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  “...what is virtue if not the free choice
of what is good?”
Alexis de Toqueville Acton University 2007 Testimonials
Testimonials
One of the highlights was a lecture by Jennifer Roback Morse on “Family and Economics” which focused on the important role an intact family has on good and healthy economy. This one was a real eye-opener! But also the introduction to basic economic theories and the free market was of great benefit to me. I thank the Acton Institute for the great job they are doing, I felt both welcome and at home in Grand Rapids and I will definitely recommend Acton University to my friends and colleagues. Let us work together on a free and virtuous society! Monika Haas is currently pursuing a Licentiate degree in Bioethics from the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum in Rome after graduating from the “Woman, Culture and Society” programme at the same school. She is now living in Vienna, Austria, working for the PR agency “Kairos Consulting” for non-profit initiatives.
The lectures helped me with facts and rational to support concepts I both believe and experienced firsthand working and living internationally, namely, that globally, entrepreneurial enterprise creates opportunities, wealth and a sense of empowerment that changes lives and expectations by example. I was especially inspired by the business executive who, when invited by the Chinese government to build high-tech factories in China, used his business opportunity leverage to negotiate the right to build a Christian church near the factories. It was refreshing to hear how the cross-cultural exchange and discussion groups helped a few of my West Michigan compatriots better understand the socio-economic issues and barriers to business start-ups, for example, a case study on highly educated Mexican citizens trying to find work or start businesses. A U.S. based business can be registered and open for business in a matter of hours while many other countries can take weeks to years to be officially recognized by local governments and obtain licenses and/or permits. If the highly educated find it challenging, it helps to explain why the less educated have to leave to find jobs. A free and open business environment allows for people to find opportunities to support themselves and their families, without or by leaving home. Also refreshing was to see how the African and Latin American participants were so passionate about what good could come of private-to-private initiatives and donations versus government-to-government programs to better address the problems on both continents. I look forward to attending a future Acton University with another four nights of compelling speakers, three days of networking and learning how to approach doing business, locally and globally, as Christians. Bonnie Joustra is a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, and has worked extensively as a consultant internationally, including a year collaborating on the privatization of the telephone industry in Brazil. She speaks fluent Portuguese, Spanish and conversational French, which has helped her transcend cultural barriers to facilitate her work and relationships in Latin America. Bonnie returned to Grand Rapids in 2001 and continues to thrive as a sales and marketing consultant.
Being the first time I traveled by my own, Acton University 2006, was both a freeing and maturing experience. During those great 4 days, I learned how my religion and my beliefs in liberty came together, I made some great friends from all over the continent and great connections from all over the world, and I added a few pounds from the 6 meals we ate everyday. But Acton University 2007 was an even greater experience; I attended with more on my mind, more questions and lots of hunger (for food and knowledge). I found a sound theology and philosophy that answered my questions about theonomy and anarchy, two extremes I was starting to explore. I brought back a vision of a free and virtuous society to defend and teach in my country, a country oppressed by lies, oil and a corrupt power. The Lord blessed me with a great opportunity to grow, learn and bring back hope. Ricardo D Flores is writing his thesis an undergraduate degree in Liberal Arts from the Universidad Metropolitana and working with several organizations to spread economic freedom and personal liberty in Venezuela. QUESTIONS?
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About two years I attended a “Toward a Free and Virtuous Society” conference in Austria. In 2007 I finally made it across the Atlantic to Grand Rapids. Coming from Austria, it was a special experience to dive deeper into the economic world of Hayek and the other Austrian School thinkers. In Europe the socialist thought of a heavily regulated market and government intrusion into basically every aspect of life is very common, and coming from a “non-economic background” – that is, having studied bioethics and philosophy – Acton University lectures helped me understand how much the free market “blends in” into the Christian vision of the value of each human person, the gift of free will and the responsibility coming along with it. I realized how beneficial it is for Christians to know not only about theology, but also of the “other stuff” the world is made up of. To have your ideas clear about such important thing like economics, will help you withstand wrong ideologies presented to us often as “the social and Christian way” but that in the end will not make us free and virtuous, but rather dependent and unfree.
On the first day of Acton University, as I read the list of participants from various countries, I was quite taken aback by the number of international attendees. I really had no idea that Acton had gained so much global awareness and momentum. As I overheard people speaking in so many languages, I felt like I was backing working on an MBA at the Thunderbird School of Global Management which had an over 30% of foreign student body in 1987. The difference being we were all gathered to study how to be entrepreneurial as followers of Christ.
My first contact with the ideas of liberty came through a booklet my dad had in his bookshelf titled “Public Life in The Shadowlands”, a book about politics in the writings of the author of Chronicles of Narnia, published by Acton and written by John G. West about four years ago. So my interest in C.S Lewis led me to google the institute that published that booklet I so much enjoyed. After that first encounter with the ideas held by the Acton Institute I immediately started to read as much as I could from their online papers and other institutes related to the same principles. |
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