YOU KNOW HOW I’M ALWAYS GOING ON ABOUT how the rising inequality of the last 30 years or so is ominous, given the tendency of situations like ours to end in tears for everyone? Well, it turns out that there is a genuine, certified billionaire entrepreneur who agrees with me. His name is Nick Hanauer, […]
Matt Talbot: ‘Pro-life’: A nice idea
SOMEONE ONCE ASKED GANDHI what he thought of Western Civilization, and he responded that he thought it would be a good idea. I would probably give a similar response if someone asked me what I thought of the “pro-life” movement. I am familiar with the arguments in favor of abortion rights. The majority of my […]
Matt Talbot: A progressive candidate to raise progressive issues
VERMONT SEN. BERNIE SANDERS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I mentioned a while back that I was not particularly thrilled with Hillary Clinton, the only other Democratic candidate who is currently in the race. As I wrote of Hillary in January of […]
Matt Talbot: America should look back to look ahead
IN LAST WEEK’S COLUMN, I promised to discuss in more detail the need for jobs that fulfill three conditions: they should not require a college degree; they should be good-paying; and they should be plentiful. The 30 years after World War II saw a labor landscape that fulfilled all these requirements. It was the golden […]
Matt Talbot: Know-how and how far it gets you
I’VE ALWAYS HAD AN APTITUDE FOR COMPREHENDING MECHANICAL SYSTEMS. I remember the moment, years ago, when I realized I had this ability. I was sitting in the living room of my then-girlfriend, and as we talked late into the night I grabbed a broken alarm clock that had sat gathering dust on her desk for […]
Matt Talbot: My journey with the Catholic Church
A FEW WEEKS AGO, Robert Michaels penned a column for The Herald in which he explained why he is a Protestant rather than a Catholic. He repeated some misconceptions about the Church that are common in Protestant critiques, such as the surpassingly strange idea that Catholics are not Christians; but because I’m no theologian, I […]
Matt Talbot: Globalization, wages and the way forward
IN THEIR MORE SOBER AND REFLECTIVE MOMENTS, the captains of industry have recognized that a broad and healthy middle class is indispensable to their interests, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, economic self-interest: Henry Ford realized early on that if he paid his workers enough to buy the cars they produced, he would sell more […]
Matt Talbot: Decriminalize, and stop declaring ‘war’
WHY IS IT THAT EVERY TIME the country wants to tackle some besetting problem, it “declares war” on it? Just in the time I’ve been alive, we’ve had a War on Litter, a War on Cancer, a War on Illiteracy, a War on Drugs, and so on. I think the appeal of using war as […]
Matt Talbot: The mists of history
I ADDRESSED LAST WEEK’S COLUMN TO MY GRANDNIECE ADDY, who had celebrated her first birthday the previous Saturday, and mentioned that I hoped she would read it when she graduated from college (her mother told me she clipped it out of the paper and would show it to Addy on that date). None of my […]
Matt Talbot: Hello Addy
“THERE IS NO WORD FOR FEELING NOSTALGIC about the future, but that’s what a parent’s tears often are: a nostalgia for something that has not yet occurred. They are the pain of hope, the helplessness of hope, and finally, the surrender to hope.” — Comedian Michael Ian Black I write often in this space about […]