Category: COMMENTARY

Catholic Officialdom in Australia: A Woke, Broke Joke

Lay Australian Catholics are dramatically limited in what we can achieve. But we have endless power to thwart our home-grown counterpart to the Patriotic Chinese Church. This power we must wield.

The Paradox of Capitalism

A capitalist society is not nihilistic. It allows man’s economic virtues to flourish. And yet, without moral guardrails, capitalism becomes its own worst enemy.

Death on Demand in Canada

What started as an allegedly rare and ‘kindly’ way to ease the suffering of the terminally ill has ballooned into a government program offering death as an escape from loneliness, depression, or even poverty and homelessness.

Rainbow Flags for Thee, Rioters for Me

Amidst talk of a victory for Muslims in general, vulgar ethnic resentment against Europeans on the part of rioters can pretend to stem from a principled opposition to secular, liberal postmodernity.

The Problem of the Conservative Party Membership

The real problem facing us: if we are not allowing members to vote for their leader, we have to concede that there must be a different reason for those members to feel valued. Yet, there is no easy fix here.

Hussey Under the Bus

I have repeatedly defended the monarchy against fellow conservatives who feel that it is rapidly becoming another celebrity clique, jumping on the popular ‘woke’ bandwagons. Now, the royals have once again appeared to prove their most cynical detractors right.

Schengen: The EU Has an Integrity Problem

When political corruption fills the void left behind by the demised freedom-minded policies of the early union, the EU gradually becomes a burden on the shoulders of the member states, not a platform under their feet. 

Paris Diary

Paris Diary

Rats crawling under a Périphérique underpass at Porte de Bagnolet. Graffitied cement cubes serving as the bases for traffic lights

September 14, 2021
The Challenge of Unionism

The Challenge of Unionism

Unionism has long been a negative creed—it has defined itself by being opposed to things—while her opponents appear, by contrast, progressive and modern. To win hearts and minds, unionists need to make a positive case for the union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But today Ulster’s unionists appear more disunited and demoralized than at any time in the last century.

September 13, 2021
The Ghosts of Extremism

The Ghosts of Extremism

After years of chasing Islamic extremists, however, Western governments and their intelligence services, as well as the mainstream media, today seem to have broadened the scope of what they mean by “extremism” to encompass all ideologies, philosophies, and political movements that are somehow deemed “too dangerous” to exist. And these, according to them, are increasingly found on the Right. 

September 8, 2021
Facing Down the World Health Organization

Facing Down the World Health Organization

When the COVID-19 pandemic first broke out, the WHO amazed many by brazenly prioritizing the Chinese Communist Party’s political interests over the health of the world’s population.

August 24, 2021
The Virtue Contest

The Virtue Contest

The manipulations of the Left are easy to avoid if one does not try to prove one’s virtue using social media.

August 13, 2021
Much Ado About Hungary

Much Ado About Hungary

There is no indication that David French has ever visited Hungary, but the idea that leading figures of an American political movement in which he no longer possesses even a crumb of influence or credibility feels affinity for that country clearly angers and frightens him.

August 11, 2021
Ukrainian Patriotism: Between Two Civilizations

Ukrainian Patriotism: Between Two Civilizations

It seems obvious that Russia, as it is now, cannot be an ally of the West. Perhaps in the future the Ukrainian government will be able to rebuild proper relations with Russia while protecting its boundaries. But this currently seems doubtful.

August 8, 2021
The Moral Hypocrisy of the Corona Hysteria

The Moral Hypocrisy of the Corona Hysteria

Fear of nature will rule every meaningful decision regarding life and death. Viruses and climate change will justify continued social isolation and an increasingly totalitarian government.

August 4, 2021
The Unexpected Alliance of Conservatives and Hippies

The Unexpected Alliance of Conservatives and Hippies

Conservatives and hippies would do well to recognise and foster the relationship that already exists between them. Strength in numbers and all that.

August 2, 2021
More Than Life and Death

More Than Life and Death

No amount of flag-wagging by uncouth or brutish xenophobes will reverse, or even oppose, the wilful undoing of an entire culture.

July 29, 2021
Saving Syria

Saving Syria

After ten years of war, with hundreds of thousands of deaths and the mass displacement of millions of civilians, the Syrian people are desperate for peace and stability.

July 27, 2021
Reflections on Pope Francis’s Motu Proprio <i>Traditionis Custodes</i>

Reflections on Pope Francis’s Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes

In a conservative analysis, employed to detect the presence of revolution, one must distinguish the revolutionaries from all others. Revolutions always mark the overthrowing of an established order in favour of a new system.

July 21, 2021