On Fridays, we bring you the week’s best from around the web. This week’s collection includes a note of caution about the third great industrial revolution, thoughts on how to persuade, and more.
1. “The Third Great Wave” from The Economist
Most people are discomfited by radical change, and often for good reason. Both the first Industrial Revolution, starting in the late 18th century, and the second one, around 100 years later, had their victims who lost their jobs to Cartwright’s power loom and later to Edison’s electric lighting, Benz’s horseless carriage and countless other inventions that changed the world. But those inventions also immeasurably improved many people’s lives, sweeping away old economic structures and transforming society. They created new economic opportunity on a mass scale, with plenty of new work to replace the old.
2. “Harnessing the Power of Markets to Tackle Global Poverty: A Conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz”: Acumen founder and CEO Jacqueline Novogratz sits down with AEI president Arthur Brooks to discuss how entrepreneurship, investment, patient capital, and innovation can lead to lasting economic development.
3. “The American Family Is Making a Comeback” by Michael Wear, The Atlantic
It is true that marriage is on the decline, birthrates are down, and divorce rates are high. Some are even suggesting we need to move “beyond marriage.” But people’s aspirations, rather than just their status, suggest family is still important in American life.
4. “Making Good Choices Can Feel Weirdly Difficult” by Andrew Quinn, The Pursuit of Happiness
Remember that time you heard a great piece of advice? Maybe a favorite blog picked up on a fresh, new medical or psychological study. Perhaps it was words of ancient wisdom that caught your attention. Either way, you resolved right then and there to put the advice into practice. You resolved to reform your ways and turn over a new leaf. Remember how you completely failed to keep that commitment?
5. “You Can’t Change Anything From Your Living Room” by Leslie Loftis, The Federalist
Persuasion is simply about providing those unrelated pieces of information that eventually fall into place. Just as pride cometh before a fall, doubt cometh before a change. Our media and cultural inoculation tells people they know everything, the science is settled. […]They reassure people to make them compliant. So we must rattle them.
