The Acton Institute provides the ideological framework for the kinds of responses we saw in Lansing on Wednesday

As someone who has been monitoring the work of the Acton Institute since its founding in the early 1990s, I continue to want to impress upon people the importance of coming to terms with the mission and message of this right wing Think Tank.

The Acton Institute, and particularly their founder, Rev. Robert Sirico, have continued to push their “free market” mantra, even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. We last wrote about the Acton Institute’s free market fanaticism in a post from April 5, Acton Institute Founder wants a Tax Holiday for businesses, while an Acton writer tells the Governor that golf courses should stay open. 

The most recent example of free market fanaticism coming from the Acton Institute, can he seen in an interview done by the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), speaking with Acton Institute’s founder and President, Rev. Sirico. The EWTN is a right-wing Catholic media entity. 

Listen to the kind of language that Sirico uses in this interview.

Notice how Rev. Sirico uses language like “central government,” specifically referring to Michigan. Rev. Sirico then goes on to claim that when we have a strong economy, we have healthier people. Such a claim completely ignores the realities of the long-standing health care crisis in the US, specifically because it is a health care system driven by the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. Rev. Sirico also pushes the idea of a “Tax Holiday,” which essentially means more massive tax breaks for the private sector.

It is important that we recognize that the ideological framework that Rev. Sirico and the Acton Institute are promoting, are being manifested in the proposals from politicians in Michigan and the demonstration that we saw in Lansing on Wednesday. The knee-jerk reactions that the far right is having to the Stay-in-place orders in Michigan, are directly linked to the free market fanaticism of the Acton Institute, along with their belief that Capitalism and Christianity make wonderful bedfellows.