The Pursuit of Happiness

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The Declaration of Independence states that our inalienable rights include “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Life and liberty are easy to understand, but that last phrase is less intuitive. How can people have a right to strive for happiness?
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Uniting to Fight Poverty: A TED Talk

How do we solve problems like poverty with so much political polarization?

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Welcome to the Pursuit

To pursue our happiness, to achieve our liberty, and indeed to find fulfillment in our lives, we must start with a moral consensus, a fundamental truth around which we all revolve. Think of an atom. The outer field of electrons is full of chaotic activity. Electrons are rapidly orbiting and moving in a constant buzz. What contains that chaos and gives it structure? The fact that the whole chaotic cloud orbits one central nucleus.

Free Enterprise From a Marketing Perspective

AEI President and economist Arthur Brooks tells a lightly used joke in his book, “The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America.” The joke isn’t all that funny, but it makes a salient point about the free enterprise system.

Who Is the Second Female British Prime Minister? Theresa May’s Outlook

Theresa May becomes the second British female prime minister and Conservative Party leader on Wednesday, following in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher. She also follows the lead of several other women heads of state around the world. In an editorial in The...

Retirement Savings: You May Have More Than You Know, Need

Retirement savings investors, who have a rock-solid interest in making sure savers dump lots of dollars into their accounts, seem to be inflating the amount of money people need to have to live comfortably in retirement, says Andrew Biggs, a former Social Security Administration deputy commissioner and associate director of the White House National Economic Council.

Is Political Extremism the Result of Boredom?

Are you suffering from an existential dilemma, trying to find the meaning of life? Well, you’re not alone. Look for politically argumentative people. You may find their extreme views are the result of being bored.

Relevant Today: Robert F. Kennedy Speech After Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Assassination

Robert F. Kennedy had barely launched his presidential campaign when Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Upon hearing the news, Kennedy delivered remarks in Indianapolis, Ind., discussing the difficulty of racial division in America, a division that was rupturing the nation even at a time of great hope and opportunity. Sadly, his words still carry the same import, and the message still remains to be said, nearly 50 years later.

Elie Wiesel’s Universal Wisdom

Elie Wiesel had a very complex belief system when it came to faith, memory, and despair, but he held an unrelenting willingness to teach and to learn, and was a tireless activist for those seeking freedom of conscience, liberation from despotism, and relief from war.

How to Get Anti-Poverty Programs Beyond Red State-Blue State Divide

Low-income households receiving benefits are more likely to get out of poverty when able-bodied, working-age adults work. Yet, anti-poverty programs have gotten away from the requirement to work while receiving federal assistance.

Emotional Intelligence and the Case of The Interns Who Didn’t Get It

Every now and then, a news story causes people to snicker with a satisfying sense of knowing someone else got their comeuppance, even though a more appropriate response would be to use one’s emotional intelligence to consider applying lessons to one’s own life. Here’s one example of that.

Reason to Believe? Missing the Gospel at the Atheism Rally

The best part of an atheism rally in Washington, D.C.? Obviously, it is when the speakers invoke Martin Luther King, Jr., to make their political points. You know, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Baptist minister and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Why Is the Poverty Rate in New York So Low?

Even today, after the end of the Great Recession, and the start of another administration, the city maintains a smaller share of residents in poverty than in Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix and Houston, among other large cities. The reason: A willingness to experiment with what works and what doesn’t.