This article is an adaptation of the Acton Institute’s 2025 Calihan Lecture, presented by Novak Award winner Kirstin Anderson Birkhaug. Drawing on C. S. Lewis and Albert Camus, Birkhaug argues that contemporary American politic culture suffers from a shortage of true rebels—those who pursue truth instead of embracing ideology, are devoted to real people instead of abstraction, and are willing to labor for incremental change and long-term benefit rather than immediate gratification.
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Kirstin Anderson Birkhaug (2026) studied this question.
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