What Price Freedom?

We recently received a note from NOR reader William Nolte, an adjunct professor of politics at The Catholic University of America. Prof. Nolte wrote:

Not that you asked, but please raise your subscription rates now. Otherwise, you risk burning through the income from your current fundraising effort, only to have to announce an even higher rate in 2027 or 2028. Regards and best wishes to you, your staff, and the NOR.

As announced in our editorial “Holding the Line” (Oct. 2024), we are trying to raise $250,000 in order to postpone increasing subscription rates for the next two years. The good news is that as of this writing, we’ve raised $217,559. That’s 87 percent of our goal. We are grateful to all our readers who’ve helped us get this far. We’re almost across the finish line. Woohoo!

The bad news is that after getting off the blocks with sprinter’s speed, this fundraising campaign might not have the stamina to complete the race. That’s because after the initial surge, donations have slowed considerably. By December we’d raised $154,386. From then until now we’ve raised $63,175. That latter figure is nothing to scoff at, but in all honesty, we must recognize that it represents roughly a 60 percent decline from the first three months to the second three months. Presuming this rate of decline continues, we won’t reach our goal by summer’s end, if at all.

But that remains to be seen; we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. Nevertheless, we must prepare for the possibility that we won’t cross the finish line in time. Therefore, we’ve already worked up a possible new rate schedule.

Prof. Nolte isn’t the only reader who has encouraged us not to wait for the (eventual) outcome of our fundraiser but to raise our rates now. Many have indicated that they would be happy to pay a little more per year to ensure that the NOR keeps coming. We suspect, however, that there are an untold number of others who don’t feel this way, for whom a rate increase would be unwelcome. Of course, we don’t want to lose those readers; we want as many people as possible to be able to read the NOR (which is why we’re reluctant to raise rates). But there is a way to lock in at the current low rates, and that’s by extending your subscription now, even if it is not due for renewal. You can extend your current subscription for three years for only $59. That averages out to a mere $19.67 per year — approximately 20 percent less than the present rate of $24 for a one-year subscription. That’s a pretty good bargain! And it’s a bargain that might not last much longer. See the subscription form on page 23 for information on how to renew.

Uncertainty regarding the outcome of our fundraising effort aside, a separate financial factor must be added to the equation. It’s something we mentioned in our October editorial that is undergoing potentially costly developments: insurance. This January — it was big news — southern California experienced a series of simultaneous wildfires. The two most devastating, the Eaton fire (inland near Pasadena) and the Palisades fire (at the coast near Malibu), have done an estimated $250 to $275 billion worth of damage. They’ve been called “the most substantial wildfire losses in the history of the insurance industry” — by German reinsurance giant Munich Re, which is on the hook for an expected $1.3 billion in claims.

Even before the Los Angeles-area fires, insurance premiums in the Golden State were on the rise — and rising rapidly — due to a confluence of events: earlier destructive wildfires, outdated electrical infrastructure, price gouging, failed forest-management policies, and government corruption. Many insurance agencies, such as Farmers and Safeco, had been canceling policies left and right, while others, such as State Farm and Allstate, were refusing to issue new policies. As we said in October, insurance in California is in crisis. Only now, it’s worse.

State Farm General, California’s largest insurer, estimates it will have to pay out $7.6 billion for tens of thousands of claims due to the L.A. fires. In order to pay all the claims, the company said it must implement another rate hike — or face a “dire situation.” In its latest negotiations with the California insurance commissioner, State Farm requested a statewide 22 percent increase for homeowners, 15 percent for renters and condo owners, and 33 percent for owners of rentals to offset the expected losses. The company is still awaiting a decision from the commissioner on a proposed rate hike it filed back in June, when it requested a 30 percent increase for homeowners, 52 percent for renters, and 36 percent for condo owners. Some California homeowners could see a 52 percent increase in premiums, and some renters an 86 percent increase. As always, the cost of corporate losses is thrust back onto the consumer.

As we wrote back in October, of all the cost increases the NOR has incurred recently, the largest have been for insurance — and not just insurance for the buildings that house the NOR offices (earthquake insurance is an added cost) but for professional liability and directors’ and officers’ coverage as well, not to mention autos. The NOR doesn’t use State Farm, but there’s a domino effect to these things: If one insurance company raises rates, others will follow. When demand exceeds supply (as fewer and fewer insurers offer coverage), prices go up. That’s how the market economy works.

Several readers have asked why we stay in California given the high (and rising) cost of living and doing business. The reason is simple: our roots are here. Not only was the NOR born in California, but the family that started it (the Vrees), and the families of several others who work for it, are also native to California. Even though the ground in which those roots are embedded is shaky and highly combustible, we aren’t inclined to pull them up. There are parents and grandparents to consider, as well as children and grandchildren, not to mention extended family members. Yes, this is the era of the mobile office; technology allows work to get done from virtually anywhere. But the Catholic Church has much to say about the “permanent things,” and we believe in trying to keep certain things in this life permanent, insofar as that’s possible. One of those things is family. If our houses burn down, or our towns tumble into the sea during the big quake that’s long been expected to sever the coast from the mainland, then — by force — we’ll be refugees. Until such a time, we’d prefer to stay put. Relocating could become a messy, complex, time-consuming, and potentially costly endeavor for a shoestring operation like the NOR. Shoestrings, when stretched taut, tend to snap.

You could point to others who’ve successfully relocated as examples of how it can be done without much disruption. Elon Musk, for example, loudly and proudly moved the headquarters of two of his biggest companies, Tesla and X, from California to Texas due to those states’ economic and political climates. But as the world’s richest man, he’s an exceptional case and not a model most of us little guys can emulate. Moreover, though he made his fortune in California as the principal founder of PayPal, Musk is not originally from here; he immigrated from South Africa. As for family, he has 13 children with four different women (allegedly) who live all over North America. (One of his baby mamas, the popstar Grimes, had to evacuate her home due to the Palisades fire.) As far as Musk’s “roots” go, he’d just as soon plant them on Mars, once his company SpaceX gets there and establishes a viable settlement. (Yes, that’s his ultimate goal.) He has means we can’t even imagine.

All that, however, hasn’t stopped us from speculating.

One reader, LaVern Jacobs, suggested we consider relocating the NOR offices to Montana (letter, Jan.-Feb.), citing, among other things, its favorable tax structure and pro-business governor, whom she described as a “strong Christian.” Never having been to the Treasure State, the idea was intriguing. So we asked around — and we were offered a word of caution from a former resident who spent over three decades in Montana. Though the summers are lovely, he said, the winters can be harsh, with frigid temperatures and snowfall — not ideal for, shall we say, less-than-hardy Californians who are accustomed to mild coastal climes! (Especially as we age, and the cold gets into our bones.) Moreover, though there are some small towns in Montana that are still affordable, he said, wealthy Californians have been moving in and driving up property prices in places like Bozeman and Whitefish. Though the wildfires are not as bad there as here (yet), the air quality suffers from out-of-state smoke drifting through. And, as Mrs. Jacobs admitted, Montana isn’t immune to inflation and the rising cost of living.

It would be a tragedy to try to escape California by moving to Montana — only to discover that Montana is becoming California!

As for Gov. Greg Gianforte’s being a “strong Christian,” our friend says he’s a Christian of the “Guns, Trump, God” variety — and in that order. Make of that what you will.

There might not be greener pastures out there for the NOR after all.

So, for now we’ll continue doing the work the Lord has given us to do, in the place He decided to plant us — and for as long as He deems our work fruitful and necessary.

But as the work we do is for man, we can’t continue without the help of men. We need all hands on deck: writers, editors, advertisers, printers, mail carriers, delivery drivers, readers, and — yes — donors. The low rates we charge don’t come close to covering the actual cost of servicing a subscription. This will be the case even if we must raise our rates. We would still have to bridge the gap the old-fashioned way: raising funds by appealing to the generosity of our readers. Such is the perpetual reality of nonprofit publications, in good economic times and bad. That will never change.

But if we are able to meet our fundraising goal of $250,000 by summer’s end, we will stay true to our word and put a rate increase on hold for the next two years. You can rest assured knowing that we’ve always kept our word when raising money, whether it be to fund a new website (or recover from a bot attack on our website), invest in new office technology, increase the number of pages per issue, or (as is most often the case) to make up for a budgetary shortfall or simply to keep the print edition going. So, we’re not going to raise our rates “now,” as Prof. Nolte and others have suggested, not while we still hold out hope of reaching our fundraising goal. Besides, that would be to go back on our word, which we’re not willing to do.

One possible hitch to the whole thing is that, as we always remind readers, the NOR receives no institutional support to speak of. We aren’t funded by any diocese, religious order, television network, think tank, university endowment, institute, or government agency. Unlike for, say, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, there’s no risk that Musk’s DOGE team, who are busy slashing the federal workforce and expenditures in the name of efficiency, will close the spigot and terminate the flow of federal dollars into our bank account. We have no spigot, no flow, and no federal funds — and never have— and we want to keep it that way.

We don’t want to put ourselves in the position the USCCB finds itself: This February it filed a lawsuit challenging the suspension of federal funding of the refugee-assistance programs it’s run for decades. How much funding are we talking about? The USCCB billed the federal government close to $20 million for refugee-resettlement services rendered in December 2024 alone. Yow! That’s a pretty penny. In 2023 over half (53%) of the USCCB’s operating revenue came from government grants and contracts — all of which were earmarked for refugee programs — totaling nearly $130 million. Its budget could be crippled by this defunding. This could become the USCCB’s “dire situation.” No wonder the bishops are lawyering up.

To be clear: We’re not pooh-poohing the needful work the USCCB has done to give material assistance and (we hope) spiritual succor to refugees. We Catholics have a responsibility to them that comes directly from Our Lord (if you doubt that, reread Mt. 25:31-46). But, from our perspective, dependence on government largesse is, at best, problematic. Caesar always exacts his price, and in the case of the American Caesar (affectionately known as Uncle Sam), the price is typically your religious identity.

We can’t presume to speak for the USCCB, but we can state definitively that our religious identity is fundamental to what the NOR is and does. Without it, we’d have nothing to offer, no reason even to exist. For that reason, we are disinclined to apply for or accept governmental or other institutional support. There are invariably strings attached. We don’t want our mission to become compromised, as the USCCB’s appears to be.

Not that we haven’t been tempted. Though we often repeat to our readers that we don’t receive institutional support, we don’t often remind them why. Dale Vree, former NOR editor and my late father (of happy memory), did once explain why. In an editorial titled “Your Voice of Orthodox Catholicism, Without Any Strings Attached” (Sept. 2005), he recounted how, sometime in the late 1980s, a neoconservative foundation offered to underwrite the NOR’s work. As he told it:

The NOR was contacted by a neocon foundation — right out of the blue. The foundation wanted to give us money — “free” money. A fellow flew out from the East Coast and asked me to meet him for drinks in a San Francisco restaurant — on him. Sure! (We were desperate for money.)

He told me he would fund us regularly — if we would support corporate capitalism and if we would support a militaristic U.S. foreign policy. I had to think quickly on my feet. I immediately realized that our first loyalty is to Christ and His Church, not to any ideology, political party, or even any nation (for the Church is universal). It was patently obvious that our religious mission would be compromised, that the whole idea was to make us a front group for the neocon agenda. I gave him a firm “no,” and that was the end of that.

Have I regretted that “no”? In my weaker moments, yes; but mostly I have not. For Catholic social teaching does not support unregulated capitalism, and we know that the Holy See’s stand on foreign affairs can at times be sharply at odds with U.S. foreign policy.

As Dale’s direct heir, I know all about those “weaker moments.” They’re harder — and more frequent — than I think my father was willing to admit. Absent the predictable influx of funds and ancillary benefits such an arrangement would provide, the NOR has lost out on exposure, recognition, awards, banquet and conference invites, radio and television promotions, speaking engagements, book deals, incoming and outgoing advertising opportunities, access to the rich and powerful, and a higher circulation. But the NOR has a legacy of independence that I’m bound to honor no matter the cost — a cost that has been steep. As my father wrote, “We at the NOR are glad to be independent of the ideological bigwigs. We don’t have to run around on the New York and D.C. cocktail-party circuit. We don’t have to kiss up to [any] money-barons. We don’t have to serve their vested interests. But that’s only possible because we receive our funding from our subscribers.”

Instead, we’re left to toil alone and, it seems at times, in obscurity.

Listen, I’d love to go to a New York or D.C. cocktail party! Or even one in nearby San Francisco. But nobody’s invited me. All my invitations must’ve gotten lost in the mail. But that’s probably for the best, because though they sound like fun (at least the first time around), they could easily be occasions of temptation. Could I say “no” as quicky and resolutely as my father did? In my weaker moments, I’m not so sure.

As long as the NOR is able to receive funding from you, our subscribers, I won’t have to worry about how I’d respond to an offer to sacrifice our independence for our bottom line — or for our very survival. Under my watch, as under my father’s, the NOR will “live free or die,” to quote the New Hampshire state motto (no, we’re not going to relocate there, either).

And yet, like State Farm and the USCCB, the NOR is facing its own possible “dire situation.” As stated above, we need all hands on deck. St. Augustine said, “God provides the wind, but man must raise the sails.” Can we count on your help yet again? Will you lend us your hand as we navigate a tumultuous sea? Please consider helping us reach our fundraising goal by sending your contribution to:

New Oxford Review
1069 Kains Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94706

Make checks and money orders payable to New Oxford Review. Credit card donations can be made via a secure server at newoxfordreview.org/donations or by telephone at 510-526-5374. The NOR is a nonprofit organization and has 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. Donations are, therefore, tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Above all, please remember the NOR in your prayers. We need them!