The Almanac Essays

These aren't quick takes, hot opinions, or blog posts chasing the news cycle.

They are working essays — where I test ideas against real life, think through what matters, and refuse to pretend the stakes are small.

I write about the forces that shape the kind of person you become: faith, responsibility, work, wealth, family, freedom, and legacy. These are not abstract ideas. They are the load-bearing beams of a life that holds under pressure.

My essays are organized around The Four Pillars of a Well-Built Life:

• Pillar 1 — Faith, Grace, and Meaning
• Pillar 2 — Responsibility, Discipline, and Moral Agency
• Pillar 3 — Work & Wealth: Building a Future
• Pillar 4 — Legacy, Family, and the Builder's Life

Some essays are philosophical. Some are practical. Some are personal. All of them aim at the same outcome: helping ordinary people think clearly, live responsibly, build wisely, and leave behind something worth claiming.

Below, you'll find my essays listed in newest-first order. You can also browse by theme through the Four Pillars, or read selected essay series in order.

If you're tired of shallow answers, borrowed opinions, and a culture allergic to responsibility, you're in the right place.

Start where you are. Read what speaks to what you're carrying right now. Then build from there.

From the Job Site

These essays aren't final answers. They are field notes from a man still building.

If you find clarity here, it's because I've had to fight for it too.— Joseph C. Kunz, Jr.

Explore by Pillar

Browse All Tags A–ZNewest Essays FirstSort Essays A–Z

Artificial Intelligence Will Not Rise Above Us The Weight We Transfer Is Christianity a Zero-Sum Game? The Meaning the World Cannot Give When Science Forgets Humility Moral Clarity vs. Semantic Theft Just Believe Is Not Enough The Hunger for What Is Real Do the Good You Cannot Measure What Hardship Can Teach Us: Bob Violino's "Life Lessons" There Is No Big Secret The Fragmented Life Empathy Is Not Weakness Who Is Raising Your Child — You or the Algorithm? Science Is a Tool. Faith Is the Frame. When Refusing to See Becomes a Sin The False Victory Over Weak Religion Visible Hardship Reveals Invisible Kindness When Compassion Becomes Political Obedience From the Clouds to the Kitchen Table When Good People Go Quiet When Reality Gets Called Naive The Forgotten Man and the Frivolous Class When the Human Heart Becomes a Political Problem Nothing Load-Bearing Is Built in Public Christian Culture Cannot Be Built by Unformed Christians A Conservative Credo for a Life That Holds The World Is Downstream of Christian Formation The Builder's Dilemma When Good Intentions Aren't Enough Humility in the Right Place, Words in the Right Order Belief in God Is Not Yet Christianity What Thinking Outside the Box Really Means When Strength Becomes a Barrier When Clarity Sounds Dangerous A Man of Faith and Philosophy, Not Religion and Politics Prayer Is Not the Problem The Inheritance I Never Received Is the One I'm Trying to Leave Money Should Be a Tool, Not a Costume Tested by Reality Civilization Is Not Rebuilt from an Office When Freedom Is Cut Loose from Truth Witness Beats Winning The Apology Gap Private Exemptions, Public Collapse Faith Isn't a Feeling — It's a Discipline Meaning Lives in the Boring Stuff A Good Life Is Not a Comfortable One The Conservatism That Actually Works Stop Pointing at Them. Start Looking in the Mirror. The Moral Eyes of a Free People The Day the Pieces Fit The Lens and the Lie I Never Say "Only" About Money I'm Not John Senior — And Why That Matters No Government Can Give You Character Manning Up Why Moral Weakness Feels Normal in a Godless Culture A Godless Culture by Design The Adolescent Atheist Life Is Too Short for Small Philosophies Language as the First Battleground for Clarity Standing Firm in a Shifting World: 10 Books for Conservatives The Moral Order That Built America The Undeserved Mercy of Grace The Illusion of Control: Why Modern Success Still Feels Empty Grace and Compound Interest A Man's Face, A Man's Witness More Money Truths I Wish I Had Learned in My 20s Perseverance Pays Off Context Over Copying: The Smartest Business Move Businessman, Not an Entrepreneur Faith in the Marketplace: Why Belief Belongs in Business Why I'm Not a Libertarian Rich vs. Wealthy: Why the Difference Matters More Than You Think The Anchor's Script: When Truth Becomes Just Another Role Why I Respect New Polity's Zeal — But Walk a Different Road Stay in the Game The Mirage of Judgment Calculated, Not Excited — The Investor's Real Superpower Tribalism vs. Truth: Why Group Loyalty Can't Replace Conviction Money Truths I Wish I Had Learned in My 20s Stop Wishing for Easy, Start Training for Hard Faith Gives Conservatism Its Moral Compass Sunday Dinner Needs More Than Good Food Impostor Syndrome Is a Luxury You Can't Afford Faith First: The Real Foundation of Conservative Principles Faith That Fights: Standing Tall in a Culture That Kneels Men Must Be Builders in Every Generation Freedom Starts in Your Mind, Not Your Bank Account Build Wealth. Grow Strong. Live on Purpose. The Best Inheritance Isn't Money — It's This Don't Outsource Your Thinking — Even to "Experts" The System Is Rigged — So Rig Your Own Faith Isn't a Crutch — It's a Competitive Edge Discipline Isn't Sexy, But It Pays Better Than Passion The Dumbest Lie About Money Many Still Believe Work Is Wealth in Disguise The One Financial Habit That Separates Winners from Whiners Why Your Faith Should Make You Unshakable, Not Unlikable Wealth and Money Mastery: The 10X Principle of Small Wins The Best Advice My Father Never Said Out Loud Who's in Charge Here — You or the Path? The First Rule of Wealth: Stop Making Excuses Connecting the Dots Manhood Is Built in the Moments No One Sees Wealth Is a Test. Here's How to Pass It The Truth About Side Hustles The Better Bet: Why I Chose Balance Over Burnout Fear Is the Green Light What "Success" Really Means for a Christian Man The Man She Needs Is Forged in Struggle — Not Flash The Hardest Person to Forgive Is Yourself — Do It Anyway The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Your Calling Faith, Foresight, and the Daily Drama of Life Why Rich People Think in Terms of Systems, Not Paychecks Making Money Without Losing Your Soul What Independent Thinkers Do Before 9 A.M. Why I Trust Principles, Not Power Grace Isn't Weak — It's Self-Control in the Heat of Battle God Doesn't Want You Comfortable — He Wants You Capable Manhood and Leadership: The Strength of Quiet Confidence 3 Dumb Things Keeping You Broke (and How to Fix Them Fast) God Never Promised Me Comfort — But He Did Promise Meaning Becoming the Man You Needed as a Boy The System Is Rigged — So Stop Playing by Their Rules The Wealth Skill No School Will Teach You Why I Call Myself a Christian First, Even as a Catholic Why the First $100K Is Harder Than the Next Million Searching for Faith? Start Here Wallace Wattles Was Right — Wealth Is a Moral Duty Why Building Wealth Is a Moral Duty If You Love Your Family Tested But Not Broken No Father, No Excuses Grace in the Quiet Where Faith Comes to Life Economists Who Opened My Eyes The Clean Break: Growing Up Without a Father's Presence Businessmen Who Reflect the Values I Live By Courageous Voices I Admire Writers Who Guide My Work The Hardest Lesson I Learned Wasn't Hemingway's Mindset, Grit, and Personal Responsibility Money, Wealth, and Financial Truths The Day My Voice Changed Writing from the Inside Out I Woke Up This Morning Starting a Business After 40? Good. The Credit Lockdown Strategy The Lie of Balance The Dirty Truth About Income Streams Which Income Stream Should You Start First? We Just Kept Going: A Quiet Story of Resilience Grace in the Morning: Where Love Becomes a Daily Habit Still Showing Up Say What You Mean — Or Someone Else Will Say It for You Why Definitions Matter Where Reason Ends and Meaning Begins Clarity Is Strength: The Words That Build (or Break) a Life Modern Man Suffers From Irony Why Autonomy-First Men Flinch at Faith The Four Pillars of a Life That Holds Faith Isn't a Theory — It's Training Faith Isn't a Debate Club God as a Theory Isn't Faith Nudged by God — or Managed by the Machine? The Public Square Is Downstream Religion as a Tool: The New Elite Bargain When Intellectuals "Discover God" — What's Missing? Grace Is Not Weakness The 10 Money Lies You've Been Told Disbelief Isn't the Offense — Contempt Is Faith Is Not a Mood