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On liberty's moral superiority
R&L: Do you think the clergy’s view of the state as a means of solving the real problems minorities face has changed over the years?
The Time has Come to Reevaluate Strategy for Change
R&L: How valuable are mediating institutions to community life?Population Growth Benefits the Environment
- R&L: You have written extensively on the subject of population growth. Could you explain the thesis of your argument that population growth and density are beneficial for countries in the
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Michigan Welfare Reform has Long Since Begun
R&L: Many conservative leaders, including yourself, have referred to the “paradigm shift” that is occurring in the nation’s approach to welfare. What does that term mean to you?Learning from Victorian Virtues
R&L: Let’s begin by discussing your latest book, The Demoralization Of Society . In it you state that Victorian society stigmatized the recipients of government assistance. Tell us about that.A Revolution of Compassion
R&L: You are viewed by many as one of the architects of the “Welfare Revolution”. Many believe that this revolution is motivated solely by financial concerns, but in your work The Tragedy of American Compassion, you speak of other dimensions and motivations. What do you believe are the strongest reasons for welfare reform?Current Government Policies are Hurting Our Families
R&L: Many Christians are not comfortable with Capitalism as an economic system, often blaming the “system” for such things as poverty and social ills. Often this fear of Capitalism leads many to endorse forms of Socialism as more Christian. What are your views concerning Capitalism?Private Solutions: The Best Hope for Cultural Renewal
R&L: In your book Transforming America from the Inside Out , you diagnose America’s social condition as “Cultural AIDS”. That has become a controversial metaphor. What do you mean by “Cultural AIDS” and why is it more accurate than the common phrase “culture wars”?Faith Essential Ingredient of Democratic Capitalism
R&L: You opened your essay in Reinventing the American People, a recent book from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, by noting that a long line of political theorists, dating back to the days of the Romans, would regard you as “a dangerous man, a threat to the public order” because you are “an orthodox Christian.” What is the appropriate way for Christians to be political?Civilization Held Together by Persuasion, Not Force
R&L: You have written, “The triumph of persuasion over force is the sign of a civilized society.” Could you explain what you mean by this?There is a Crucial Link Between Culture and Economics
R&L: Do you agree with Josef Schumpeter’s thesis that capitalism is ultimately destructive of both itself and the culture within which it operates?The Free Market and Public Morality
R&L: What was it that caused you to have second thoughts about the role of the state in economic life and about the left-wing agenda of the 60’s of which you were so much a part?