• John Locke Update

    Civil society properly understood

    posted February 4, 2020 by Joseph Coletti
    There are two fundamentally different conceptions of civil society. One sees people acting with their families and neighbors to help one another. Civil society is voluntary cooperation with regard to…
  • John Locke Update

    Trust, Government, and the Primacy of Traditional Institutions

    posted May 30, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    As the North Carolina Constitution states, “A frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty.” It is important though not to let the smell…
  • John Locke Update

    Should Conservatives Embrace Big Government?

    posted March 19, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    Echoing Bill Clinton’s declaration in his 1996 State of the Union address that “the era of big government is over,” Ross Douthat now sees conservatives justifying government interventions…
  • John Locke Update

    Can Government Rebuild Social Capital?

    posted January 30, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    Nathan Glazer died last week at the age of 95. He was one of the original neo-conservatives, when the term still meant “a liberal who has been mugged by reality.”…
  • John Locke Update

    Gillette, Dan Crenshaw, and Our Better Angels

    posted January 21, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    Who would have thought a call to act like a gentleman would generate controversy? Context is important. The latest Gillette ad touches some political buttons at a time when…

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