Restoring Social Justice

A Relational Approach to Social Justice

diane — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:13:23 +0000

Ryan Messmore of the Heritage Foundation argues for a small-government, relationship-based approach to social justice in “Social Justice goes beyond Government funding,” published by the Maxim Institute in New Zealand. In it, Messmore recounts the story of the relationship between a couple from upscale north Dallas and a former drug-dealer from a poor neighborhood living with his girlfriend and four children. Some important conclusions can be reached from watching their story unfold, such as the importance of marriage for the well-being of children and the power of personal relationships in combating the dynamic web of human need.

A Means to the End: Free Enterprise & Human Flourishing

diane — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:18:40 +0000

What does free enterprise and limited government have to do with human flourishing? Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute, is author of a new book, The Battle: How the Fight between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America’s Future. In it, Brooks discusses how we have entered a new culture where it is paramount that policymakers and politicians articulate their ideas for limited government and free enterprise in language that places man at the center.

In a recent Washington Post article, he states: “We must do more to show that while we use the language of commerce and business, we believe in human flourishing and contentment.” We must communicate that “the purpose of free enterprise is human flourishing, not materialism; that we stand for equality of opportunity, not equality of income; that we seek to stimulate true prosperity rather than simply treat poverty; and that we believe in principle over power.”

Richmond Violence Free Zone Initiative

diane — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:22:31 +0000

By: Byron Johnson and William Wubbenhorst, Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion

This case study provides preliminary results of the Violence Free School Zone, a program designed to reduce youth violence, and its implementation at George Wythe High School in Richmond, Virginia.

A Second Chance for Prison Inmates & their Families

diane — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:47:57 +0000

More than two million children and youth in the United States grow up with at least one parent in a federal or state correctional facility. Children who grow up in single-parent households are seven times more likely to grow up in poverty. Children of prisoners constitute a highly vulnerable group with multiple risk factors for adverse outcomes, such as anti-social behaviours and crime.

Read about what one local organization is doing to restore families and help break the cycle of poverty and crime.

A Heart and Mind for the Poor

diane — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:56:40 +0000

By: Jane Silloway Smith, The Maxim Institute

The Maxim Institute discusses how learning from the past can help in better understanding what effective foreign aid looks like for the future.

Beyond the Front Door—Families Matter

diane — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:29:39 +0000

On March 11, 2010, the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada held its fourth annual policy conference, drawing on the idea that families and parents matter, even beyond the front door of the family home.

Top-notch experts on family—such as, Brian Lee Crowley, Dr. Wade Horn, Dr. Miriam Grossman, and The Honourable Diane Finley—provided strong research paired with innovative policy ideas that promote healthy families and a stronger nation. Audio is now available online.

Visit the IMFC to read more on research and policies that support the family.

Forever Poor?

diane — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:05:48 +0000

The U.S. Census Bureau has released a new method for measuring poverty based on a relative scale. Robert Rector of The Heritage Foundation explains in the National Review: “if the real income of every single American were to magically triple over night, the new poverty measure would show there had been no drop in poverty, because the poverty income threshold would also triple.” Instead of providing a concrete measure of hardship to be overcome, this new measurement makes alleviating poverty contingent on equal wealth distribution. Find out more here.

Beyond the front door: Engaging families for strong economic and social policymaking

diane — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:04:27 +0000

What is the relationship between strong families and economic success? How and where should the federal government be involved in family life? These questions, among others, will be addressed at the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada conference on Thursday, March 11. The discussions at the conference will examine the relationship between family, social and economic policy and will feature internationally renowned speakers, such as Miriam Grossman, MD, author of You’re Teaching My Child What?; Brian Lee Crowley, PhD, author of Fearful Symmetry: The Fall and Rise of Canada’s Founding Values; and Wade Horn, PhD, former Assistant Secretary for Children and Families. Find out more at www.imfcanada.org.

Conservatives and Cities

diane — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:42:53 +0000

By Howard Husock

What does effective urban policy look like? Howard Husock of the Manhattan Institute provides examples of how conservative policies have allowed areas formerly tarnished with crime and poverty to prosper, including the 1996 welfare reform, 1990s Compstat policing in New York City, and public housing reform in Atlanta.

Cities: The Key to Prosperity and Economic Dynamism

diane — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:27:53 +0000

What does effective urban policy look like? Howard Husock of the Manhattan Institute offered an answer on a panel about effective solutions to inner city challenges at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Husock argued that cities, “rather than being inevitable cesspools of crime and sin…are, rather, the key foundations of prosperity and economic dynamism.” Husock provided examples of how conservative policies have allowed areas formerly tarnished with crime and poverty to prosper, including the 1996 welfare reform, 1990s Compstat policing in New York City, and public housing reform in Atlanta. For more insight into these effective policies, read Husock’s speech, Conservatives and Cities, and visit the Manhattan Institute’s website on urban affairs: www.CitiesOnAHill.org.