Wilhelm Röpke
I have been troubled for some time by the apparent discord between Paleolibertarianism and Distributivism. The former captures the mind, the latter the heart. The two ideas often have seemed to me irreconcilable.
That was until I received the June 5, 2006 print edition of The American Conservative, with a fascinating article entitled "Think Liberty, Act Locally" by John Zmirak, author of Wilhelm Ropke: Swiss Localist, Global Economist, about a thinker who bridged the gap and "balanced liberty and order."
Herr Röpke said of reading the essays of Ludwig von Mises that they "rendered me immune, at a very early date, against the virus of socialism." Mr. Zmirak points out that, echoing the arguments of Hilaire Belloc and G. K. Chesterton,
I have been troubled for some time by the apparent discord between Paleolibertarianism and Distributivism. The former captures the mind, the latter the heart. The two ideas often have seemed to me irreconcilable.
That was until I received the June 5, 2006 print edition of The American Conservative, with a fascinating article entitled "Think Liberty, Act Locally" by John Zmirak, author of Wilhelm Ropke: Swiss Localist, Global Economist, about a thinker who bridged the gap and "balanced liberty and order."
Herr Röpke said of reading the essays of Ludwig von Mises that they "rendered me immune, at a very early date, against the virus of socialism." Mr. Zmirak points out that, echoing the arguments of Hilaire Belloc and G. K. Chesterton,
- Röpke asks repeatedly throughout his books whether responsible citizens of a free society can grow up in conditions where they are economically dependant, enfolded in the hives of a modern factory or corporation, subject for their very survival on decisions made by strangers and conveyed to them through factory loudspeakers or interdepartmental memos.
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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