Free Republic

“Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 Would you lay down your life for your friends? Would they do so for you? If the answer to either of these questions is no, perhaps a better understanding of real friendship would make such meaningful relationships possible. Sadly, many Americans have been deformed by a Hollywood idea of friendship as portrayed in movies. In addition, the Internet and social media also depict friendship as a casual acquaintance with others. The expression Facebook friend denotes a superficial friendship activated by a...

To those who see no link between Lent and our failing economy, it might be the case to look again. Economics is about people. It cannot be reduced to numbers, formulae and analyses. “The subject matter of economics,” observes economic historian Odd Langholm, “is properly the habits, customs, and ways of thinking of producers, consumers, buyers, sellers, borrowers, lenders, and all who engage in economic transactions.” That means our moral habits can have a definite effect on determining if our economy grows — or fails. In my new book, Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian...

Jenny Castillo makes over six figures, owns multiple homes in DC and vacationed in three countries already this year. But at the end of each month, she’s still counting pennies. “Adulting is very expensive,” Castillo, 32, tells The Post. “Yeah, on paper I make good money, but when you factor in debt, cost of living and lifestyle, it’s not.” Even though Castillo makes more than 75% of the US population, according to 2014 US Census Bureau data, she insists there’s not much left after shelling out for rent, bills, savings and her pleasure fund. “I have a separate account just...

It is no secret that America is polarized. This is a fact that is manifested in so many different ways. Traveling down the highway to Chicago, for example, I came upon two successive billboards that I thought were striking examples of our divided culture. The first billboard caught me by surprise: it consisted of an electrocardiogram of a heart that suddenly stops beating. The caption read: When you die, you will meet God. As we were passing through the snowy night, I was unable to catch more details of this billboard. I do not know who put it out or...

Earlier in the year Jonah Lehrer explained in the New Yorker how cool deferred gratification is and how we need to teach it to our kids, the younger the better. Now, in the New York Times, John Tierney suggests that it's really an insidious habit for grownups, sacrificing real enjoyment for the mirage of an even better future. Can everything good be bad for you? Of course the respective sets of behavioral research described might be consistent. Children who master delaying pleasure become superior achievers and thus have the frequent flier balances that they are so counterproductively hoarding. The same...

President Barack Obama acknowledged in a major economic speech Tuesday that "times are still tough" and warned that a culture of "instant gratification" had produced neglect of major national problems that wound up undermining the economy. "By no means are we out of the woods just yet," the president said in remarks at Georgetown University. "But from where we stand, for the very first time, we are beginning to see glimmers of hope. And beyond that, way off in the distance, we can see a vision of an America’s future that is far different than our troubled economic past. Obama...

Quick – more federal funding! I say that because it’s more fun than “America has a problem,” but the meaning is the same. Everyone, by now, has heard of the lawsuits being filed against McDonalds on behalf of overweight people eager to find someone to blame for their problems. Americans were too dumb to realize that eating a constant stream of super-sized Big Macs and Sausage and Egg McMuffins and McApple McPies with McIce-cream Cones might cause some weight gain and so now, we have problems with McObesity.Yes, America was a fish – a nice plump fish – swimming through...