Articles

Conservatives, as the readers of this magazine well know, emphasize the principles of individual liberty and personal responsibility over those of collective well-being and communal responsibility. Where there is a problem or a societal ill, we do not reflexively look first to government agencies for a solution.

When it comes to measuring the true progress of our society, 
this particular metric leaves a lot to be desired.

Personal income is an important economic measure of a state’s well-being. Higher levels of personal income mean that a state’s residents are able to purchase more goods and services such as homes, cars, education, and health care. Fundamentally, personal income comes from two sources: the private sector and the public sector. The distinction between these two sectors is important because only the private sector creates new income. The public sector can only redistribute income through taxes and spending.

Recently released undercover videos show casual conversations about crushing the life from a tiny, unborn person. When the talk turns to calculating potential compensation for her harvested organs, even abortion advocates admit it’s disturbing. Many Americans are appalled to discover that their own tax dollars provide more than a half-billion dollars every year to the organization exposed in these videos.

The miracle of new life has come to the Carnuccio home this week. On Monday, my wife and our two sons were blessed with the newest addition to our family, a daughter. My daughter’s birth has inspired me to double-down on that which matters most and defines the family values and beliefs we hold dear.

According to Irwin and the Times, parents who work and get a paycheck are good and parents who work and do not collect a paycheck are worth, well, nothing. Actually, given that the Times would have government pay these parents not to stay at home, perhaps the real thesis is that they are worth less than nothing, causing some sort of undefined social harm.

Economists have long understood the tragedy of the commons. It happens when nobody takes responsibility for something, often because everyone is supposedly responsible for it together.

Right now, some 400,000 American children are in foster care, as well as uncounted thousands more in other nations who are eligible for adoption. Americans have always been among the most generous on earth in opening their homes to adoptees, and the benefits of adoption are obvious.

I have previously written in these pages (“Black Leaders Say Personal Responsibility Key to Economic Opportunity,” July 2013) about the mayor of a great city, a prize-winning economist, and an award-winning actor who all speak about the need for stable families.

When President Obama was interviewed by Bill O’Reilly of FOX News, O’Reilly made the statement that poverty is driven by the dissolution of the American family. He specifically asked the president, “Why isn’t there a campaign by you and the First Lady to address this very explicitly?”