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Friday Five: Demographic Changes and the Future of America

On Fridays, we bring you the week’s best from around the web. This week’s collection includes a new report on demographic changes in America, an explanation for why Jesus spent much of his life as a carpenter, and more.

More, But Not Less, Than a Carpenterby Tom Nelson, The Gospel Coalition

Why was it the Father’s will for Jesus to spend so much time in the carpentry shop instead of gracing the Palestinian countryside, proclaiming the gospel and healing the multitudes?

How Millennials View Capitalism: Brian Brenberg, professor at The King’s College, discusses students’ view on free markets at the International Students for Liberty Conference.

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Economic Freedom Is Not Enough for Human Flourishingby Elise Amyx, Institute for Faith, Work & Economics

Economic freedom is only one component of human flourishing. We should think about it as a prerequisite, a necessary foundation to society that makes human flourishing possible. We need to ask ourselves, once we have economic freedom, what do we do with it?

States of Change: The Demographic Evolution of the American Electorate, 1974-2060

The States of Change: Demographics and Democracy project is a collaboration supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation that brings together the Center for American Progress, the American Enterprise Institute, and demographer William H. Frey of the Brookings Institution. The project’s goals are: 1) To document and analyze the challenges to democracy posed by the rapid demographic evolution from the 1970s to 2060; 2) To project the race-ethnic composition of every state to 2060, which has not been done for 20 years; and 3) To promote a wide-ranging and bipartisan discussion of America’s demographic future and what it portends for the nation’s political parties and policy.

Listening Well (Listening in Lent) by Elizabeth Herreid, Humane Pursuits

They play the same notes. The same pieces. But they tell different stories. To me, this is one of the most fascinating aspects of classical music: how the musicians and conductors are able to work within a relatively constrained framework, and yet bring out something fresh and different.