About once a month, someone who knows me (usually from the summer camp I used to work at) asks me, "how can a Catholic be an anarchist?"  I usually use this prompt as a pretense for reuniting with old friends, catching up, and seeking out a novel perspective on my beliefs.  It's interesting to see how much and how little my beliefs and the beliefs of my friends have changed over time.
Given the Church's history of manipulating politics, choosing and overthrowing kings, burning "heretics" at the stake, and attempting to dictate the very nature of the universe, it would make sense, at face value, that an anarchist would reject the Church as just another state.  I have a few blog posts waiting in the wings that address these issues but, for now, I will call upon the work of others to begin the discussion.
What's important is holding the Church to the moral standard set out by it's philosophy.  Where I can reject the government of Empire (the USA) based on the philosophy enumerated and expressed in the Constitution and the actions of the "Founding Fathers", that same opportunity is drastically diminished, if not impossible, with regards to the Church.
This article begins to explore this reality.

I got a little bit of push-back at the end of last week for my Pope-related resource suggestions.  Interestingly, I think the push-back came from the only two people that read that suggestion, and I doubt they actually read the articles, just the comments I had concerning them.  I'm not sure if they've read previous main blog posts I've made, specifically ones defending the Pope and the papacy or those concerning epistemic rectitude.
I have already written more extensively than I really desire to concerning the Pope and the papacy, but that push-back (and arguments on social media) ought to be addressed.  Rather than writing (and writing, and writing) about a subject that is superfluous to philosophical inquiry, I think I will outsource my arguments concerning Catholic social teaching, encyclicals, and the capricious foundations of the Church in politics.  There could be no-one better suited to take on the task than Tom Woods.
In Episode 497 of the Tom Woods Show, Tom addresses many of the issues I have brought up before, concerning the relationship between Doctrine and political considerations, the nature of authority and infallibility, and the relationship between epistemology and ethics.
Anyone who has an opinion on Pope Francis' soundbites or "encyclical" ought to listen to this short podcast and read the resources linked in the show notes.

It's been a while since I've blatantly ripped off Tom Woods.  Today is a good day to do so, though.  Today's recommendation is Atlas MD.  
"How would medicine possibly help the 'underprivileged' without socialist, nationalized healthcare?"  Dr. Josh Umbehr, from Kansas, has a demonstrable and tested solution to just such a question.  A thorough but simple exploration of his model of free (in the liberty sense, not monetary sense, but it's pretty damn close to no-cost) medicine recently appeared in Tom Woods Show Episode 481.
A project as simple and ambitious as Atlas MD is going to take some time to gain momentum, but the numbers recounting his success don't lie.  His primary project is upholding the Hippocratic Oath while his secondary project is to encourage other physicians to do the same.
If people become more aware of this revolutionary approach of "charge a reasonable price and allow the market to do it's job" and ask for it, medicine may become a respectable career choice by the end of my lifetime.

AtlasMD has a podcast feed, blog, and a page oriented at helping other doctors join the free market.  I strongly recommend that you listen to the podcast episode, and then talk to your primary care physician about it (and maybe ask about bitcoin, as well; my doctor takes it, and so should yours).

After nearly a week of silence, I have more suggestions and I will have a full post out this weekend.

Today, I recommend this short piece about effective charity work.  It's published by Philanthropy Roundtable, an organization focused exclusively on researching and promoting effective charity work.  While their work sometimes borders on leftism and puritanism, depending on the author and editor, there is a lot of good work and truth that comes out of the Philanthropy Roundtable.  I have only recently discovered this website, but I have found a lot of support for arguments I have been making for a good time now, and some food for thought concerning things I haven't considered before.

I don't agree with everything on the site, or even in today's suggested article, But it certainly has more to work with than what I hear most often... and I work for the world's most prolific and successful charitable organization.  Just think what could happen in the Catholic Church if they were to approach the corporal works of mercy from an angle that has been empirically shown to be more effective than an 1,500 year old socialist welfare program.

Work is the Best Charity for the Poor Presents an argument that resolves many of the issues I have had with missionary work upon my return from Mexico and closely parallels my understanding of prisons and exile in a free society, which will be an upcoming full-post.