The American TFP

The Crescent That Stole Christmas

by John Horvat II December 17, 2020December 3, 2012

City officials in Brussels have announced that the traditional Christmas tree will not be displayed in the public square due to concerns that it might offend the minority Muslim population. It seems that the insanity of political correctness is reaching a frenzied apex. Now, any reference to Christianity whatsoever will not be … Read more

The Decay of the Middle Ages

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira December 7, 2016November 29, 2012

In the fourteenth century a transformation of mentality began to take place in Christian Europe; in the course of the fifteenth century it became ever more apparent. The thirst for earthly pleasures became a burning desire. Diversions became more and more frequent and sumptuous, increasingly engrossing men. The growing yearning for a … Read more

Effects of the French Revolution on America

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira October 4, 2025November 28, 2012

Throughout the colonial period of the three Americas, the respective mother countries were governed by a regime that, some differences aside, is known generically as the Old Regime. This was the system European countries implanted in their colonies. With the successive proclamations of independence by the American nations, this regime ceased to … Read more

“Liberty, Equality, Homosexuality?”

by Luiz Sérgio Solimeo August 14, 2019November 28, 2012

The French Revolution of 1789 was based on the ideological philosophy of the Enlightenment summarized in the famous trilogy, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” By imposing full equality on society, the advocates of this philosophy sought to bring about complete freedom and an idyllic brotherhood among men. The Guillotine’s “Fraternity” As is well known, … Read more

What Is Meant By An Inorganic Society?

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira May 11, 2017November 28, 2012

What would an inorganic society be like? It would resemble a machine. That is to say, all its parts would be moved by the will of a single external and centralized agent much in the way a person turns on a machine. The obedience of each of its parts to this agent … Read more

What Do We Mean by an Organic Christian Society?

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira March 30, 2017November 28, 2012

Perhaps the best way to describe an organic Christian society is to take an example of a society from the past — that which existed in the Christendom of old. In this society, the most vibrant of all the elements was the family. Indeed, although the State and other lower social groups … Read more

The Last Twinkie

by John Horvat II December 17, 2020November 27, 2012

From an economic point of view, it was an almost insignificant event. A major American firm lamentably went bankrupt as many do. These things are to be expected in the present financial climate. However, from a cultural point of view, this particular failure, and the manner in which it happened, resonated deeply … Read more

The Demise of Buttermilk

by John Horvat II December 17, 2020November 27, 2012

The book, Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need to Go, criticizes the mass standardization of products by claiming it tends to sacrifice quality and taste for a rough equivalent. This leads to mass markets and bland … Read more

The Church Loves All the Classes and the Harmonious Inequality Among Them

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira April 27, 2017November 25, 2012

Pope Leo XIII teaches in his allocution to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility on January 24, 1903: The Roman Pontiffs have always taken care to equally protect and ameliorate the lot of the humble, and to support and augment the honor of the upper classes. For they carry on the mission of … Read more

Why the Family Needs the State: Perfect and Imperfect Societies

by The American TFP December 8, 2016November 22, 2012

The family is the single most important component of a Christian society. However, while the family is a tremendously vital force for development of the individual, it alone will not suffice. A regime of separate and scattered families, even very Christian families, does not a society make. Isolated families alone cannot normally … Read more