LONDON, UK - February 17, 2025

The sold-out Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) Conference 2025 opened on February 17th with 4,000 people from 96 countries, with speakers such as Jordan Peterson, Arthur Brooks, Os Guinness, and Peter Thiel. ARC aims to tell “a better story” which was provided by a range of insightful speakers.

Kemi Badenoch, MP and Leader of the British Conservative & Unionist Party, began the conference by highlighting that “it is not a crisis of values [in the West], but of confidence in those values.” There is doubt regarding values, especially among youth. “Young people are disillusioned with parliamentary values.” Young people are increasingly not proud of their country. “We are too busy deconstructing rather than building. This is the poison of Western liberalism.” What went wrong? The rule of law built so much of the West is increasingly discredited. “There is a lack of confidence in standing up for values.” In her mind, “conservatives are the guardians of Western civilization.” She also noted that individual initiative is key: “The world owes no one a living.” The state is not the solution.

Mike Johnson, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, appearing via video call, noted that the ideological pendulum is swinging back into the centre. In recent years, the government has become too big and too powerful. He quoted Alex De Tocqueville and his warning with respect to “soft despotism” which is the domain of corporate bureaucrats. This approach doesn’t lead to human flourishing. Where does faith fit in? Of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, most were Christians and half had theological training. Religious faith and moral character were reflected in citizens. Religion and morality are a bedrock underlying good action. Edmund Burke referred to “little platoons” – we need to have small volunteer groups to undergird society. The state has too prominent a role. Civic engagement should not be an exception.

Jordan Peterson talked about the present defining “civilization moment.” He stressed the need to realize the value of a civilization built over 2,000 years. He talked about combining conservatism and classic liberalism. “The skeptics proclaim that there is no metanarrative—but they are wrong.” He focused on the biblical narratives that relay the notions of sacrifice and negate the immediate for the benefit of the community. He talked about “sacrificial reciprocity.” His exasperation: “The post-modernists be damned!”

Os Guinness, the well-known Christian writer, noted that for so many great foundational truths, we need to go back to the biblical truths. One of the challenges is the gaslighting of history. His recent book is titled, “Our Civilizational Moment: The Waning of the West and the War of the Worlds.”

Arthur Books, author and Harvard Business School professor, teaches the science of happiness—in other words, “the business of life.” People think happiness is feeling. No, happiness is deeper. There are three indicators: enjoyment, satisfaction and meaning. Meaning provides a coherence of life. It answers "Why am I alive?" and "For what would I give my life?" Here are 4 keys to happiness:1. Faith – we need something to transcend life; we need to be small and make the universe large; we can't let the narcissistic life take over2. Family – the fast route to happiness3. Friends – real friends v. deal friends; or useful people v. useless people4. Work – earning your success (recognized for hard work) and serving others (to be needed), that is receiving joy from work. This is the agenda for human flourishing. All happiness indices are going down, having begun in the 1990s.

John Mackey, co-founder, Whole Foods Market, spoke about free market capitalism. The share of the world population living in extreme poverty has decreased significantly thanks to the spread of economic prosperity. Yet, there is widespread mistrust of business and capitalism. He advocated a need to redefine the narrative of capitalism. What is the purpose of the business? It should never be to just make money. The mission at Whole Foods: “to nourish people and the planet.”

Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and technology entrepreneur, asked, “What does it mean to be a human?” There is an AI Revolution and a Digital Revolution. There is both a “digital revolution” and an “AI Revolution.” There is a very interesting evolution over the past 50 years: “Identity” replaced “self” which replaced “the soul.” The digital revolution identity has become embedded in the self. Instead, identity should be embedded in a series of reciprocal relationships (i.e. father, son, part of community). Identity is not simply in our own head. Identity is embodied. There was a discussion of AI and the difference between “computation” versus “comprehension.” We need to understand the difference between a tool and a friend.