Are Michael Moore’s Films Inspired by His Catholicism?
Catholicism is well known as a determined foe of communism, yet most Americans are unaware that Catholicism has also been highly critical of capitalism.
The Dirty Little Secret of Every Ponzi Scheme, or: Bernie Madoff’s 150 Year Sentence
18th-century visionary financier John Law and 21st-century crook Bernie Madoff both had compatriots with a ravenous desire for free money—the vice that drove the systems in which these kindred spirits operated.
Purchasing Morality: What Happens When “Buying Local” Itself is Marketed?
Buying locally reminds us that purchasing is a mythical act that cements us to community in some magical way. But what if the very morality of a “local” act is being marketed in its own right? Is it just as moral to help a Palestinian cultural center build community as it is to buy Cisco products whose ads promise the same?
Capitalism and the Anti-Modern Pope
The Pope’s anti-modern critiques should not be waved off so easily, as many allegedly life-promoting institutions actually foster death. There is much in it that a progressive secularist could agree with—apart from feminism and sexual ethics.
Hamlet's Wager, or, The Ghost of Capitalism
Specters abound in the contemporary world, and they are every bit as terrifying as Hamlet's were. Think of the invisible, ghostly threat of "terror"; think of the terrifying specter of one's life's savings vanished in an instant.
Gordon Gekko Gets God: The Heritage Foundation of Theology
Even after the “revelation” that letting unregulated moneymen run the country isn't a good idea, the neoliberals at the Heritage Foundation are still churning out the message; like the latest book by “theologian” Jay W. Richards, Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution And Not the Problem.
How Much is a (Progressive) Pastor Worth?
When New York City’s fabled Riverside Church brought in a new, evangelical pastor with a pay package of $600K it made roaring headlines and sparked a lawsuit. Our writer attended the Sunday service and reports back on the "controversy."
I Owe, Therefore I Am: Why Struggling Against the Banks is a Holy Obligation
When we take the approach that “all are sinners,” we confuse big-time criminality with small-time folly. This moral obfuscation allows the far greater misfeasance of corporate creditors to get airbrushed out of the picture.
When rapacious quasi-capitalists start acting like there is no tomorrow, that’s when the economy hits the fan.