Discovery Institute | Page 830 | Public policy think tank advancing a culture of purpose, creativity, and innovation.

Saving money coin with banking investment, finance education concept. Planning student loan for studying abroad for college or university degree. Future children's education fund cash. Growing saving

^{Bruce Chapman
March 7, 1993
Citizen Leadership

8}

‘Let’s Draft Everybody’ – National service vs. real service

_{Bruce Chapman
March 7, 1993
Citizen Leadership

8}

THERE she is, a sweet, but emotionally overcome young woman from the New Jersey Youth Corps, being consoled with a hug from the president of the United States. Onlookers in a flag-decked classroom beam at this latest exciting moment in the new political production, "The Selling of National Service." It is the kind of scene repeated in photo-opportunities nationally as the White House hustles its plan to have college loan recipients pay off Uncle Sam with government-approved service. The consequence is a distinctly American tradition of committed, creative and effective community service. As figures from the Gallup Poll and the respected group Independent Sector show, in recent years Americans actually are giving more money and time to charities. And because they give it as they wish - not as they are directed by government - the voluntary service sector is more popular than either the profit sector of society or the government sector. Read More ›

^{George Gilder
March 1, 1993
Technology

43}

The New Rule of Wireless

_{George Gilder
March 1, 1993
Technology

43}

At first glance, Vahak Hovnanian, a homebuilding tycoon in New Jersey, would seem an unlikely sort to be chasing rainbows. Yet in the converging realms of computers and communications that we call the telecosm, rainbows are less a matter of hue and weather than they are a metaphor for electromagnetism: the spectrum of wavelengths and frequencies used to build businesses Read More ›

Graduation hat on coins money in the glass bottle on natural green background, Saving money for education concept

^{Bruce Chapman
January 18, 1993
Citizen Leadership

5}

National Service: It’s Just Too Expensive

_{Bruce Chapman
January 18, 1993
Citizen Leadership

5}

The idea, whose father was military conscription and whose mother was the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, was incubated in the Progressive Policy Institute in the '80s, placed in the foster care of the Democratic Leadership Council and then adopted by the [President] Clinton campaign. "Maintain the Pell Grant program but scrap the existing student-loan program and establish a National Service Trust Fund to guarantee every American who wants a college education the means to obtain one. Those who borrow from the fund will pay it back either as a small percentage of their income over time, or through community service as teachers, law-enforcement officers, health-care workers or peer counselors helping kids stay off drugs and in school." Would taxpayers really think they were getting a bargain by paying for students' college loans and then paying again to hire these same people in government-financed jobs? Would workers now in health care and education jobs be happy to see the cheeky new government-paid "volunteers" arrive, eliminate private-sector growth in low-skill jobs and drive down the private-pay scale? Would the volunteers really serve society best in such artificial, temporary posts, expending tax revenues, or by getting on with their own careers and contributing to tax revenues? Read More ›

^{Robert C. Koons
January 1, 1993
Intelligent Design

2}

Faith, Probability and Infinite Passion:

_{Robert C. Koons
January 1, 1993
Intelligent Design

2}

This article is only available in Adobe Acrobat. Read More ›

The concept of news. Folded stack of Newspapers on laptop

^{Bruce Chapman
December 26, 1992
Citizen Leadership

16}

Policing political LIES

_{Bruce Chapman
December 26, 1992
Citizen Leadership

16}

FALSEHOODS in political advertising are widely regarded as a growing menace in our public life and a source of voter anger. So the media were busier than ever this past election season trying to referee truth in politics, while candidates issued what seemed to be unusually numerous, and fulsome, critiques of their opponents’ honesty. But was that enough? Legislators and Read More ›

Concept image of cables and connections for data transfer in the digital world.3d rendering.

^{George Gilder
December 1, 1992
Technology

42}

Into the Fibersphere

_{George Gilder
December 1, 1992
Technology

42}

In a world of dumb terminals and telephones, networks had to be smart. But in a world of smart terminals, networks have to be dumb. Philip Hope, divisional vice president for engineering systems of EDS, has an IQ problem. His chief client and owner, General Motors, wants to interconnect thousands of 3-D graphics and computer aided engineering (CAE) workstations with Read More ›

Bronze figurine of Lady Justice with her scales

^{Bruce Chapman
November 25, 1992
Citizen Leadership

8}

Ethic Cleansing

_{Bruce Chapman
November 25, 1992
Citizen Leadership

8}

The Clinton honeymoon is hardly underway and the Society of Permanent Busybodies is already questioning the integrity of his Transition Committee. They want to know: How can Vernon Jordan, former head of the Urban League and co-chair of the transition, presume to give advice on presidential appointments when he serves on the board of a tobacco company? About the time Read More ›

Red man lies on the background of the rest. Infected person. Coronavirus pandemic infection COVID-19. Quarantine. Self isolation. Crowd

^{Bruce Chapman
November 4, 1992
Citizen Leadership

5}

Welcome to the dawn of the Age of Victimhood

_{Bruce Chapman
November 4, 1992
Citizen Leadership

5}

IN ONE of those "new studies" that repeatedly illuminate the medical news, we learned recently that genes may be responsible for disposing some people to smoking. This is a development beyond the hopes of America's weed addicts: Suddenly smokers are on their way from being seen as practitioners of a disagreeable vice to becoming the unfortunate victims of a genetic disorder. In America, once that kind of opinion switch is made a freshly established class of victims can start winning arguments and lawsuits. They are no longer accountable for their actions. In the Age of the Victim, society is always wrong. Some say that a nation founded on individualism is becoming a society of finger-pointing interests, each trying to score off the whole. Actually, we still believe in individualism, it's just that it's an individualism of rights, not responsibilities, and, paradoxically, those rights are now the products of group membership. For example, our tattered code of individual responsibility would have it that a chronically late employee might expect, eventually, to be fired. But, in "A Nation of Victims," a new book by Charles J. Sykes, the case is related of a Pennsylvania school employee fired for constantly arriving late at work. It seems that the worker then sued for reinstatement because his therapist said he suffered from "Chronic Lateness Syndrome." He won the case, too, though it later was lost on appeal. Read More ›

^{Phillip E. Johnson
November 1, 1992
Intelligent Design

3}

What Is Darwinism?

_{Phillip E. Johnson
November 1, 1992
Intelligent Design

3}

The debate between creationism and Darwinism is often depicted as a dispute between naive biblical literalists, who ignore the overwhelming evidence for evolution, and scientifically enlightened intellectuals. But this is a caricature that serves the purpose of helping to perpetuate a world view hostile to Christian faith: atheistic naturalism. The debate hinges on five key terms: creationism, evolution, science, religion, and truth. Instead of trying to Christianize evolution we ought instead to challenge the assumption that atheistic naturalism is true. Read More ›

Stack of books with laptop on wooden table

^{Lewis J. Perelman
October 31, 1992
Education

7}

The New Technology: Three Views

_{Lewis J. Perelman
October 31, 1992
Education

7}

The role of modern technology in education is precisely the same as the role of the automobile in the horse economy: replacement. In the knowledge-age economy that will endure from now right through the 21st century, learning is in and school is out. More education is not the cure to our economic doldrums. Rather, it’s one of the major causes Read More ›