The High Cost of Good Intentions: A History of US Federal Entitlement Programs

We live in a litigious society, ready to make a federal case out of all kinds of slights and indignities.  We are also quick to claim broad constitutional rights, asserting that whatever we do in the name of religion or anything we say is protected by the First Amendment’s freedoms of religion or speech.  But let’s be clear about this:  a professional athlete taking a knee during the national anthem is not engaged in constitutionally protected free speech.

Robert Wright, author of Why Buddhism Is True, talks with Hoover Institution fellow and EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the psychotherapeutic insights of Buddhism and the benefits of meditation and mindfulness. Wright argues our evolutionary past has endowed us with a mind that can be ill-suited to the stress of the present. He argues that meditation and the non-religious aspects of Buddhism can reduce suffering and are consistent with recent psychological research.

The general sense among conservatives – highlighted this week in speeches by both Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Milo Yiannopoulis – is that they’re the minority on campus, and that their right to speak is being shut down by a left-leaning majority.