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The Moral Imagination

The Moral Imagination

By: Michael Matheson Miller
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 Welcome to the Moral Imagination Podcast. The overarching theme of my podcast is what it means to be a human person and what makes for a meaningful and good life. We will discuss philosophy of the human person, culture, religion, social philosophy, and many other related topics, like education, learning, economics, food, technology, artificial intelligence, and intellectual history. My goal is to interact with ideas and people whose work I find challenging, and intellectually and socially important.

www.themoralimagination.comMichael Matheson Miller Kallos Media LLC Philosophy Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Episode 61: Magatte Wade on Rethinking Poverty, Prosperity, and What Africa needs to Flourish

    Episode 61: Magatte Wade on Rethinking Poverty, Prosperity, and What Africa needs to Flourish
    Dec 21 2025

    In this episode of the Moral Imagination Podcast I speak with Magatte Wade about her book, The Heart of Cheetah, her personal journey, entrepreneurial ventures, and her vision for a free and prosperous Africa.

    Magatte was key voice and important influence in the film I directed, Poverty, Inc. She is a force for promoting freedom, the dignity of the person, and entrepreneurial solutions to poverty in Africa and throughout the world. I’ve know Magatte for many years and am delighted to have her on the podcast.

    We discuss the misconceptions surrounding African poverty and the need for economic freedom and institutions of justice – private property, rule of law, and ability to participate in the formal economy - for fostering opportunity and human flourishing for the poor.

    At the end of our conversation we also talk about poverty in America, the American dream from the perspective of an immigrant, emphasizing the need for a balance between material prosperity and moral values. Magatte emphasizes that Africa will only thrive through entrepreneurship, political and economic freedom, and a commitment to rule of law and human dignity.

    Biography

    Magatte Wade is founder of SkinIsSkin, and Senior Fellow at Atlas Network, the leading organization of African free-market think tanks. She was listed as a Forbes “20 Youngest Power Women in Africa,” a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and a TED Global Africa Fellow. You can learn more about her work at MagatteWade.com

    Chapters

    00:00 Introduction to Magat Wade and Her Work

    12:47 The Path to Prosperity: Entrepreneurs and Free Markets

    39:52 The Reality of Poverty in Africa

    45:02 Devotion to Prosperity in Africa

    50:50 Cultural Identity and Entrepreneurship

    57:54 The Complexity of Labor Laws

    01:08:24 The Informal Economy and Its Consequences

    01:15:12 The Aha Moment: Economic Freedom and Wealth Creation

    01:25:09 The Correlation Between Property Rights and Prosperity

    01:30:09 The Anthropological Error of Socialism

    01:36:30 The Threshold of Flourishing

    01:45:48 Virtue, Character, and Economic Freedom

    01:54:12 The Teaching Power of Law

    02:06:11 Creating Conditions for Prosperity

    02:11:21 Misdiagnosis of Poverty and Its Consequences

    02:19:00 The Cheetah vs. Hippo Generations: A Call to Action

    02:29:08 Flourishing vs. Prosperity: A New Paradigm

    Resources



    Get full access to The Moral Imagination - Michael Matheson Miller at www.themoralimagination.com/subscribe
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    2 hrs and 52 mins
  • Episode 60: Augustine Wetta, O.S.B. St. Benedict's 12-Step Guide to Genuine Self-Esteem

    Episode 60: Augustine Wetta, O.S.B. St. Benedict's 12-Step Guide to Genuine Self-Esteem
    Mar 27 2025
    In this episode of the Moral Imagination Podcast I speak with Fr. J. Augustine Wetta about his book Humility Rules: Saint Benedict's Twelve-Step Guide to Genuine Self-Esteem. The world teaches us to assert ourselves, to follow our passions, to speak up, talk back, “get yours,” don’t let anyone stand in your way. But it doesn’t really work. As Tyler Durden proclaims in Fight Club: “We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact.”In contrast to the world’s and Fight Club’s response (which we won’t talk about), Fr. Augustine looks at the Rule of St. Benedict and his ladder of humility as a guide for real happiness and true self-esteem, which comes not from self-assertion, but from self-denial, selflessness, serving others, and not being a slave to one’s own will and desires. We discuss Fr. Augustine journey from a lifeguard, surfer, and rugby player to a Benedictine monk, and some of his stories teaching high school students, and throwing himself into a rosebush. In his Rule for monks, St. Benedict explains that any progress toward holiness, happiness, and relationship with God and others must be grounded in humility. He describes humility as a ladder – with one side as the soul and the other as the body. …if we want to reach the highest summit of humility, if we desire to attain speedily that exaltation in heaven to which we climb by the humility of this present life, then by our ascending actions we must set up that ladder on which Jacob in a dream saw angels descending and ascending (Gen 28:12). Without doubt, this descent and ascent can signify only that we descend by exaltation and ascend by humility. Now the ladder erected is our life on earth, and if we humble our hearts the Lord will raise it to heaven. We may call our body and soul the sides of this ladder, into which our divine vocation has fitted the various steps of humility and discipline as we ascend. (St. John’s Abbey) Fr. Augustine goes through each of the steps on the ladder of humility * Fear of God * Self-Denial * Obedience * Perseverance * Repentance * Serenity * Self-Abasement* Prudence * Silence * Dignity * Discration* Reverence The book is excellent. It is morally and spiritually serious and entertaining. I laughed out loud several times.Fr. Augustine offers apparently outlandish advice to to people struggling with anxiety, worry, and broken relationships* Don’t speak up* Be someone’s doormat* Don’t follow your dreams* Put your worst foot forward And gives “homework” to practice each of the steps including:* Make no excuses next time you are reprimanded * Clean a toilet * Say thank you next time someone tells you something you already know * The next time you see something not done your way - leave it be if it worksIn addition to Humility Rules we discuss a number of topics including:· His book on decision making called , Pray, Think, Act: Make Better Decisions with the Desert Father· Joy cannot be grasped, but is the fruit of love and self-denial.· St. John Cassian and his writings on the eight vices – including the vice of self-esteem, and why focusing on ourselves prevents us from building good relationships and finding happiness.· Challenges of modern life, particularly the impact of digital distractions on mental health and spiritual well-being· The difference between contemporary meditation practices with traditional Catholic contemplative prayer.· The importance of cultivating an attitude of reverence and gratitude· The role of obedience in spiritual growth – and why it’s probably not a good idea to throw oneself into a rosebush.· How chastity requires us to see others as persons and subjects, not objects for use· St. Benedict’s rule on Silence, how silence increases mental clarity and attention to others, and the magnificent quote from Dom Paul Delatte OSB Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict“The fundamental purpose of silence is to free the soul, to give it strength and leisure to adhere to God.It delivers us from the low tendencies of our nature and of fixing us in the good.“Biography Augustine Wetta is a monk of Saint Louis Abbey in Saint Louis Missouri. He has two degrees in Theology from Oxford University, a BA in Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations from Rice University, and an MA in English from Middlebury College. For twenty years, he has taught English, Classics, and Theology at the Priory School, in Saint Louis, Missouri, where he also coached rugby and served as Director of Chaplaincy. In 2019, he was named a Portsmouth Institute Senior Fellow. He writes for Our Sunday Visitor, and hosts a blog entitled "Disagreement" with Islamic social activist Umar Lee, and frequently appears on EWTN and Saint Joseph Radio.In 2014, he was awarded the Judson Jerome Poetry Award and the Bill Baker Award for Fiction at the Antioch Writers Workshop (...
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    1 hr
  • Episode 59: Catherine Pakaluk, Ph.D - A Life Marathon: On having a large family in a consumerist culture amidst declining marriage and birth rates

    Episode 59: Catherine Pakaluk, Ph.D - A Life Marathon: On having a large family in a consumerist culture amidst declining marriage and birth rates
    Jul 25 2024
    In this episode of the Moral Imagination Podcast I speak with Catherine Pakaluk about her book Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth DearthOver the last 200 years, we have seen a decline in birth rates in the United States and abroad, especially in Western countries. Most European countries are no longer at replacement rates and face serious population decline. Reuters reported that Japan’s population will decline by a staggering 30% in the next fifty years. In the United States, in the year 1800, the typical woman would have about 7 or 8 children. By 1900 that number was cut in half to 4. By 2000 the number cut in half again to about 2 children, which is just about replacement rate. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the the record-low birthrate in the US, and how increasing numbers of people plan to have no children. In the midst of declining marriages, childlessness, and low birthrates, Pakaluk studied the increasing minority of women in the Western world who have chosen to have five or more children — the top 5% of childbearing.Her book is a mix of ethnography, sociology, and economics, and includes a critique of the dominant model of social and economic research. One thing that stands out with many of the women she interviews is how at some point a shift took place in their attitude — from seeing children as a choice, like a consumer good among other choices, to a different attitude of receptivity and openness to having another child, and then another. She talks about the many forces that promote small families — the cost of children, overpopulation propaganda, education, feminism, environmentalism, consumerism and more. But Pakaluk emphasizes that encouraging women to have more children cannot be addressed simply by implementing pro-family policies like some countries have tried to do. Good policy is not insignificant — for example in most US states parents who want to send their children to religious schools have to pay twice for school through tax and tuition. But she argues that the real problems go much deeper. They are religious, spiritual, and metaphysical: a vision of life that sees being as good, children as a blessing, and family as essential for a good life. Pakaluk compares having a large family to running a marathon—except longer, harder, and more fulfilling. Government family policy would be like giving everyone a pair of good running shoes for the marathon. That could help, but it won’t get most people to run. There must be a deeper motivation, and this almost always comes from religious belief and the virtues of faith, hope, the goodness of being, and the value of generosity and sacrifice that come from it. Themes and Topics we discuss include: * Demographics and Population Decline * Family policies * Feminism * Education * Career vs Family and Children * Conflicting Desires* Difficulties and Advantages of a Large Family * The Role of Religious Schools* Community * Plausibility Structures* Consumerism * Individualism* Social Pressure * Religious Freedom * Fortitude, Patience * Boys and Girls Sports * Novak Djokovic and Kobe Bryant * Voting Patterns * Climate* Creation and the Goodness of Being * and more Biography Catherine Ruth Pakaluk (Ph.D, 2010) joined the faculty at the Busch School in the summer of 2016, and is the founder of the Social Research academic area, where she is an Associate Professor of Social Research and Economic Thought. Formerly, she was Assistant Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at Ave Maria University. Her primary areas of research include economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, Catholic social thought and political economy. Dr. Pakaluk is the 2015 recipient of the Acton Institute’s Novak Award, a prize given for “significant contributions to the study of the relationship between religion and economic liberty.”Pakaluk did her doctoral work at Harvard University under Caroline Hoxby, David Cutler, and 2016 Nobel-laureate Oliver Hart. Her dissertation, “Essays in Applied Microeconomics”, examined the relationship between religious ‘fit' and educational outcomes, the role of parental effort in observed peer effects and school quality, and theoretical aspects of the contraceptive revolution as regards twentieth century demographic trends. Beyond her formal training in economics, Dr. Pakaluk studied Catholic social thought under the mentorship of F. Russell Hittinger, and various aspects of Thomistic thought with Steven A. Long. She is a widely-admired writer and sought-after speaker on matters of culture, gender, social science, the vocation of women, and the work of Edith Stein. She lives in Maryland with her husband Michael Pakaluk and eight children.Resources Hannah's ChildrenFlight from Woman Neil Postman: Technopoly Joseph Ratzinger: Homilies on Genesis On the Jewish - Christian Idea of the Goodness of Being Get full access to The Moral Imagination - ...
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    2 hrs and 26 mins
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