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?
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.
The Talent Drain: Disincentives in The Federal Disability Program
On Jan. 18, 1979, Mike Zelley was heading home after a business meeting to celebrate his wedding anniversary with his wife. He was driving his car in the early dark, and turned onto a highway ramp. His car hit a patch of black ice and slid toward the guard rail. It...
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Sasse Vision Talks: America’s Political Parties Suffer a ‘Crisis of Political Vision’
College students are talking about robots and the role they will play in America’s future. The political parties are fighting over whether to make America Europe again or make America 1950 again. No wonder young people are largely disinterested in the debate...
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Mississippi Hair Braider Challenges the Status Quo … And Wins
Melony Armstrong just wanted to set up a hair-braiding business in her hometown. Government got in the way.
Regulatory requirements demanded that the Mississippi hair braider take 1,500 hours of cosmetology classes and pay the state $10,000 for a license.
“My dream quickly began to turn into a nightmare,” Armstrong said recently.
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School Choice Laws and the Parents They Ignore
The states and nation’s capital have 43 charter school laws, 25 voucher laws, 20 tax-credit laws, 9 tax-deduction laws, and 5 Education Savings Account (ESA) laws on the books, and many of these laws have been beneficial in helping students get out from under the yoke of ineffective education systems.
Nonetheless, says Gerard Robinson, a former commissioner of education for Florida and secretary of education for Virginia, the school choice laws really only pay lip service when it comes to the parents’ rights and responsibilities in their children’s education.
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How an Ex-Con Found His Self-Worth and Paid It Forward
Every once in a while, the security we feel is shattered by a hard truth, or an interaction with someone who takes us out of our comfort zone for better or worse. Bryan Kelley is one of those people.
Sentenced to life in prison for murdering a man in a drug deal gone bad, Kelley was released after 22 years. Why?
Could be what he discovered behind bars — a path to redemption and an opportunity not only for his own rehabilitation and recognition of self-worth, but also the ability to help numerous others as well.
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Get Out of Dodge? American Migration Slows, Homebodies Abound
When Alexis de Tocqueville came to our shores in the early 1800s, he didn’t find leaders who stoked — and sought to profit from — the masses’ fears of change. In fact, he found quite the opposite, noting that the American people embraced instability and churn as a source of wonder and self-improvement. Today, that sense of adventure is eroding and trepidation is taking its place.
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Censorship at Facebook? Maybe Not. Intellectual Diversity? Maybe Not
Facebook has a tremendous opportunity to out-innovate old media models and win over customers who are hungry for ways to separate the signal from the noise. But questions of editorial oversight and — even more important — intellectual and ideological diversity within Silicon Valley remain important issues that deserve serious solutions.
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Happy Birthday, George Lucas! 7 Great Quotes From the Great Innovator
George Lucas, the film innovator, auteur, and genius behind “Star Wars,” turned 72 on Saturday, May 14. In honor of his birthday, here are seven inspiring quotes of his on innovation, technology, and America. 1) If America is the pursuit of happiness, the best way to...
read morePew Report: 5 Differences Between Americans and Europeans
Yes, Americans and Europeans share a commitment to democratic principles, but differences between Americans and Europeans are notable when it comes to personal liberty and the individual’s role in achieving one’s own success. And while historically,...
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Changing the Conversation on Criminal Justice
A Democratic administration, a major university’s criminal justice center, and a free-enterprise-focused think tank came together this week to discuss mass incarceration. This event might seem a little unusual since this kind of diverse collaboration is not exactly commonplace in Washington, DC.
But collaboration and open discussion are possible across the political spectrum, and it’s important to engage in good-faith dialogue and debate with colleagues of all views on crucial subjects.
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