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.
Irregular Work Schedules While Raising Kids: Can Congress Pass a Law to Help?
Does Congress need to schedule your time off? A proposed law aims to address the downsides of irregular work schedules, and is receiving support from a surprising group of voters.
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‘Psychic Numbing’: How to Avoid Desensitization to Bad News
Here’s a little challenge for the beginning of this new year. Look back on the events or trends that disturbed you most in 2016. Then, instead of thinking about global, symbolic protest movements you can join or systematic changes you can demand from on high, contemplate a practical way to familiarize yourself with one human being who has been affected. Then, find a way to concretely help that individual.
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Aspirin And The Cost of Knowing How Things Work
For centuries, the plants used in manufacturing aspirin were known for their ability to reduce pain from inflammation and fever, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that researchers discovered how the plants properties worked. Fast forward to now. Now, no medicine goes on the market until its exact and precise science is determined and approved. This ends up being a costly endeavor in a system ripe for improvement.
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Do You Know Anyone Who Drives A Pickup Truck and Other Offensive Questions
In the past days, Twitter has been on fire over a tweet by a Florida-based web developer and blogger who asked, “The top 3 best selling vehicles in America are pick-ups. Question to reporters: do you personally know someone that owns one?”
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Vive La Revolution: 401(k) Plans Are A Help for Retirees
Given that more people are now invested in their own retirement plans than ever before — 61 percent today compared to 45 percent when pension participation peaked in the 1970s — and that 401(k) plans are turning around benefits at high rates — since 1984, inflation-adjusted benefits per retiree have nearly tripled — the question to ask is why would people consider the program a failure?
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Education Department Employee Mantras to Save The Children
But with each new administration, the federal bureaucracy revs up to go full tilt. With the naming of Betsy DeVos as nominee to be education secretary, the department has a good chance of refocusing on new priorities, including competition in education. But just in case, bureaucrats get too comfy, scholar Rick Hess has a few reminders for them to repeat daily.
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The Gift-Giving Blues: Are Bad Presents Worse Than None at All?
In a recent article, economist and free market happy warrior Arthur Brooks suggests that if you struck out on gift-giving this year, pleasing no one and getting nothing you liked, maybe next year just hand over cash. Or maybe not.
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Farewell, Thomas Sowell, Thanks for the Memories
Thomas Sowell is retiring his column from Creators Syndicate. If you’re unfamiliar with the man, you’ve been missing out, probably while hiding under a rock. Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, holding Rose and Milton...
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Filling Manufacturing Jobs: How to Match Skills to Demand
You’ve probably heard by now that automation and off-shoring are responsible for the decline in manufacturing jobs in America. But in reality, manufacturing jobs are still a major contributor to the U.S. economy, and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
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The American Dream Still Lives Despite Growth Rate of Millennial Incomes
Researchers from Stanford, Harvard, and the University of California recently proclaimed that the American Dream is “fading” because millennial incomes are not as high as their parents’ incomes were when they were their children’s age. The American Dream may have taken a beating recently, blogger and Jeopardy champ James Pethokoukis concedes, but mobility is not the deciding indicator of whether the dream is alive.
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