New Polity

The pagan cosmos is a closed world: the city is never truly self-sufficient, requiring natural slaves and war; regimes rise and fall cyclically; the regime's justice is never true justice. In the Treatise on Law (ST I-II, Q.90-108), St. Thomas Aquinas presents a different vision: the open world of grace. God orders the world through the eternal law; rational creatures participate in providence thr...

Plato and Aristotle argue that aristocracy is the ideal regime, but it never lasts for long. What's most powerful wins, and the masses are always the most powerful in number. Eventually, every pagan regime declines into the production of idols and temple slavery---whether Egypt, Greece, or Rome. In this episode of the Politics of Paganism, Alex Denley and Dr. Andrew Jones discuss this decline and...

Medically-assisted suicide bills are being introduced in states all over the country. Proponents say that it allows people to "die with dignity" and that it gives people "autonomy." But, the actual reality is far darker. In states like Oregon and California, people have been denied life-saving treatment and recommended suicide. People with disabilities and depression have been pressured into suici...

Aristotle's "Politics" is full of deep insight: politics as the architectonic science, the mixed constitution, happiness as the end of the city. But, there's a group which is excluded from human virtue; namely, the natural slave. Alex Denley and Dr. Andrew Jones discuss how the "natural slave" reveals the structure of Aristotle's just city: a limited class of citizens over an unspecified amount of...

Ted Benna has been called the "Father of the 401k." But now, he says that he created a monster. He intended for the 401 (k) to help turn spenders into savers, but it has become full of hidden fees and salary reductions that only enrich the financial industry rather than savers. In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Jacob Imam interview Ted Benna for his story of the 401 (k).

James Donald Forbes McCann returns for a special episode of Good Money. He has more questions for Jacob Imam and Marc Barnes: Why do Americans use cash? What's the marital debt? Why should people sell their stocks? Check out James's show: https://youtube.com/@jamesdonaldforbesmccann?feature=shared Subscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazine Join the conversation on our discord...

Plato presents a vicious circle that every regime goes through: from a limited aristocracy, to a timocracy of honor, an oligarchy based on wealth, a democracy based on liberty, and, finally, the tyranny of the one against all. While some regimes may be more just than others, it is bound to collapse eventually. Alex Denley and Dr. Andrew Jones discuss Plato's description of the individual and his r...

Everyone has a sense of what is just and unjust, but what is the source of justice? In this episode of "The Politics of Paganism," Alex Denley and Dr. Andrew Willard Jones discuss Plato's "Republic." Through a discussion of the luxurious city, the myth of the mixture of the elements, the Allegory of the Cave, and finally the Philosopher-King, Alex and Andrew show the tension in Plato between relat...

Death comes for everyone. For the Christian, death is the passage into eternal life; but, what about for the Pagan? Alex Denley and Dr. Andrew Jones discuss the problem of death for pagan regimes. Using St. Augustine's "City of God," they discuss Cain's murder of Abel, the founding of the city by violence, the inferior law of violence, and the overturning of death by Christ. If you want to read ah...

As the liberal order continues to collapse, rival voices have gained popularity—groups that aren’t content secularizing religion, but rejecting Christianity altogether. Old pagan arguments are resurrecting: the aesthetics of power, might-makes-right, vitalism and tyranny. Alex Denley and Dr. Andrew Willard Jones discuss their new series “The Politics of Paganism” and how Christianity can understan...

Gender season 2 has come to a close. Marc Barnes and Maria Brandell answer your questions and discuss the second season of Gender.

Subscribe to New Polity magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazine Marc Barnes and Alex Denley discuss the latest New Polity magazine, Issue 5.1. Articles include D. C. Schindler on totalitarianism and America, a debate on the stock market, Marc on the medieval practice of sanctuary, and more.

Marc and Maria discuss how the Third-Person perspective of pornography changes the way we view sexual difference.

Euthanasia is becoming legalized across the Western world. Pat McGeehan, Delegate of West Virginia, is fighting against it. Advocates employ slogans like “death with dignity,” and appeal to compassion; but, the actual results are much different. Already, a “suicide tourism” phenomenon has begun, with people flying to states like Oregon to get legal doctor-assisted suicide. Pat tells a story of one...

Marc and Maria continue their conversation on Humanae Vitae; specifically on the desire to control the body and its reproduction through abortion. They discuss how abortion not only plays the function of the killing of innocent children, but reshapes the experience of the body as such. This episode is part 2 of a conversation on the Control of the Body. ----- READINGS Contraception, Abortion Episo...

Maria and Marc read Humanae Vitae, the Catholic Church's decisive rejection of contraception, as a text which prophesies and makes sense out of the meaninglessness we ascribe to our male and female bodies today. Subscribe to New Polity magazine: https://newpolity.com/magazine Come to our conference! https://newpolity.com/events

America is sinking into pagan practices and beliefs. While Americans may not use the same language as the ancient pagans, John Daniel Davidson believes that the central pagan creed is present: there is no truth, everything is permitted. Liberalism had attempted to create neutral spaces, but as those spaces become more fought over, the only rationale can be one's own power. Dr. Andrew Willard Jones...

Everywhere is beige. The same beige houses, the same big box department stores, even the exact same food is served everywhere all across the country. What has this monotone sameness done to produce our cultural moment - one that seems to glorify diversity on the one hand, but ship it out en masse with the other? Join Marc Barnes and Maria Brandell as they explore our desaturated modern world and w...

We don't know what to do with consecrated virginity. The only way we can think of it as a disembodied spiritual calling; or as a fairly strange alternative to what is normal, marriage. Marc and Maria describe how Protestantism (and, in particular, Luther) denied the purpose of the virgin.

Modern economics takes the wage for granted, but during the feudal era, working for a wage was considered a sign of poverty. What changed? And how did this shift in economics shift gender roles? Join Marc Barnes and Maria Brandell as they discuss how capitalism rewrote our modern conception of gender. Registration is open for New Polity Conference 2024!: ⁠https://newpolity.com/events/2024⁠ Subscri...

Welcome to the Politics of Gender Season 2! Gender remains a hotly contested issue: gender constructionists and biological reductionists in an all out warfare. But, Marc Barnes and Maria Brandell argue that the Church can surpass these debates, and provide a way of understanding one's sex beyond imposed identities or brute facts. Subscribe to the greatest magazine on earth: https://newpolity.com/m...

Join the hundreds of other New Polity readers: ⁠https://newpolity.com/magazine⁠ Marc Barnes and Maria Brandell take another look at the "you complete me" narrative. Is each person's gender an incomplete half, left in lack of the other? Or, is each person complete as their gender and called to join with the other? In defense of completed gendered worlds, Marc talks about the phenomenon of The Boys...

Happy New Year! Marc Barnes and Jacob Imam take a look back at New Polity in 2023. This year, New Polity hosted its 3rd annual conference, officially launched the College of St. Joseph the Worker, and put out four new additions of the magazine. They also talk about upcoming podcast series in 2024, as well as some exciting books that will release in the new year. Early Bird pricing for the 2024 New...

Mike Sullivan and Jacob Imam are excited to announce that the College of St. Joseph is now state approved and accepting students for Fall 2024. The College's mission is to teach students a trade, provide a liberal arts education, and graduate them without crippling debt. Learn more at https://collegeofstjoseph.com

Check out our lineup of speakers and register here https://newpolity.com/events/2024 Announcing the 4th Annual New Polity Conference, Should We, Therefore, Destroy the Servers? In this podcast, Marc Barnes, Jacob Imam, and Andrew Jones discuss the role of technology on our lives, the pursuit of a technology for power, and how Christians should approach technology.