Adam Smith and Human Flourishing

Adam Smith was known as the champion of economic freedom. He had made three claims that has to do with human flourishing. The three claims were economic, political, and moral flourishing. These were taken from a book that Smith had written called “The Wealth of Nations”.

Economic flourishing is probably the one topic that Smith knew and wanted to educate people on. Only once did Adam smith use the term flourishing in its traditional, philosophical sense referring to the healthy state of a society or individual. This was during a passage where Smith intervened in a current debate over the desirability of "improvement in the circumstances of the lower ranks of the people”. Smith argued that the market was desirable because it alleviates the condition of the poor and helps to realize the flourishing society. He made it clear in the first chapter of The Wealth of Nations that the superiority of a well-governed society consists of "universal opulence which extends itself to the lowest ranks of people" and can then ensure that "a general plenty diffuses itself through all the different ranks of the society."

Political flourishing was only discussed slightly in the article about Smith. He didn’t really have the same kind of mind that other political leaders did. He was compared to Aristotle because they had had the same thinking style. Also in another book that Adam Smith had written called “The Theory of Moral Sentiments”, Smith had compared two different types of societies. In the first type of society, the members of the first society stand in need of each other's assistance and are exposed to mutual injuries. The necessary assistance is reciprocally afforded from love, gratitude, friendship, and esteem. The society flourishes and is happy. Then, in the second society, the members of the second society show no mutual love and affection towards one another and the society is less happy and agreeable. However, it will not necessarily be any less than the first. Society can subsist from a sense of utility without any love or affection and still be upheld by a mercenary exchange of good offices per an agreed valuation.

In the first line of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith states "How selfish soever man may be supposed there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it". Smith began his book this way to make it clear that our happiness and the happiness of others are intimately bound up with each other. An individual can only be happy and flourish when those around him are happy and flourish. Smith said that "He (man) is sensible too that his own interest is connected with the prosperity of society, and that the happiness, perhaps the preservation of his existence, depends on its preservation”. He claims that our existence depends on the existence of society, but also that we flourish when we see others around us flourish.

A Poor Rallying Cry

A study of inequality, of income or wealth, reveals uncomfortable truths. Namely that most Americans don’t mind inequality nearly as much as pundits and academics suggest. Graham Wright of Brandeis University did a research paper and found that polled attitudes about economic inequality don’t correlate very well with the desire for government to address it. There is even partial evidence, once controls are introduced into the statistics, that talk of inequality reduces the support for doing something about it.  One possibility is that a lot of talk about inequality gives the audience the impression that it is inevitable. thereby renders potential remedies less urgent.  Another speculation is that we are constantly evaluating the status of others. To the extent, analysts reiterate that some group of citizens doesn’t have as much. maybe they’re actually reminding us that those citizens hold a lower social status. Then without even knowing it, we think that they deserve less and think less of the needs that they would need. Another possibility is that talk about economic inequality increases political polarization. Which in turn would lower the chance of effective action. Or that criticizing American society may cause us to feel less virtuous, which in turn may cause us to act with less virtue. The reality is that income inequality has gone up a great deal since the early 1980s, and we haven’t done so much to reverse the basic trend. The potentially egalitarian effects of  tax increases under the past two Democratic presidents and Obamacare have been outweighed by globalization, which benefits most those individuals who can access global markets, and by increases in the returns to highly skilled labor. The reality is that government expenditures have not become radically more poverty-reducing over the last few decades, although we do send more resources to the elderly. Over that same period of time, we have published quite a few best-selling books about economic inequality. President Donald Trump boasted he was a billionaire, and his opponents tried to take him down by suggesting that he perhaps was worth only a few hundred million dollars. That's not exactly the kind of debate you would hope to hear among people. A variety of other research papers have been showing that inequality is not a major concern. Matthew Weinzierl of Harvard Business School did a study that shows that most Americans really are willing to accept enconmic inequality. From the psychology department at Yale University, a recent study by Christina Starmans, Mark Sheskin, and Paul Bloom shows that people do not object to inequality, rather it is unfairness that bothers them. For instance, consider the differences in pay, security and working conditions for tenured professors versus adjuncts; citation inequality is very high too. Maybe the academic critics of economic inequality don’t really care so much about the concept either. 

Senior Project

Christians and the Challenge of Depression 

      As I was dealing with depression all my friends and my family would be affected. Some of my friends would purposely avoid me because they didn’t want anything to do with the problem. And some friends would try to help. My Dad would always try to help, but at the same time, I could tell that he was a little down at the same time.  

     Depression is a mental illness that affects everyone, even those that say it doesn't. Depression can show signs at any point in your life. It affects about 9% of Americans according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Canada, Japan, Iran, and Switzerland, share the same symptoms and statistics as the U.S. While depression can affect everyone even in the smallest way, it has been found that depression is diagnosed more frequently and significantly in women than in men. The most common form of depression is Major Depressive Disorder but along with that, there are several other types of depression. Some of the other forms are Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Depression with Melancholic Features, Depression with Catatonic Features, Atypical Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Postpartum Depression, and Depressive Disorder not otherwise Specified (NOS). Major depressive disorder is most commonly referred to as simply "depression." Depression is also often termed "unipolar depression" to differentiate it from bipolar depression. Bipolar depression has the same symptoms as unipolar depression during a depressive episode, but bipolar disorder also contains manic or hypomanic episodes. The chart below shows the percentage of men from 18 and above by race and ethnicity in the United States in 2010-2013. The death of a loved one, loss of a job or the ending of a relationship are difficult experiences for a person to endure. It is normal for feelings of sadness or grief to develop in response to such situations. Those experiencing losses often might describe themselves as being “depressed.” But being sad is not the same as having depression. The grieving process is natural and unique to each individual and shares some of the same features of depression. Both grief and depression may involve intense sadness and withdrawal from usual activities.  

     There are some way that could help you determine if you yourself have depression or if a loved one has depression. Below is a list of signs that you could use: 

• Doesn’t seem to care about anything anymore. Has lost interest in work, sex, hobbies, and other pleasurable activities. Has withdrawn from friends, family, and other social activities.  
• Expresses a bleak or negative outlook on life. Is uncharacteristically sad, irritable, short-tempered, critical, or moody; talks about feeling “helpless” or “hopeless.”  
• Frequently complains of aches and pains such as headaches, stomach problems, and back pain. Or complains of feeling tired and drained all the time.  
• Sleeps less than usual or oversleeps. Has become indecisive, forgetful, disorganized, and “out of it.”  
• Eats more or less than usual, and has recently gained or lost weight.  
• Drinks more or abuses drugs, including prescription sleeping pills and painkillers. 

Family and friends are often the first line of defense in the fight against depression. That’s why it’s important to understand the signs and symptoms of depression. You may notice the problem in a depressed loved one before he or she does, and your influence and concern can motivate that person to seek help. 

     If you are ever feeling: persistent sad; anxious; “empty” mood; feelings of hopelessness, or pessimism; irritability; feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness; loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities; decreased energy or fatigue; moving or talking more slowly; feeling restless or having trouble sitting still; difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions; difficulty sleeping, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping; appetite and/or weight changes; thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts; aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems without a clear physical cause and/or that do not ease even with treatment, you could be suffering from depression. Yes, I do know that some of these are felt occasionally throughout your life. They could be caused by a bad dream or a terrible memory and even a traumatic experience. While it's okay to feel these, it's only when they are occurring for most of the day, every day, for about two weeks straight that you may want to seek help. With that being said, not everyone with depression will experience every single one of these symptoms. The severity and frequency of symptoms and how long they last will vary depending on the individual and his or her particular illness. Symptoms may also vary depending on the stage of the illness.  

     All these symptoms can have a devastating affect in any and all areas of the person’s life. Some of the places that these symptoms can be seen are at school, at home, at work, and even in this person’s other personal relationships. In a family setting, the person who is dealing with depression whether it’s a child, mother, father, a relative, or a spouse, they tend to show a lack of energy, irritability, bursts of anger, and sadness all upset the family dynamic. Children who rely on parents to be stable and responsive either won’t understand or may even think they share some fault. Much like a divorce, children tend to think the problem revolves around them, even though they have nothing to do with it. When it comes to a spouse having to help and be the caregiver to his or her partner, the burden of one will tend to move over to the other. Gradually, this burden can lead to feelings of resentment or generate a “me too” reaction where they begin to demand their share of time and attention. Relatives are affected to the point that they are just involved or just outside observers. When our relatives get involved as a confident or support person, they tend to share the same psychic burdens as a spouse would have. And the reason is much the same: they care about the depressed person and want to fix the problem, even though the problem isn’t “fixable” in any direct way. 

     The way that depression could affect you and others at work, would be a little different than in a home setting. There is a reason that all corporations big or small focus on having a positive work environment. Having a work environment that is like that can create loyalty and make everyone feel safe.  If your coworkers don’t know or understand that you are depressed, the fatigue and inability to enjoy interactions can be misinterpreted as a disappointment in them or the job itself. This is especially so when you are normally a person with “positive energy.” 

     Depression also has an effect on your spiritual side as well. When someone that is, spiritual and has depression, it can disrupt their relationship with God. A depressed Christian will feel that they have lost the joy of their salvation and that they no longer feel God’s presence. God will seem farther away, silent and unreachable. Prayer requires concentration and the feeling that a loving, caring person is listening to our prayer. Depression makes it hard to concentrate and the low mood makes one feel cut off from God. Prayer then becomes very difficult for the depressed person. When it comes to reading the bible, this also needs concentration that a depressed person just does not have. Worship requires concentration and a sense of hope or celebration. Depressed people can’t concentrate and they have nothing to celebrate. They feel dead inside. So, worship stops too. In some cases, depressed people have started to not attend church. They have felt like they have no connection to anyone and have a hard time making small talk to their Christians. 

     In my life, I have dealt with loss and me being the victim of a bully. I have been dealing with depression for over 4 years now. I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder or MDD. I have been put on an anti-depressant for about 2 years and yes I have been seeing a therapist for these past 4 years. I have lost pretty much everyone before I turned a teen. I had lost all my family and all my friends. Before I even got to start school, I lost my grandfather. Shortly after I lost both of my great aunts. It was after that, that all my cousins started to move away. All my best friends started to drift away from me as well. Later, my grandmother started dying. She was strong, though. She held on till she was 93. I still remember all the things we would do. She would take me to the park every weekend. We would go to the movies. And when my grandfather was still around, the three of us would go down to the river bottoms almost every day with our dog and they would watch me ride my bike all around. Sometimes I would even get the chance to steer the truck. When I was with my aunts, they would try to teach me how to cook. I would always make a mess. I miss them every day.  

     As for the bullying, that all started around the fourth grade. I had been at Sacramento Country Day for all my school career. One day my dad and I were talking, and we had both decided that I should get held back a year. I did and it turned out to be a bad but also a good decision in the end. It was bad because after I made that decision, I started to get bullied. Every day I would get pick on just because I had decided to redo a year. The years after that just got harder and harder for me. My grades were dropping even more. I had started to not want to do anything with anybody, even with my dad.  

     As the days went by, the depression had started to get worse and I started to do self-harm and I wouldn’t eat for days sometimes. When I first started to experience all these things I started to get scared and didn’t have any idea what exactly was going on. At this point, I finally decided to get a therapist. When I first went, I was nervous and started to regret the decision. But soon after I realized that it was a good decision. It had finally given me someone that I could tell anything and everything. Seeing this person helped me a lot. He taught me how to manage all these feelings that I had kept inside.  

     When it comes to dealing, and learning how to manage it, everyone responds to something different. There are plenty of things that you can do to help yourself and there are even things that others can do for you to help. If one of your friends or a family member is dealing with depression, you want to be there for support and encourage them. However, depression can also wear you down if you neglect your own needs. Below are 6 simple guidelines that you should try to follow when trying to help someone:  

1. Be a compassionate listener rather than giving advice 
2. Provide whatever assistance the person needs (and is willing to accept) 
3. Take walks or do other physical activities together 
4. Take care of yourself so that you are able to stay positive 
5. Encourage a healthy diet by cooking and eating together 
6. Learn more by reading the related articles 

Depression is a serious but treatable disorder that affects millions of people, from young to old and from all walks of life. It gets in the way of everyday life, causing tremendous pain, hurting not just those suffering from it, but also impacting everyone around them. If there is someone you and they are depressed, you may be experiencing any number of difficult emotions, including helplessness, frustration, anger, fear, guilt, and sadness. It is completely normal to fell these things. It really isn’t easy dealing with a friend or family member’s depression. And if you don’t take care of yourself, it can become overwhelming. One thing to do is to start by learning about depression and how to talk about it with your friend or family member. When you start to reach out, don’t forget to look after your own emotional health. Thinking about your own needs is not an act of selfishness, even though it may seem like that, it is, in fact, a necessity. Your emotional strength will allow you to provide the ongoing support your depressed friend or family member needs.  

When Work Feels Like Salvation by Works

The Westminster Larger Catechism says, through Christ’s intercession, God accepts both our persons and our services. That is, the totality of our lives, including our day-to-day grind, but we haven’t embraced this liberty across its whole spectrum. While we revel in our salvation from works and know God accepts on Sundays. We often become slaves to our work and worry about him accepting us on weekdays. 

The Reformation’s recovery of our freedom in Christ unleashed a Christian ethic of integrity and excellence which is the so-called Protestant work ethic. Christians should strive for excellence in our work, and God honors hard work done in faith, but we live in a transactional society, where we often celebrate the visible fruits of our labor. Such as raises, promotions, raising successful children, and things like that. Also, we fear to lose what we have gained so we tend to get our emotions distracted. As a result, we’re fretful. Admitting we don’t “deserve” salvation or success compels us to strive even harder for it. Fretfulness takes hold, and we mask our uncertainty in confidence, our inabilities in busyness, our failures in criticisms, and our worries in distractions.

The Lord does not judge us by our daily work ledgers. No doubt as these verses state there are houses to build, cities to oversee and work to do. But there is a vain way of working that only leads to fretting. Instead of believing God accepts us as we are, we often think we can put him in our debt, forcing him to reward us for our labors. We’ve turned the Creator of the universe into senior management always on the lookout for the next Employee of the Week. We wear our successes on our sleeves to overcome our unworthiness, even though we know our successes are paltry in any eternal sense. So, driven by our goal-oriented efforts and putting our hope in ourselves, we’re crushed and exhausted.

He wants us to know we can’t impress him in any ultimate sense—even if our work earns an A+ from others (a closed deal, a promotion, a pat on the back). The good news of the gospel is not only that we don’t work for our salvation, but also that we don’t strive for God’s acceptance in our daily work. All of it has been accomplished in Christ. Our anxious toil will not satisfy us and God doesn’t want it to. He wants our creativity and work to blossom as we rest in his power and work on our behalf. A watchman who successfully protects the city will inevitably take credit for its safety. The Lord has no more promotions left to give you, you are now his child. He has no more raises to give you, you now have an eternal inheritance awaiting you. So, rest as you work, and enjoy the salvation the Lord achieved for you.

Trump Boom

With Republican efforts to replace Obamacare in tatters, President Trump now says that he should have started with tax reform. The Trump administration could realistically generate 3 percent to 4 percent growth in gross domestic product if they have the right mix of policy to stimulate the economy. The biggest overhaul to the tax system was the Reagan reforms of1986. Which had lowered households’ average marginal income-tax rates by 2 percentage points each in 1987 and 1988. Now, any package that Donald Trump proposes, it would probably cut corporate tax rates, reduce individual marginal rates, and broaden the tax base. This could be the biggest overhaul since Reagan. Since 1930, these types of tax-rate cuts have stimulated economic growth. If Mr. Trump lowers average marginal individual tax rates by 2 percentage points, this could be the boost to real growth in gross domestic product would be about 0.5 percent a year for the next two years. However, this does not factor in the stimulative effects from reduced corporate rates. The U.S. stood at third overall in 2006 but slipped to eighth in 2017. Reforming energy, environmental and financial regulations could also boost growth. In doing some research for an upcoming American Enterprise Institute paper, researchers have found out that improving America’s business conditions to match those of the top performers, which are New Zealand in 2017 and Singapore in 2012, would boost annual economic growth by about 0.3 percent. Predicting the effects is difficult, but the World Bank’s rankings on the ease of doing business are a good place to start. Investing in infrastructure could help, too. The job-creating aspects of the construction phase of a building spree wouldn’t matter as much as the productivity effects. Such as more-efficient transportation due to improved highways and other things like that. All infrastructure programs should mainly focus on useful projects such as roads, bridges, airports and sometimes railroads. They should always avoid bridges to nowhere and build for its own sake. For which Japan has become famous over the past couple of decades. It is difficult to quantify the growth effects from an infrastructure program, but given the poor state of America’s transportation networks, they are likely to be substantial. Donald Trump hopes some of his infrastructure programs can be privately funded. However, the rest of the cost could put significant strain on the federal budget. A consideration heightened by the already high ratio of U.S. public debt to GDP, about 78 percent for privately held federal debt. The president’s economic package may also include restrictions on trade and immigration. These are negatives for economic growth. In this context, a border adjustment tax levied on imports and used to subsidize exports, as House Republicans have proposed, could be a good idea. But the U.S. runs a substantial trade deficit, so the border adjustment tax would raise around $100 billion a year in federal revenue. That would help restore the fiscal balance.  With any luck, the coming focus on tax reform and then on regulations and infrastructure will lead the Trump administration away from the idea of adding impediments to international trade.

Activision Blizzard

If you are a gamer like me, investing in Activision Blizzard would be a smart move. This company helps produce and develop some of the best-selling video games. Activision Blizzard is ranked 5th of the world's top richest video game developers in the world. It is worth about 4.85 billion dollars. Activision helps with creating the 4th best selling game ever. The Call of Duty or C.O.D series was first released on October 29, 2003. Since was released, the game has sold over 250 million copies (units) on consoles and on the PC. And they have even released mini games for phones. As it is that Activision has only helped to develop this series, it has created another game that is on the PC. To have the world’s most popular online role-playing game like World of Warcraft or W.O.W. as their own, Activision Blizzard is assuredly not losing much sleep at night with this franchise in their arsenal. Specifically, Morgan Stanley is resting its hopes for Activision Blizzard stock and Electronic Arts stock outperforming the market on the prospect of gamers spending more money on in-game purchases. Such sales of "expansions, new challenges, new characters, etc." could potentially help grow the active user base at Activision 11% a year over the next five years. And Electronic Arts, 5% a year. Revenue, too, should grow nicely with this shift in business model. Morgan Stanley predicts 16% annualized revenue growth for Activision and 15% for Electronic Arts over the next three years. In fact, the analyst says, "digital rev," or "in-game purchases + full game downloads," has the potential to drive literally "all of ATVI/EA forward.” If that sounds like a big bet to be making on the game makers, well, Morgan Stanley thinks it's a bet worth making. After all, it doesn't cost a lot to create an in-game item -- and it costs even less to reproduce it, and nothing at all to ship it. Morgan Stanley sees Activision Blizzard's and Electronic Arts' decision to focus on this market as giving a potentially huge boost to profit margins: "We see op margins heading ~650 bp higher between now and '18 for both names," says the analyst, resulting in five-year earnings growth rates of 17% for Activision, and 14% for Electronic Arts. Viewed from the perspective of free cash flow meanwhile, the conclusions are reversed, but still similar. Over the past year, S&P Global Market Intelligence data show Activision generating $1.5 billion in positive free cash flow, which was more than twice the company's reported net income, and enough cash to give the company a price-to-FCF ratio of just 22. That's still a bit expensive for 17% growth, but less expensive than the P/E ratio makes it look. Electronic Arts, on the other hand, generated just $937 million in FCF over the past 12 months, or only $0.81 in real cash profit for every $1 claimed in GAAP net earnings. Result: EA's P/FCF ratio of 27 is a bit more expensive than its P/E ratio makes it look -- and probably costs too much for 14% growth, in any case.

Funds Invoke Bible Values, Others See Intolerance

Serving both God and money has long been an aim for fund companies that exclude “sin stocks”. Now the “sin stocks” are of companies that do dealing in tobacco, guns, and gambling. It is because of this that two new exchange traded funds offer a moderate evangelical tilt to that type of investing approach. This is called “biblically responsible”. These funds are saying very clearly in their regulatory filing that they will be avoiding buying shares in companies that have “any degree of participation in activities that do not align with biblical values”. And this would be including what people call the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender lifestyle. Ninety-two percent of the Fortune 500 companies include “sexual orientation” in their nondiscrimination policies and 82 percent include “gender identity”. For the first time, some of these Fortune 500 companies are starting to offer transgender-inclusive health care benefits, and they are also including surgical procedures for them. “There are millions of people, including people of faith, for whom discrimination is not a biblical value,” said Mark Snyder, who is the director of communications for the Equality Federation, a national advocacy group. “Businesses have been leading the fight for full equality over the last few years. L.G.B.T. people are part of the fabric of our nation. We have families, we go to work, we simply wish to be treated equally”.  “As Christians, we love our neighbors in the L.G.B.T. community and encourage companies to provide equal employee benefits for all,” said the chief executive, Robert Netzly. Roberts is the chief executive of the company that introduced the two new funds, Inspire Investing, and he also says that he has no problem with the companies that are providing benefits to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees, as well as having nondiscrimination policies. Issues investing, some call it “socially responsible investing,” which includes the Environmental, Social, and Governance style of investing or E.S.G., has been a hot business in recent years. Major investors like the pension fund behemoth known as Calpers, have made it a part of their philosophy. Even though this strategy has also had some costs in lost investment opportunity. In this last year, for example, Calpers re-endorsed its ban on tobacco stocks, even though their staff had recommended the opposite. This concept has made its way to Exchange Traded Funds, which are also known as E.T.F.s, which have been popular with mom-and-pop investors because they are a low-cost, tax-efficient way to invest in a broad index. Often, the Standard & Poor’s 500. So, as a result, exchange traded funds have ballooned in recent years, amassing $2.6 trillion. And this also has created the opportunity to create niche products seems to be boundless. There are also the $790 million iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF and the $500 million iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF, which look for stocks of companies with good labor policies or sustainable and renewable products. There are also longstanding mutual funds, such as the $927 million Domini Impact Equity fund. Companies like Amazon that have publicly supported gay marriage also would not pass muster. “Any company that takes a hard-line approach” to the issue would not pass the test, Mr. Netzly said.

Trump and Foreign Investment in the US

All sorts of foreigners have purchased and keep purchasing U.S. stocks, bonds, and currency. One way foreigners invest in the Unites States is by purchasing commercial real estate in U.S. cities. Because the United States has a greater appetite for investment that the construction of office buildings and manufacturing plants; the purchase of new technologies and equipment; upgrading and replacing old capital foreign capital finances domestic investment.  It is a vote of confidence in the United States economy and, in some sense, in our nation. You most likely haven’t heard Trump criticize international capital flowing into the United States. At least, not directly. But when the president and his administration attack the trade deficit, they are attacking foreign investment in the United States. When we import more than we export, we are consuming and investing more than we produce here at home. To pay for that consumption and investment, we need to borrow money from the rest of the world. We sell the rest of the world assets, and they give us money to pay for the consumption and investment we want and levels more than domestic production. Therefore, trade deficits require inflows of foreign capital. Today, the United States wants to invest more than it saves, so it borrows from abroad, foreign capital enters U.S. markets. For that foreign capital to exist, the rest of the world needs to be saving and not consuming and investing. So, some of their output comes to the United States. Demand for investment that outpaces the supply of savings pushes interest rates up, attracting foreign capital to the United States. But to buy U.S. assets and enjoy their higher interest rates, foreign investors need dollars. No matter what angle is most intuitive, the bottom line is the same: If the president wants to significantly reduce the trade deficit, he also wants to significantly reduce inflows of foreign capital. Waging a war on the trade deficit is waging a war on foreign investment. There are reasons to be concerned about foreign investment in specific cases and circumstances. But as a general matter, we should think of foreign investment as increasing wages and economic growth by making workers and firms more productive. Simply put, we will lose income. We will be made poorer. We will lose the ability to produce goods efficiently, as global supply chains will be disrupted. Wages will lose some of their purchasing power, as the prices of many goods and services will increase. If the president goes too far, other countries will retaliate, leading to even worse outcomes for the working-class voters who are hoping that the president will “make America great again.”

The Prosperity Gospel

The most poisonous American export to the world is the prosperity gospel. On October 2, 2015, this gospel was called a theological perversion, a false gospel. It is glamorous, seductive, and shunned to everyone who is faithful in their walk with Christ. The message that this gospel gives out is false and deceives millions. The mess is as follows: God’s desire for every Christian is that they be healthy, wealthy, and happy. We simply name what we want and God’s hand will move to give it to us. Also, another sad thing about this message is that it also can have an effect on how parents, parent their kids. Parents, without knowing it, teach this message. There are three questions that you can ask yourself, that would tell you if you're giving out the wrong message. Do you unwittingly center your life around your children? Do you unconsciously prioritize their material prosperity? Do you unwisely protect your children from life’s trials? In the first question, the message is that the prosperity gospel teaches we are the center of the universe and God is here for our happiness. The biblical truth, however, is while God’s love overflows for his people, we are made for him. He, not us, is the center. In our desire to love our children, we can send a similar false message. While caring for them, it’s easy to communicate: You are the center of my universe. I am here to serve you. The truth is that while parental affection and care should abound, we must also love our children in the truth. And a core truth is that kids are cherished members of our family but not the center. We train them to love and honor others, including their parents. Gospel-centered parenting leads us to call our children out of their natural self-orientation to a sacrificial love for God and others. In the second question, The prosperity gospel teaches us the greatest gifts God can give his children are material blessings. But the biblical truth is that God himself, and the spiritual blessings surrounding him, are his greatest gift to us. Stop and take a look at your family activities. Listen to what you are excited about. There’s certainly nothing wrong with relishing the game-winning home run or the latest electronic device. Just make certain you’re even more excited about the gospel at work in and around you. Choose priorities to give your child the best advantage possible—a godly church and a unified home. Pray that your parental love will be coupled with the wisdom to discern what’s best for them. And finally, in the third question, the prosperity gospel teaches God doesn’t want us to suffer. The blessed life is one with little or no pain. But the biblical truth is that none of God’s children escapes suffering. Painful trials are part of his good plan to mature us. Even Jesus learned obedience through what he suffered. You love your children and you love the true gospel. Don’t undermine it by teaching them something false during the week. Remind them that even as we enjoy God’s world, his best gift is himself. And because you’re called to reflect the heavenly Father, you will correct and discipline them in love. 

Planned Parenthood

House Bill 149 would prohibit public funds from going to any organizations or individuals that provide abortion services. Although this does not include hospitals, universities, as well as medical schools. Representative Stan Lee, who is the bill’s sponsor, says that it is targeting Planned Parenthoods of Indiana and Kentucky. However, critics are saying that this legislation could prevent other organizations from getting public money. "This legislation is directed at essentially defunding Planned Parenthood," Lee said. “This was designed to ... make sure there wasn’t a way for them to kind of sidestep this requirement, get around it and obtain funding.” Later on, Stan Lee would go on to say that the reason that he filed HB 149 because he didn’t believe that a similar bill in the state Senate would not go far enough in preventing Planned Parenthood in receiving public funding. In this bill that Lee has created abortion services would also include helping with referrals to or information about other organizations where abortions could be performed. As well as "providing counseling, advice, written materials or other information that encourages or promotes abortion." Another representative of HB 149 is Derek Penwell of Douglass Boulevard Christian Church in Louisville. He said that the definition of this HB would be applied to members of the clergy who are asked to help out women talk about their options. “That may not be the intent of this legislation,” he said, “but the bill is written so broadly that it could impact groups other than Planned Parenthood.”

Is it Better to get Married Younger or Older??

In 1970 the average age of American men marrying was 23. Now in the current days the average age is 28 which is five years up. And it is the oldest average. It is because of the men pulling along the women into marriage, that women are now starting to want to marry older. Therefore, the age gap between spouses is starting to get more and more narrow. In 1890 the age gap of marrying men and women was around four years. In 1960 is gap got smaller and was around 2.5 years. Many women have reported that they were being peer pressured in to avoiding the serious thought to marriage until they are in their late 20’s. Those who are thinking about or wanting to get married in college are considered a pariah. Now a day’s parents are advising their children to wait on the thought of getting married until their education is complete. To launch their full carriers and become financially independent. This is not only an economical problem, but it is also an emotional problem. Marriage will eventually be there in the end whenever it is time. The only problem, according to social psychologists Roy Baumeister and Kathleen Vohs, the “market value” of women is on a steady decrease as women get older. While the men’s “market value” rises with time, because as time goes by they are goring their resources of money and maturation. The understanding of “early marriage” from social scientists is completely misunderstood by the public. The age-divorce link is most seen by young teenagers, which are those that are married before the age of 20. Marriages that have begun at the ages of 20,21, or 22 are not nearly so likely to end in a divorce than a s many people have believed. According to the data from the government, the women who would marry at the age of 18 have a better chance of making it work than those women who marry at the age of 21. So they age of getting married will always differ from generation to generation. 

What is the difference between Communism and Socialism?

Communism and Socialism are both economically and politically structured to promote equality. Also, they seek to eliminate social classes. In theory, Socialism and Communism may seem to be appealing. For all those who are doing and sharing their work together for the cause of the greater good. They hold the idea of a utopian economic structure. Which some countries have tried. However, most of those countries have failed and or became dictatorships. Which in turn is making reformation nearly impossible.

Let's take a look at a Communist society. In a Communist society, everything is owned by the working class. Therefore, everyone is working towards the same communal goal. It has eliminated both wealthy and poor classes. So it's saying that everyone is equal. Production in this type community is distributed by the need, and not by the effort or by the amount of work. It is expected that all the needs and requirements needed to do the work would be met by the community. That there is no more to be obtained through working more than what is necessary. Therefore, this type of economy often has the end result of poor production. As well as mass poverty and little advisement. This has happened before. During the 1980's, the poverty in the Soviet Union had become so widespread, that the rebellions and the revolutions had caused the nation to go into chaos.

Now Socialism economies share similarities to Communism but to a much lesser extreme. As in Communism, the main focus is equality. However, instead of the workers owning the facilities and the tools for their production, the workers are paid and allowed to spend their wages as they choose. While it is the government body that owns and operates the means of production for the benefit of the working class. Each of the workers is provided with the necessities so that he would be able to produce without any worry for his basic needs. The only downside of this is that both the advancement and the production factors have been put on a limit because there is no more incentive to achieve more.

With there being Socialism and Communism, there ended up being a third type of economic system, which is Capitalism. Capitalism has no private ownership and no class equality. In Capitalism, the reward comes naturally without any limitations to those workers who are able to exceed the normal minimums. This kind of environment can cause a lot of competition. And this can result in unlimited advancement opportunities, which can sometimes be very dangerous.

In conclusion, many modern societies and countries have adopted pieces of Socialism into their economic and political policies. Like in the United Kingdom, workers have unlimited earning potential based on their work. However, some of the basic needs, such as health care, are provided to everyone regardless of their time or effort in their work. Each one of these economic systems has their benefits and flaws, so there may never be the best or the worst in a worldwide view.

Trade Deficit

In 2015 the U.S. trade deficit with China was 367 billion dollars. This is then new record, which is up a little from last year’s record of 343 billion dollars. The U.S. trade deficit is the amount by which the cost of a country's imports exceeds the value of its exports. U.S. exports to China was only 116.2 billion dollars. While the imports from China had created a new record of 483.9 billion dollars. And the trade deficit keeps growing because the imports are rising much faster than the exports. The United States imports electronics, clothing, and machinery from China. China can produce goods that Americans want at the lowest cost. Most economists have agreed that China's competitive pricing is the result of two major factors. A lower standard of living, which allows companies in China to pay lower wages to workers. And an exchange rate that is partially fixed to the dollar. This is saying that man American companies can’t compete with China’s low costs. And the result of this is that more and more U.S. jobs are lost. If this were to happen, U.S. consumers would have to pay higher prices for their "Made in America" goods. Most people would rather pay as little as possible for computers, electronics, and clothing. For many, that's true even if it means other Americans lose their jobs. China must buy so many U.S. Treasury notes. That it is how China is the second largest lender to the U.S. government. Japan is the first largest lender to the U.S. government. As of October 2016, the U.S. has a debt to China of 1.115 trillion dollars. That's 29 percent of the total public debt owned by foreign countries. By buying Treasuries, China helped keep U.S. interest rates low. If China were to stop buying Treasuries, all the interest rates would rise, and that could throw the United States and the whole world back into the recession. It isn't in China's best interests. As it is that U.S. shoppers would buy fewer Chinese exports. In fact, China is buying almost as many Treasuries as ever. The U.S. trade deficit with China means that U.S. companies that can't compete with cheap Chinese goods must either lower their costs or go out of business. Many businesses reduced their costs by reaching out and giving jobs to India and China. Which in turn is adding to the U.S. unemployment. But other industries have just fried up and gone. U.S. manufacturing, which is measured by the number of jobs, has declined 34 percent between 1998 and 2010. As these industries declined, so has the U.S. affordability in the global marketplace. In 2016, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew continued the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue. Which discusses with China the U.S. desire to loosen its hook against the dollar. That would raise the price of all the Chinese exports. It also seeks to open up U.S. companies to the China's domestic market. Both of these actions would lower the trade deficit. 

The Biggest Owner is You!!!

The U.S has a debt of more than $19.8 trillion. Fewer people know that the Social Security Trust Fund owns most of the national debt. Most headlines focus on how much money we owe the Chinese. The U.S. Treasury manages the U.S. debt through its Bureau of the Public Debt. There are two categories: Intragovernmental Holdings, at $5.479 trillion, and Debt Held by the Public, at $14.409 trillion. Some agencies, like the Social Security Trust Fund, take in more revenue from taxes than they need right now. Rather than stick this cash under a giant mattress, they buy U.S. Treasuries with it. Social Security, by a long shot, owns the most Treasuries. Social Security (Social Security Trust Fund and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund) holds $2.786 trillion. Office of Personnel Management Retirement holds $873 billion. Military Retirement Fund holds $601 billion. Medicare (Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund) holds $267 billion. Nearly half of the nation’s public debt is held by foreign governments. One fourth is held by Federal Reserves and state and local governments. Mutual funds, private pension funds, saving bonds, and individual treasury notes hold fifteen percent. The rest is owned by businesses like banks, insurance companies, and a wide range of trusts. Foreign has $6.175 trillion. Federal Reserve has $2.461 trillion. Mutual Funds has $1.056 trillion. State and Local Government, including their pension funds have $803 billion. Private Pension Funds have $403 billion. Banks have $515 billion. Have Insurance Companies - $293 billion. U.S. Savings Bonds have $174 billion. This debt is not only in Treasury bills, notes, and bonds but also TIPS. TIPS are Treasury Inflation Protected Securities. 

Comparing US State GDPs to Entire Countries

In 2015 the US produced 24.5% of the world’s GDP. And the US holds only 4.5% of the world’s population. California, Texas, and New York are the top three states that produce the most economic output. The first US state with the most economic output is California. California produces a GDP of $2.46 trillion. Which is just above the GDP of France’s output of $2.42 trillion. If California was a separate country, it would have been ranked as the 6th largest economy in the world. Texas has America’s second largest state economy. Texas produces a GDP of $1.59 trillion. Texas’ GDP was also slightly higher than Canada’s GDP of $1.55 trillion. Texas would have been ranked as the world’s 10th largest economy. The third state with the most economic output is New York. NY produces a GDP of $1.44 trillion. New York produces slightly more than South Korea ($1.38 trillion). If New York was a separate country is would be ranked as the world’s 11th largest economy. Also New York is ahead of Russia. Russia’s GDP is $1.32 trillion. Together, those three US states produced $5.5 trillion in economic output. And as a separate country would have ranked as the world’s third largest economy and ahead of No. 3 Japan ($4.1 trillion) by almost $1.5 trillion.