Acton News & Commentary | September 04, 2019 Articles, Featured Article: Your work is more than your job, Acton Line Podcast ,and Top Blog.
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Acton News & Commentary
Your work is more than your job
By Jordan J. Ballor • September 4, 2019
Your work is more than your job ([link removed] )
This week marked Labor Day in the United States, a holiday designed to celebrate the formative role of labor, and particularly labor unions, in the development of the American landscape. It is also a day more broadly to reflect on the value of work and associational life, and is taken by many Americans as a chance to enjoy some leisure at the conclusion of summer. And that rest from our labors is needed perhaps now more than ever, as American attitudes toward work and the economy demonstrate a crisis of confidence and significance. The overall labor market itself is relatively strong, as the unemployment rate of 3.7 percent in August is at its lowest level since the financial crisis a decade ago. This figure obscures somewhat the number of discouraged workers and those who are, for reasons like disability, not counted as part of the unemployment statistic. But in general there are jobs for those who are able and willing to pursue paid work.
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Acton Line Podcast: Why we need the Religious Freedom Restoration Act; The truth about recession rumors
September 4, 2019
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On November 16, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) into law, a bill backed by nearly unanimous bipartisan support. While RFRA has since then protected the religious liberty of American citizens, it has lost many of its original supporters and is now under attack. So why was RFRA signed into law in the first place? Does the bill truly protect religious pluralism? Daniel Mark, a professor of political science at Villanova University, helps answer these questions. On the second segment, Jared Pincin, a professor of economics at The King's College, sheds light on the concern that a recession is around the corner. Unemployment rates are low, but America's trade war with China and growing national debt are causing many to believe that we're headed toward economic disaster. Is there reason to panic?
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The 'Forgotten Man' at the Piggly Wiggly ([link removed] )
“Want a job at the Pig?” asked my best friend Steve. By my reaction, you would have thought he’d asked if I wanted a date with Kathy Ireland rather than inquiring about a job as a grocery sacker at the Piggly Wiggly. But I was living at Steve’s parent’s house rent-free, and needed to earn some money. And in Clarksville, Texas in 1985, the prospects of an inexperienced teen finding a good job were only slightly better than chances of dating a supermodel.
Finding our economic voice: How markets are like language ([link removed] )
In 1887, L. L. Zamenhof proposed a universal language as a means for ushering in a new era of international peace and prosperity. The language, now known as Esperanto ([link removed] ) , was carefully constructed to be easily absorbed and understood across cultures and countries, but it failed to take hold. Zamenhof was focused on solving a knowledge problem in linguistics—struggling to improve the ways people relate and share information with each other. Yet his efforts were doomed from the start, set on constructing a system from top to bottom when language is far better suited to develop through organic, emergent human exchange.
In praise of 'garbagemen' ([link removed] )
When I was twelve my family lived on a small, dry piece of land in rural Texas. Since we lived far outside of any city limits, we couldn’t rely on services like water (we had a well), sewage (we had a septic tank), or sanitation (we had a 12-year-old boy and a 50-gallon burn barrel). Before my weekend free-time could begin, I’d have a list of chores to get done, including burning the week’s trash and burying the ashes in a pit dug in the back field. One terrible Saturday I learned a valuable lesson about not burning spray paint cans when the wind is gusting at speeds that would get you ticketed in a school zone. The explosion was small but the brush was dry, and the ensuing fire came perilously close to my neighbors on three sides.
Latin America falls behind -- again ([link removed] )
Economic globalization has brought many economic benefits to the planet, but it’s also true that the benefits have been uneven. One continent which has lagged behind much of the rest of the world is Latin America. As a recent Wall Street Journal article entitled “Latin America Hangs On to Its Economic Gloom” pointed out: This year, once again, Latin America is shaping up as an economic disappointment. Brazil’s economy likely shrank slightly in the year’s first half, and Mexico’s didn’t grow at all. Argentina is now tumbling toward another episodic financial crisis. Then, of course, there is Venezuela, which won’t have much of an economy left after it shrinks another 25% to 35% this year.
Scruton and McGilchrist on Bach, the 'tyranny of pop,' and the gullibility of our age ([link removed] )
The other evening I was at a pool with my family. It was beautiful and warm, and we decided to order some pizza and have dinner at one of the tables overlooking the pool. As we sat and talked and enjoyed blue sky and full trees of late summer, I realized that I could hear the background sounds of children laughing and talking and of water splashing. It was noticeably different and pleasant. Then it struck me that the music had been turned off. There was no pop music or disc jockeys talking in the background. I could hear the normal sounds of human beings talking and children enjoying a summer evening.
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