It should be clear that the vast majority of current thinking about the problem does little to address the underlying causes of our dilemma [see Part 1]. And this is odd because the mechanics of prices are well known and have been since the time of Aristotle. No competent economist of whatever school disputes these […]
Distributism would be of little practical use if it could not provide useful answers to practical problems of the type we face practically everyday. I believe distributism does indeed provide a useful set of tools to analyze these problems and to devise useful solutions. But the proof of this claim can only come in the analysis of […]
One of the arguments for healthcare reform is that millions of Americans with employer-provided healthcare are underinsured. Proponents of this view are saying that people are underinsured if they are paying too many of their healthcare costs out-of-pocket. Quite the contrary, a little reflection on what insurance is and is supposed to do suggests that […]
The UN’s high-level conference on HIV/AIDS began [last] Wednesday with fanfare and a veritable parade of delegates, scientists, activists, and UN bureaucrats. In keeping with what is now standard procedure, there was a panel integrating a “gender-mainstreamed” perspective into the discussion: “Women, Girls, and HIV.” The panelists told the audience with authority and enthusiasm that the […]
How are Catholic health care professional to act, morally and professionally, in a culture where legislative mandates diminish the exercise of the moral conscience of the clinician and threaten human dignity and freedom? The following principles are offered to guide moral action of health care professionals when confronted with a decision to disregard mandated unethical […]
When he listens to his conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.1777). We live in a culture where health services are driven by moral relativism, commodification of the human person, the technological imperative, profitability in health services, the creep of utilitarian and impersonal ethical paradigms, escalating […]
Many people today are very busy, sometimes wondering “who’s got time to read?” And yet, given the rapid and varied scientific breakthroughs which render contemporary research and healthcare contexts evermore complex and morally confusing, relevant reading is arguably imperative given our responsibility to the common good as voters, donors to charities, and investors in corporations […]
