On Fridays, we bring you the week’s best from around the web. This week’s collection includes a new report on how family structure relates to economic success, a discussion of ‘partyism,’ and more.
“For Richer, for Poorer: How Family Structures Economic Success in America” by W. Bradford Wilcox, American Enterprise Institute and Robert Lerman, The Urban Institute
The standard portrayals of economic life for ordinary Americans and their families paint a picture of stagnancy, even decline, amidst rising income inequality or joblessness. But rarely does the public conversation about the changing economic fortunes of Americans and their families look at questions of family structure. This is an important oversight because, as this report shows, changes in family formation and stability are central to the changing economic landscape of American families, to the declining economic status of men, and to worries about the health of the American dream.
“Why Partyism Is Wrong” by David Brooks, The New York Times
More people are building their communal and social identities around political labels. Your political label becomes the prerequisite for membership in your social set. Politics becomes a marker for basic decency. Those who are not members of the right party are deemed to lack basic compassion, or basic loyalty to country.
“High Prices at Airports Aren’t the Fault of Capitalism” by Jordan Ballor, The Federalist
On a trip back from a conference last week, I heard a snippet of an intriguing conversation in the airport. A man and a woman were talking about the price of things in the airport. The woman complained that things were so expensive. “Five dollars for a piece of fruit?” she exclaimed. The man sympathized with this concern, then uttered an explanation: “That’s capitalism!”
“What’s the Right Minimum Wage?” from Prager University
“My Pastor Complimented Me for Not Reading Fiction” by Brian Miller, Humane Pursuits
To stifle the imagination is to live a haunted life in the shadow of God. In doing so we deny he has any real importance in our immediate lives and it makes sense to say there are things we need not pray about.
