Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Poverty

March 29, 2019

The biggest beneficiaries of the success sequence

Good choices benefit everyone but, as in all of life, not all groups gain equally. The success sequence is no different. The sequence says that the vast majority of people can avoid living in poverty if they make a few deliberate life choices: finish high school, work full time, wait until age 21 to get married, and do not have children outside wedlock. Continue Reading...
March 27, 2019

How to eliminate 99% of all poverty

Can avoiding a handful of socially harmful activities virtually guarantee someone will not live in poverty? Social scientists in the United States said they have found the secret, and a new report from Canada has found it also applies across the northern border. Continue Reading...
March 27, 2019

Why everybody loses with the Powerball

When it comes to government programs for redistributing income, nothing is quite as malevolently effective as state lotteries. Every year state lotteries redistribute the income of mostly poor Americans (who spend between 4-9 percent of their income on lottery tickets) to a handful of other citizens—and to the state’s coffers. Continue Reading...
March 08, 2019

Charity – the anomaly of giving

This week’s Ash Wednesday marked the first day of Lent – a period of intensive spiritual renewal in many Christian liturgical calendars. Lent is a season lasting exactly 40 days, as we imitate the time Jesus spent on retreat in the desert in preparation for the giving of his life to us on the cross, the ultimate act of love or caritas for all humanity. Continue Reading...