Restoring Social Justice

Strengthening Families is Vital to a Just Society

The high levels of family breakdown found in Britain are at the heart of the social breakdown says a new paper out of the Centre for Social Justice (UK). “We cannot ignore the wealth of evidence showing that the family environment in which a child grows up is key in determining their future life outcomes.”

Family structure and process matters, but current government policy in the UK does not reflect this concern for the family as a whole, a deficiency which the paper says only tends to escalate social breakdown.

Read more on the mounting evidence in support of the family’s role in social welfare, as well as the agenda the Centre for Social Justice has proposed for government reform.

The Link Between Economic Freedom and Prosperity

Can a country’s level of economic freedom play a role in reducing poverty? It turns out that over the past decade research has shown the countries with greater improvements in economic freedom achieved higher reductions in poverty.

Economic freedom empowers people and increases their options for economic progress by removing the decision-making and spending power from one government entity and placing it in the hands of individuals who can choose what’s best for them and their family. In fact, the newly released 2010 Index of Economic Freedom concludes that “the prosperity that flows from economic freedom results in greater access to education, reduced illiteracy, increased access to higher-quality health care and food supplies, and lon­ger life expectancy.”

For more on how economic freedom is essential to poverty reduction, read Economic Freedom in Uncertain Times.

Haiti: What Does Effective Aid Look Like?

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed most of Port-au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti, this past Tuesday. Such devastating disaster calls for every social institution to respond at full capacity. From the Pentagon's Southern Command re-opening the airport at Port-au-Prince, to the anticipated arrival of the U.S. Navy’s Hospital Ship USNS Comfort —the U.S. government is in full throttle, making an initial $100 million pledge for relief efforts in Haiti. And from Wal-Mart, to UPS, to Goldman, to countless other companies, the private sector is acting quickly with pledges to send money. The non-profit sector is also playing its role on the ground, answering the call for medical and material assistance.  Finally, countless private citizens are answering the call for help, and Steve Haas of World Vision provides a great answer for how such individuals can plan to give both now and in the coming weeks.

How should each social institution respond in a disaster such as this? A coordinated response involving government, private companies, and civil society is critical for early and long-term success. For more on this strategy, read: “Grassroots Disaster Response: Harnessing the Capacities of Communities.”

New Year’s Resolution: Do You Know the Change You Seek?

Pastor Freddie Garcia (1938-2009), former drug addict and founder of Victory Fellowship, approached broken lives with humility and determination. Over the course of four decades, Pastor Garcia’s work transformed some 13,500 addicts into men of integrity and service, leaving a shining example of civil society solving problems for countless Americans to follow.

In a recent event at the American Enterprise Institute, Bill Schambra of the Hudson Institute challenged anyone who says “that's a job for civil society” to “be able to name and demonstrate immediate acquaintance with at least a dozen actual examples of civil society doing the job.”

Do you know the change you seek? It’s not too late to make your 2010 resolution. 

A Beautiful Tree: Educational Enterprise Amidst Poverty

For years, the international community has struggled to answer a basic question: how can we ensure that the world’s poorest children have an opportunity to attend school? In his new book, The Beautiful Tree (Cato Institute, Penguin: 2009), University of Newcastle Professor James Tooley offers a surprising solution to the challenge of universal education: low-cost, private schools for the poor. Professor Tooley recently agreed to discuss his book and what can be done to help improve educational opportunities for the world’s poor.