What is the Meaning of “Life”?

The Declaration of Independence names three rights given to all human beings that no authorities can deny. One of those rights is the right to have ownership of one’s life. While life and death are frequently “administered” by mechanisms such as medical procedures, war, and criminal justice, the Founders believed that our birth, our creation as part of nature can never be predestined by the requirements of bureaucracy or the actions of legislators or jurists.

That said, government sources takes many actions that impact the full exercise of individuals’ quality of life, including through the use of policies to affect poverty levels, health care, physical security, and individual dignity.

Here are some current events and philosophical outlooks about the path that governments must tread in order to provide individuals the greatest opportunity and probability of exercising their most natural right — existence.

Learn More About “Life”

The Problems With Seattle’s Minimum Wage Debate

The recent study on Seattle’s minimum wage increase, a study commissioned by the city, was so disheartening that the mayor of Seattle decided to get another study done that would show better results.

Trying to come up with another study that proves an argument because the implications of the first are not what were expected won’t help the people impacted by the policy. It will keep the minimum wage debate alive, though.

Patient-Based Health Care … on Facebook?

Bertrand Might has a rare genetic disorder that his family confirmed in 2012 after almost four years of searching for an explanation. Bertrand was the first person ever documented with his disease, called NGLY1 deficiency.

When his family finally discovered what Bertrand was facing, they at least had an answer. But then they faced another problem — finding others coping with the same ordeal.

A Tax Fix That Helps Single Adults More Than Raising the Minimum Wage

Some opponents of raising the minimum wage say other methods for helping low-income workers would be more effective while not harming employment rates. One such idea is a tax credit that would be given to low-income workers in direct proportion to how much they earn on their own.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Data Lies: A Homeless Epidemic Among College Students?

Imagine lying on a friend’s couch in her studio apartment, using the light from your cell phone to study for your midterm exam in small-business entrepreneurship. It’s late but you’re just now getting around to hitting the books because you’ve been out all day preparing for a contest, the winner of which is going to take home a $1,000 scholarship, which you can use to enroll in more community college classes next semester.

The Role of Parents in K-12 Education

Two classmates grow up together from kindergarten. They sit next to each other in homeroom, have all the same classes with all the same teachers, and take the same state-required tests. One does well and one not so much. What accounts for the difference?

The answer depends on who is responsible for a child’s education.

Using the Burger King Mentality to Destroy a Four-Year Investment

Forty-three years since its release, people still recall the “have it your way” Burger King jingle as one of the most effective pieces of advertising ever made, driving home exactly what Burger King was selling — convenience, made-to-order fast food, delivered to you just the way you like it, no questions, no lip, no delay.

It’s the Burger King mentality, and it’s great for ordering a drive-thru dinner. But the sentiment has crept into a lot of college campuses lately, and unless you’re in the student union food court, the Burger King mentality has no place at these institutions of higher learning.

The Success Sequence: Why Education, a Job, Marriage, Then Kids Is the Working Order

Ah, millennials. In some ways, they’re very traditional, suggesting that women should stay at home to raise their kids. In other ways, they are very Bohemian, doing as they please when the mood hits. But it turns out, the old-fashioned success sequence — a (high school or higher) degree, job, marriage, then children, in that order — is still the winning combination for securing financial well-being.

At Risk of Losing Your Lease? A Legal Battle Isn’t the Answer

If you don’t pay your rent, can you still stay in your rental property? Or is that landlord going kick you to the curb? It’s a fear that low-income families face in difficult times. Rent courts are tough. The legal battle is often reliant on a sympathetic...

Can We Reverse the Trend of Working-Age Adults Who Don’t Work?

Ten million working-age adults were receiving food stamp benefits in 2015, were not receiving disability benefits, and were not employed. This number of nonworking able-bodied adults is something that experts from both political parties agree. And this nonwork is...

Student Loan Defaults Are Huge, Do We Know Who’s Not Repaying Their Debt?

The nation’s student loan industry is nearly as large as the federal government’s largest mortgage program through the Federal Housing Administration. Nearly $100 billion in loans are offered to students every year. Outstanding debt from student loan stands at $1.3 trillion. That’s a big number and it isn’t going down because the number of student loan defaults is massive. What to do about it? Well, deciding a plan of action has hit a bit of a speed bump.

What US News & World Report’s High School Rankings Missed

The U.S. News & World Report does a decent job with the tools it has to measure the performance of more than 20,000 U.S. public high schools. The problem, however, is that it only uses one tool, over and over again, which doesn’t accurately measure how far schools go in educating students.

How Innovation Can Defeat Homelessness

“I see no advantage in these new clocks. They run no faster than the ones made 100 years ago.” ― Henry Ford Henry Ford is credited with making cars better than those who came before him, but he also found a way to make them cheaper. So perhaps you can appreciate...

How Airline Apathy Explains the Need for School Choice

In a sarcastic and slightly cranky opinion piece, education reformer Rick Hess details a bad stroke of luck with American Airlines that ultimately prevents him from delivering an important lecture despite trying every maneuver possible to rebook flights, book car rentals, and hightail it through an airport.

The analogy is an excellent window into the experience of many parents when it comes to their children being stranded in a school system that drops the ball time and time again. Only with education, the stakes are much, much higher.

Teaching Doctors About Running A Business

The fields of science and medicine employ some of the most highly educated and hands-on professionals in the world. So you might scratch your head when hearing one expert call for training medical researchers on how to do their job more effectively. But the training isn’t more of the technical sciences; it’s an appreciation and understanding of business and entrepreneurship.