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Creativity, property, and patents: Lessons from GM food
Christians, especially in the developing world, find the opposition to genetically modified food (overwhelmingly from wealthy Western nations – especially the European Union) to be somewhat puzzling.Southern Baptists Offer Words of Wisdom on School Choice
Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the endyou will be wise. --Proverbs 19: 20 Solomon's teaching to his son, contained in the book ofProverbs, extols the virtue of accepting instruction from the Lord, which ismost often conveyed through other individuals. Ignoring this counsel, Solomon warned, would cause one to“stray from the words of knowledge” (Prov 19: 27). This past week, the Southern Baptist Convention gave someimportant advice to government schools, advice one hopes they will not ignore.Solidarity or conflict? Facing up to the Social Security crisis
Too often, even the suggestion that Social Security and Medicare might be ripe for reform is a cause of disharmony and strife in policy circles.The blessings of technology
Is it possible, then, for Christians to think about technology in ways that avoid romanticizing both the premodern and natural worlds, but also the “scientism” that would have us believe that human cognizance of truth is essentially limited to knowledge of the technical?Preserved garden or productive city? Two competing views of stewardship
The preservationist view of stewardship often contains biblical truth as far as it goes, but it stops short of recognizing the full witness of Scripture. Instead, it offers a truncated and inadequate view of stewardship, which can lead to destructive policies.Productivity and the ice man: Understanding outsourcing
Hysteria about job losses caused by overseas outsourcing ignores a crucial fact: Americans lose jobs primarily because people develop innovative ways to do things faster, better, and cheaper. In other words, human creativity is a double-edged sword, bringing productivity improvements and, very often, widespread job loss. The good news is that the net result is not fewer jobs, but more jobs—and more productive ones.America's inventive mind
I believe that the strength of the American economy resides in something very simple: It is the value we ascribe to human creativity. And there is no more salient example of this than the freedom our country prescribes in owning and protecting property rights.Vouchers Spur Public Schools to Compete
Competition is, in some circles, a much-derided word. Psychologists worry about the effects competition has on the mental and emotional health of children. Others become concerned when a parent takes competition too far, and fights break out at hockey or soccer games. Yet competition is, as Cicero observed, not about crushing one’s opponent. Rather, healthy competition is a tool by which all are raised to a higher standard. When companies truly and fairly compete, product quality improves, cost declines, and consumers, executives, and laborers all benefit.Confusing coercion and conversion
Following Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl halftime “wardrobe malfunction,” the Federal Communications Commission is cracking down on what it deems to be explicit or vulgar material. Everything from shock jock radio shows to steamy soap operas is getting a closer look. In seeking to restrain the media, some legislators and bureaucrats are pushing for tighter regulation not only of the broadcast media, but of cable media as well. Cable would be new territory for the FCC and take it for the first time into the pay-TV sector.The sin tax craze: Who's next?
We must ask ourselves whether we want to charge politicians and bureaucrats with sanctioning sins in areas that are morally ambiguous. Or should this task be left to community, family, church, and tradition – social institutions that are often more trustworthy in determining the limits of non-violent behavior?From poverty to property
Real justice on behalf of the poor means showing them the path to self-sufficiency, for in the heart of the human spirit lies the desire to be set free. Our policies of justice must always take this into account.Modern myths about race and school performance
Fifty years after the Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, the debate about race and academic performance has in many places gone terribly off the mark.