April 30, 2023 | The New Culture Forum
On April 30, 2023, EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel of the Catholic Studies program joined The New Culture Forum on the fifth episode of their new series, The West: “The Genius of Western Civilization.”
Beginning with the age of exploration, this episode plunges into the West’s tumultuous and at times traumatic expansion out of Europe. From the accidental discovery of the Americas to the British Empire’s ending of the slave trade, Marc Sidwell offers a nuanced account of the West’s imperial and colonial phase. He also demolishes the persistent myth that slavery and plunder made the West rich, revealing instead the real answer: economic growth powered by industrial capitalism. George Weigel appears to comment on further achievements of the West.
George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a Catholic theologian and one of America’s leading public intellectuals. He holds EPPC’s William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.
