Light On Dark Water

Toward A Truly Free Market

In a striking coincidence, I received a review copy of this book on the same day I posted those comments about the new Distributist Review. The book is by John Médaille, the Review‘s editor, and is subtitled “A Distributist Perspective on the Role of Government, Taxes, Health Care, Deficits, and More,” and it carries a blurb from Stratford Caldecott, among others. I haven’t had a chance to start reading it yet, but it looks promising. More info here.

The fact that it’s published by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute is very promising, as ISI is maybe the most consistent and substantial intellectual voice in the conservative movement. Despite misconceptions and persistent slander from the left, many respected conservative voices have long recognized the problems with capitalism (or whatever you want to call our system), but have tended to see it as the only alternative to socialism, which they consider worse. The publication of this book represents an encouraging trend in conservatism.

Maclin Horton
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9 responses to “Toward A Truly Free Market”

  1. Louise

    Excellent!

    Reply
  2. Rob G

    There’s a long piece posted by Mr. Medaille over at Front Porch Republic discussing Wendell Berry’s new book of essays, which centers on economics.
    I didn’t know about Berry’s book, but I’ve been looking forward to Medaille’s book since it was first announced early this year.

    Reply
  3. Mac

    I’m going to post a couple of paragraphs from the intro a bit later.
    You know, there’s an awful lot of good stuff at Front Porch Republic, but it’s a sad comment on what the web has done to my attention span that I don’t read that much of it. I have a hard time focusing long enough.

    Reply
  4. Louise

    It’s because it’s hard to read lots of volume on screens. If I want to read more than a page of something, I really have to get a print out.

    Reply
  5. Rob G

    “it’s a sad comment on what the web has done to my attention span”
    Nicholas Carr has written a very good book on this very subject — “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.”
    Well worth reading, if you can pay attention long enough. 🙂

    Reply
  6. Mac

    “it’s hard to read lots of volume on screens”
    That’s true, for several reasons. On top of that, though, there’s the constant clamor of other things for one’s attention, especially since the advent of the multi-tab browser. It’s like trying to read a book that has pages from other books interspersed within it.

    Reply
  7. Dave

    I have seen Mr. Medaille handle combox bullies with grace and resolve. He seems to attract more than his share (you won’t be surprised that his attackers are almost always conservative Catholics). Gotta a lot of respect for him.

    Reply
  8. Mac

    Well, I’ve been trying not to say this, but since you mention it…(that’s kind of a sorry dodge, isn’t it?): I’ve sometimes found Medaille’s style in controversy to be on the nasty side, and have been a little apprehensive about that streak damaging this book. But so far (which is not very at this point) it hasn’t appeared.

    Reply
  9. Paul

    Or as somebody used to scrolls might say – “These books, where you can leaf back and forth at will – it’s like having lots of scrolls open on the same reading desk!”

    Reply

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