- Economics
- Political Philosophy
- Education
- Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
- Reforming Education
- Understanding the Effects of Technology on Economics and Governance
Finding community can be difficult. But author Luke Burgis thinks the real challenge begins once we’ve found it and we’re subject to social pressures to conform. Listen as Burgis and EconTalk’s Russ Roberts trace the tension between individuals and their tribes through the foundational frameworks, such as family and school, that help forge our identities. Burgis argues that the disappearance of traditional rites of passage bodes ill for major life commitments such as marriage, and recounts his personal journey from Wall Street through the Great Books in search of a strong, differentiated self. He also draws lessons for today’s communities from Saint Benedict’s 1,500-year-old guide for monastic life and describes the moving ritual he practiced with his father before he died.
Listen to the episode here.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Luke Burgis is a veteran entrepreneur and author. He is the founder and director of CLUNY, a multidisciplinary organization that integrates intellectual, spiritual, and practical knowledge (including business and technological)—that is a home to people seeking more meaningful ways to work and live.. Luke studied business at NYU Stern before doing graduate work in philosophy and earning an S.T.B. in Theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He’s the author of The One and the Ninety-Nine: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion and Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, which popularized the work of cultural anthropologist René Girard.
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