of United States Secretary of State from 1953 to 1959 in the Ei- and personal tax regimes, and celebrat- senhower administration. When Dulles died in 1959, he was nearly universally regarded ing entrepreneurial success. Just watch as a titan of sagacity, a paragon of the statesman, and the embodiment of American the pressure for keeping tax rates high in prestige. His state funeral was the largest in the history of the nation’s capital to that order to “avoid a race to the bottom.” We date, surpassed just four-and-a-half years later by that of President John F. Kennedy. should instead consider reducing corpo- But Dulles’ star faded considerably in the years following his death, largely be- rate taxation to encourage more compa- cause by the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, Americans began to regard the nies to invest and employ more workers. anti-Communist interventions which took place during the 1950s in the Middle East, Why not undercut France’s tax regime? Asia, Latin America, and Africa with regret and disgust. In 1973, Townsend Hoopes’ The The resulting prosperity will improve the Devil and John Foster Dulles was published, which was the first critical biography and well-being of society and create more assessment of Dulles’ work as a lawyer and a diplomat. One can tell by the title that prosperity to fund philanthropy, including Hoopes’ work did not offer a positive take. More negative treatments of Dulles came religious charities and churches. out over the years, and only one of them can be said to offer a critical, yet balanced, There will be many pressures going treatment: Ronald Pruessen’s John Foster Dulles: The Road to Power (1982). forward. Yet, there is also opportunity, The most recent treatment of Dulles appeared in 2013, and it can fairly be called a real opening for something different: a hit job. Stephen Kinzer’s The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Se- a nation state that celebrates freedom, cret World War was a full-throated condemnation of Dulles as a simplistic, puritanical trades freely, rewards success, and en- jingoist. In a 2014 interview on The Brothers, Kinzer said that Dulles was “arrogant, courages personal responsibility. Eco- self-righteous, and prudish …. even his friends didn’t like him.” He went so far as to nomic liberty inspires competition and lay the entire blame for America’s involvement and subsequent failure in Vietnam at choice and is wed to political freedom. Dulles’ feet. “We could have avoided the entire American involvement in Vietnam” if Forty-seven tortured years have come Dulles had not insisted on it as early as 1954, Kinzer asserted. to an end, and a new era beckons. Dulles deserves a more fair and accurate treatment. For one thing, every history of a particular event, person, idea, or movement is taken from the perspective of the histori- Rev. Dr. Richard Turnbull is the director of the an’s own context and background. And every biography contains a bit of the author’s au- Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics and tobiography. I have studied Dulles carefully over the past several years, and I can admit a trustee of the Christian Institute. He holds that at first, I was convinced by Dulles’ detractors of their contention that his actions as a degree in Economics and Accounting and an American diplomat were, on the whole, bad for America’s standing in the world. But spent more than eight years as a chartered ac- as I considered the human being behind the caricatures, I began to get a different per- countant with Ernst and Young, serving as the spective. More specifically, as I studied Dulles as a religious man, I came to understand youngest-ever member of the Press Council. his positions and decisions during the 1940s and 1950s more comprehensively. Richard also holds a first class honours degree Most of Dulles’ biographers failed to treat Dulles’ religious life all that seriously. in Theology and Ph.D. in Theology from the The one exception is Mark Toulouse, who wrote the only book-length religious biogra- University of Durham. He was ordained in the phy of Dulles in 1986. Toulouse’s The Transformation of John Foster Dulles is an excellent Church of England in 1994. study, but only treats 15 years of Dulles’ 71-year life span. I became convinced that

18 any responsible assessment of Dulles’ public life had to start by looking at Dulles’ religious faith, beginning with his grandpar- ents and parents, proceeding to his childhood and early adult- hood. A perceptive biographer had to note how his religious views evolved around the circumstances of his life and career, at home and in public, over the course of his life. Among other things, I found that yes, contra Kinzer, Dulles’ friends did actually like him. Neglecting the influence of religion on Dulles’ life neces- sarily results in a skewed and inaccurate account of his career. Consider the example of his work on the Treaty of San Francisco, which was ratified by the Senate in 1952. By 1950, Dulles had become convinced that the Soviet Union was as dire a threat to world peace and human freedom as Nazi Germany had been in the 1930s and 1940s. He wrote that the Soviets “believe it right to use fraud, terrorism, and violence, and any other means that will promote their ends.” The Soviet empire was atheistic and operated outside of the moral law, be- cause the Soviets denied its existence. On April 6, 1950, Dulles was appointed foreign policy advisor to Secretary of State Dean Acheson, and he began to work as chief negotiator for a treaty of peace with Japan. He made four trips to the Far East in 1950 and 1951, and he enjoyed the full support of Secretary Acheson and President Harry S. Truman. For Dulles, the animating vision for a peace treaty with Ja- pan was the Christian spirit of reconciliation. In 1919, Dulles had served on the Reparations Commission at the Versailles Confer- ence, which produced the disastrous Versailles Treaty that end- ed World War I. That treaty was essentially retributive against Germany, and the Second World War was the direct result of the harsh and vengeful treatment of Germany by the Allies. Dulles actually helped draft the infamous War Guilt Clause, which forced Germany to accept responsibility for the war. But Dulles learned important lessons from that experience, name- ly, that peace is ensured by magnanimity and forgiveness, not revenge. America had a “special responsibility … to bring inter- national relations into conformity with moral law,” Dulles wrote after the San Francisco Treaty was ratified on March 20, 1952. The peace treaty with Japan was one of Dulles’ most import- ant achievements. The treaty was the cornerstone of peace in the Pacific during the Cold War, and it also served as a bulwark against the spread of Communism into Japan. This spared the nation the ravages of collectivism and socialism, allowing Japan to become not just a U.S. ally, but one of the most prosperous nations in the region. It likely preserved religious liberty, which Marxism extinguishes everywhere it seizes power. Instead of Photo: Solomon praying to false gods; by Luca Giordano. (Public domain.) disparaging Dulles as a self-righteous prig, we should offer in- telligent assessments based on Dulles as a man, not a character from a Herblock cartoon. Dulles’ religion defined his humanity, and compelled him to serve the rest of humanity.

John D. Wilsey, Ph.D., is Affiliate Scholar in Theology and History at the Acton Institute. He is associate professor of church history at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of One Na- tion Under God: An Evangelical Critique of Christian America (Pickwick, 2011) and American Exceptionalism and Civil Reli- gion: Reassessing the History of an Idea (IVP Academic, 2015). He also edited Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America: A New Abridgment for Students (Lexham, 2016).

19 WINTER 2020 ACTON.ORG concept of objective truth itself. Strong gods can be destructive, as they were in the first half of the twenti- eth century. “Dark gods stormed through Europe, eventually setting aflame most of the world and bringing death to millions,” he writes. They can lead to eccentricity, as we saw in the age of “militarism, fascism, communism, racism, and anti-Semitism.” Reno posits that, as a reaction to this destruction, the postwar consensus ad- opted a system that opposed strong gods per se, whether good or evil. The newly adopted mantra held that “whatever is strong – strong loves and strong truths – leads to oppression, while liberty and prosperity require the reign of weak loves and weak truths.” The alleged weaken- ing process, he writes, developed into a “negative piety” in which all objective truth is scorned as “a threat to liberal norms.” Postwar liberalism amounts to the “strong conviction about the danger of strong convictions.” Reno is “not opposed to the anti- totalitarian struggles of the last century.” Indeed, “by certain measures, the postwar consensus has been remarkably successful” in establishing peace and prosperity. Yet, Reno writes, BOOK it has become unhealthy. Reno analyzes many different thinkers across the postwar political spectrum who, in his opinion, advocated Return of the false gods such views: Karl Popper, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Albert Camus, and Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West Jacques Derrida. He writes that they shared R. R. Reno | Gateway Editions | 2019 | 208 pgs a common attempt to disenchant the world, which, in contrast to the pre-war Reviewed by Kai Weiss era, was now considered laudable. Instead of trying to nurture strong gods, the West should let technocrats and experts develop impartial policy through scientific, umerous books have been written in recent years on the de- cost-benefit analysis. Economically, the mise of liberalism in today’s age of “populism” and social market, through spontaneous order, would disintegration. The newest entry is Return of the Strong Gods: lead to a similarly impersonal process. He Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West by Rusty Reno, derides this as “a utopian dream of politics Nthe editor of First Things. While Reno has been seen as the main protag- without transcendence, peace without onist behind that journal’s new, critical view of liberalism, he, in contrast unity, and justice without virtue.” to others, says that this is “not a crisis of liberalism, modernity, or the In a particularly luminous chapter, West.” A liberal society “can be wealthy and moderate,” and “the marketplace can gen- Reno shows how even architecture has erate wealth and give us elbow room to make up our own minds about how to live.” sunk into this world of sameness and Those who try to trace “the cancerous tumor that is killing the West” to liberalism or simplicity. The great cathedrals of Eu- nominalism miss the target. Instead, he sees the “post-war consensus” of “liberalism” rope tried to connect buildings with the at fault. community, its past, and transcendent Throughout his book, Reno returns to the peculiar and vague concept of “strong truths. Today, architecture “reflects an gods,” which are “the object of men’s love and devotion, the sources of the passions and explicit ideology of negation,” where loyalties that unite societies.” They can include traditions, national or local identities, simple design – or any sign of open- historical narratives like the American founding, or modern ideologies – such as the ness – is considered great, as long as it

20 does not relate explicitly to a country’s or Further, some of the thinkers he accuses Reno brilliantly shows how “our lead- community’s heritage, or offend anyone. of emptiness or negation, such as Hayek, ership class is so thoroughly blinded by This culture of negative piety leaves passionately believed in a positive view the postwar consensus” that it ignores societies and individuals ill at ease. By of society. Indeed, the postwar West is the problems citizens face today, includ- ignoring the possibility of objective truth far from devoid of its own “strong gods.” ing “atomization, dissolving communal and replacing it with hyper-personal- The Left believes in equality, social jus- bonds, disintegrating family ties, and a ized values, Western society naturally tice, or Mother Earth; libertarians believe nihilistic culture of limitless self-defini- feels lost. In an uncentered, technocrat- in freedom as an inherent good. Just be- tion.” Why, then, does he still trust these ic world, those who are losing out in the cause Reno does not agree with these few to govern the many? Why not ad- alleged win-win of liberalism need to strong gods does not mean that liberals vance real self-government by decen- “worry that they will have no role in the lack them. tralizing and strengthening local insti- globalized economy.” Reno’s diagnosis is missing one cru- tutions? Why not include subsidiarity as What is his solution? For Reno, it cial component of the postwar consen- a strong god? It often seems as though should be a cautious return of the strong sus: the consistent advance of political Reno takes centralization for granted, gods: “The political and cultural crisis of centralization since 1945. Throughout the underestimating its damaging effects the West today is the result of our refus- book, Reno erroneously argues that post- and its role in the negative piety and so- al – perhaps incapacity – to honor the war politics has favored free markets, cial disintegration he diagnoses. strong gods that stiffen the spine and free trade, deregulation, and entrepre- It almost seems that Reno realizes his inspire loyalty.” In contrast to the previ- neurship. It almost seems as if he thinks oversight in his afterword. “Men always ous century, the West should adopt “no- EU bureaucrats and the Washington rally around the sacred,” he writes, so we ble loves,” which must be broadly shared “swamp” get their plans from the works have to be careful that the public square so that genuine community can develop. of Ayn Rand and Ludwig von Mises. does not displace the sacred. “We easi- This requires society to reevaluate the Over the last seven decades, gov- ly imagine the nation as more than our concept of “the common good.” Indeed, ernments have become more and more civic home; it is our savior. To combat our world “begs for a politics of loyalty intrusive – building lumbering welfare this idolatry,” we need to supplement this and solidarity.” states, which they financed through political community with “the domestic Yet the identities of these strong, massive public debt and sky-high taxes, society of marriage and the supernatu- unifying gods re- ral community of main vague. And the church, syna- although Reno gogue, and other clearly opposes to- “By ignoring the possibility of objective truth communities of talitarianism, the and replacing it with hyper-personalized val- transcendence.” concept remains a Or, put differently, slippery slope. He ues, Western society naturally feels lost.” public life needs to mentions the noble be complemented loves of solidarity, country, and religion – and inserting regulations into all areas of by a strengthening of civil society and but also of self-government, sovereign- private life. Their thirst for centralization private institutions. ty, freedom, and reason. But taken to the has shackled the market through regula- This is the crucial point to take away extreme, any of these gods can create tion and cronyism. Some national pow- from Reno’s sometime vague but over- unintended consequences. For instance, ers have been assumed by supranational all thought-provoking book: A renewal extreme solidarity can lead to socialism, organizations like the European Union, of our society, of our institutions, and, extreme patriotism to nationalism of the constraining the very sovereignty that for us Christians, of our faith, is possi- imperialist variety, extreme freedom to Reno says he seeks to revitalize. This ble. This renewal “will be painfully dif- libertinism, and extreme reason to a sci- centralization has hurt social institutions ficult.” It might take time. But “our task entism that rejects faith and tradition like the family and the church. It leaves is to use our freedom and intelligence in on supposedly rational grounds. Postwar people feeling alienated, while a small doing so. We must return to the terrain liberals’ realization that strong gods tend political elite sets policy for hundreds of that can be stabilized, though never fi- to create fanaticism deserves our grati- millions of strangers. nally fixed. This is a religious, cultural, tude. Many of them correctly argued that Due to this oversight, Reno discounts and political task. It is ours.” It should moderation creates the stable and cohe- any decentralizing ideas by the postwar remain ours, and it can most effective- sive society necessary for these “noble thinkers he analyzes. He admits that “only ly be achieved when power is devolved loves” to be followed in a prudent way. a few actually make the laws.” At the from the leadership class into the hands Reno cogently explains how ev- same time, he criticizes William F. Buckley of the people. er-greater openness and diversity even- Jr. for calling for more pluralism, because tually lead to disenchantment and a soft “it disperses, rather than concentrates” Kai Weiss is the research and outreach co- totalitarianism. However, he underesti- power, and he lambasts Hayek for argu- ordinator at the Austrian Economics Center mates the positive principles liberalism ing in The Road to Serfdom that people seek and a board member of the Hayek Institute. successfully instituted in the postwar the peace and “freedom to build up once era, like greater equality and justice. more their own little worlds.”

21 WINTER 2020 ACTON.ORG COLUMN

Editorial Board THE AGE OF ‘CENSURESHIP’ Publisher: Rev. Robert A. Sirico Rev. Robert A. Sirico Executive Editor: Rev. Ben Johnson Social media has a large menagerie of critics: politicians on the Left and Right, Graphics Editor: Peter Ho journalists, and ordinary people who despair over the anger and noise often so prevalent on these platforms. Their concerns are as diverse as those who express The Acton Institute for the Study of them, and some are made on firmer grounds than others. Religion and Liberty promotes a free Politicians of the Left have criticized firms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google society characterized by individual (owner of YouTube) for exercising “monopoly power” and demand that they be broken liberty and sustained by religious up. These are obviously not monopolies, as the rise of Snapchat and TikTok prove; principles. Letters and requests should the slippery notion of “monopoly” seems merely a menacing way to characterize be directed to: their success with consumers. While nearly three quarters of Americans say they enjoy YouTube, the remaining quarter does not seem at any distinct disadvantage, or Religion & Liberty, Acton Institute. under any compulsion to watch. All the other myriad social media platforms (except 98 E. Fulton Street, Grand Rapids, Facebook) enjoy dramatically less usage, and none of them charge for the core MI 49503. functions they make available to users. Politicians on the Right have different concerns. One has declared social media to The Acton Institute was founded on the be “addictive.” Addiction is a terrible and tragic evil. Addiction to drugs and alcohol basis of ten core principles, integrating often ruins lives and tears families and communities apart. I know this well from Judeo-Christian truths with free market my own pastoral experience. However, the word itself is abused and often trivialized principles. by those applying it to things people do freely but feel guilty about later, e.g., “chocoholics.” Enjoying things, even good things, out of their right measure is wrong, • Dignity of the Person but I am not so sure this is addiction so much as vice. • Social Nature of the Person Others on the Right have accused major social media firms of censorship. To the • Importance of Social Institutions extent that what is meant here is that the owners of these platforms suppress or • Human Action delete content they deem objectionable, I would prefer to call this “censureship.” The • Sin notion that owners of these platforms are obligated to transmit and host whatever • Rule of Law and the Subsidiary their users upload, over legal or moral objections, is untenable. The distinction Role of Government between censorship and censureship might be a useful one to distinguish what the • Creation of Wealth government does as an act of legal (and thus coercive) prohibition, and what private • Economic Liberty owners do to indicate moral, cultural, or political disagreement on their own property. • Economic Value Proposed “solutions” only add another layer of government-appointed censors to • Priority of Culture oversee the censures. Journalists decry social media while being among technology’s most prolific The notion of shared values on both users. Social media represent a threat to the mainstream media as they compete for sides of the Atlantic has received advertisers and readers. The decentralized nature of social media offers a forum for new attention. Leaders like French giving and receiving news and information. This give-and-take – often messy, and socialist president François Hollande increasingly offensive – results in a transparency and accountability so often absent cite “democracy, freedoms and the in the entrenched and established media. respect of every individual" as key There is much in social media deserving of objection. Lies, distortions, vulgarity, values. But what about religious and half-truths abound. Bullying, rudeness, and callousness proliferate when people liberty, the breakdown of the welfare hide or are hidden behind screens. But the solutions to these problems do not lie in state, advancing secularism and breaking up these companies or regulating them. What value they have created would the health of civil society? R&L be lost in dividing already diverse and competitive platforms along arbitrary lines Transatlantic will cover these issues drawn by bureaucrats. What censureship exists would be compounded by the whims of ever-changing political committees. Efforts to shore up legacy media will come here with new articles. at the expense of the transparency and accountability which comes with the more inclusive process of sharing information, which has been revitalized by social media. For archived issues or to subscribe, The solution to the problems generated by social media are not to be found in please visit www.acton.org. The views of the authors expressed in Religion & government intervention to reshape or control it, but by our own free choice to refuse Liberty are not necessarily those of the to be shaped by it. This involves logging off from our virtual communities to be Acton Institute. shaped by, serve, and live in our real communities. Some wise words were penned long ago: “Keep your heart with all vigilance; for from it flow the springs of life” © 2020 Acton Institute for the Study of (Proverbs 4:23). Religion and Liberty. Rev. Robert A. Sirico is co-founder of the Acton Institute.

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