Conservatives have recently turned to more protectionist and interventionist economic policies, calling for a bigger and more intrusive government with active social policies to prevent a further disintegration of civil society and communities. Some have even gone so far as to embrace Bernie Sanders, the openly (“democratic”) socialist democratic presidential candidate. This turn away from free-market policies, which previously dominated before at least in speech, has been rather shocking, if only because it has happened so rapidly.

As has been pointed out (by yours truly included), while this disintegration of society into individualism of the wrong sort is a major issue, the last remedy that should be turned to is government. State power, after all, is, in the words of Robert Nisbet, one essential reason why social institutions have been hit hard and why “the general weakening of the area of association that lies intermediate to man and the State” has taken place in recent decades.

Perhaps, however, conservatives would also like to listen to their own hero, the “father of conservatism,” in seeing that government interventionism can’t be the solution. Edmund Burke, an Irish-Anglo political theorist and statesman of the late 18th century, defended free trade and the...

Elections are just around the corner in Bavaria, Germany’s largest and economically strongest state. On October 14, Bavarians will go to the polls to elect a new state government. One thing that is already sure is that the Left Party, Germany’s mainstream socialist party, will not have much success. It is currently polling around 3 to 4 percent, far away from the usual 10 percent it has countrywide and below the threshold of 5 percent to have seats in the Bavarian parliament.

Seemingly this has led to some desperation in the ranks of the party. Socialism and Christianity have always had a rough going with one another, to say it mildly. All the more surprised I was when I spotted the following billboard of the Left Party recently in my hometown Regensburg (which is in Bavaria):

Photo credit: Kai Weiss.

It says:

“More sharing.

More peace.

More brotherly love.

Jesus would have voted for us.”

As a practicing Catholic, this left me in slight bewilderment to say the least. Of course, these assertions are mere political opportunism. Bavaria is one of the most conservative and religious states in Germany. It is also a Catholic stronghold — 58.6 percent of Bavarians ...