Free Republic

I first heard the term “basic income” in the socialist magazine Dissent in 2005. I was a 15-year-old leftist with a taste for weird, radical plans to restructure society: say, having the government buy up majority stakes in every company and then distribute them equally to every American; converting all companies into worker cooperatives; trying a planned economy where the planning is done by decentralized worker and consumer councils rather than a government bureaucracy. Basic income, wherein the government gives everyone enough cash to live on with no strings attached, struck me as an idea in that mold: another never-going-to-happen...

The film industry has messed with our relationship perceptions, would you agree? We are constantly expecting to have the perfect, fairy tale relationship - like Hollywood ruined real life relationships didn’t it? We expect to have Chuck and Blair or Allie and Noah love story. But nothing is further from that truth. We love to imagine that you will traditionally fall in love or that you’ll randomly meet your perfect “other half” in the back of a limo. Sure enough, you will encounter your peak and low moments, but in essence you dream of finding that special soul mate you...

Those who were born into "Generation Y" have an over-inflated sense of entitlement lack the work ethic to achieve their goals. They also hate being criticised, it is claimed. Researchers believe that the problem stems from being constantly told from birth they are special and as a result now believe it - and will ignore anybody who says otherwise. But far from making them happy their approach to life leads to higher levels of depression and "chronic diasppointment" as unjustified levels of self-esteem masks the ugly reality. Academics have concluded the values drummed into their grandparents, such as a strong...

Today's American high school students are far likelier than those in the 1970s to believe they'll make outstanding spouses, parents and workers, new research shows. They're also much more likely to claim they are "A" students with high IQs -- even though other research shows that today's students do less homework than their counterparts did in the 1970s. The findings, published in the November issue of Psychological Science, support the idea that the "self-esteem" movement popular among today's parents and teachers may have gone too far, the study's co-author said. "What this shows is that confidence has crossed over into...

A certain segment of our nation’s publishing industry has long been parasitic and detrimental to our wellbeing. They drag our youth through the mud and leave them wallowing in shame and self-pity. If the Constant Reader enjoys an occasional periodical put out by Hugh Hefner’s daughter or the venerable and sagacious Larry Flynt, relax and read it for the artwork. There are worse things a young person can do than pick up that issue of Playboy for all its articles and intellectual stimulation contained therein. One would involve smoking clove cigarettes, another, equally destructive habit would involve buying into the...