Conservatives insist that higher incomes at the very top fuel investment and growth and improve living standards. Real-world outcomes make nonsense of these claims.
Many of us have adapted to our consumer culture—a culture in which affluence is morally innocent or even commendable. “More” is taken to be a universal aspiration.
After years of economic travail caused by Wall Street excesses and increasing worry over rising inequality and declining mobility, the culture shows signs of change.
Thirty years later one wonders how many recall the debates the lecture engendered. It bears re-reading; the challenges it poses may be even more pressing now.
These are days of hope for American Catholics, yet the Church in the United States and elsewhere is struggling to recover an effective voice in public affairs.
For the Romans, 'luxuria' was the near-equivalent of Greek hubris. It has behind it the imagery of material excess leading to a diminished sense of cause and effect.
'Catholics in the American Century' gathers essays exploring how Catholic experience and perspectives enrich our understanding of the broader American experience.
Over the course of six decades, Fr. Andrew M. Greeley—who died on May 30—wrote regularly for Commonweal. Here are excerpts from just some of his articles.
You wanted Father Andrew Greeley as your friend and not your enemy. He was ready to do battle at the first signs of disrespect toward those he cared about.
