On Fridays, we bring you the best of our blog and the best of the web. This week’s roundup includes great interviews with Peter Greer of HOPE International and Joel Salatin, a Virginian farmer and author, along with hope for unemployed Millennials and more.
1. Arthur Brooks: How Obama Neglects the Poor: In the Wall Street Journal, AEI president Arthur Brooks writes on President Obama’s policies that hurt the poor.
Barack Obama won two elections with laudable promises to fight for people. That should include fighting for people at the bottom, even if the best policies for doing so contradict conventional progressive policy dogma. The American dream, so often mentioned in the president’s speeches, won’t be realized until the least among us have a real chance to earn their success.2. Joel Salatin on Work and Stewardship (Part 1): At the blog of the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, Elise Amyx interviews Virginia farmer Joel Salatin in a three-part series. He discusses Forgiveness Farming and Redemptive Work (Part 2) and Economics, the Environment and God (Part 3). 3. My “Success” Story: What I Learned from Jesus and John Wooden: At our blog, Tyler Castle provides some encouragement for recent college graduates who are struggling with unemployment or underemployment.
For those in situations like mine, don’t lose hope because society says you are a failure. Continue to work hard as you strive to glorify God and make a return on his investment, however meager it may seem. Because in his eyes, your effort and motives are what matter most.4. Your Help Is Hurting: How Church Foreign Aid Programs Make Things Worse: At Forbes, Jerry Bowyer interviews HOPE International’s president and CEO Peter Greer about entrepreneurship, microfinance and what he’s learned about helping our neighbors in need.
There’s an author Bob Lupton, who really nails it when he says that when he gave something the first time, there was gratitude; and when he gave something a second time to that same community, there was anticipation; the third time, there was expectation; the fourth time, there was entitlement; and the fifth time, there was dependency. That is what we’ve all experienced when we’ve wanted to do good.5. Charles Murray Discusses American Exceptionalism: AEI’s Charles Murray recently joined Matt Lewis and Bill Bennett to discuss his new monograph “American Exceptionalism.”
