The Heritage Insider: Does gun control work? millennials Communism problem, the dark history of population control, growth management laws hurt the poor, items for your calendar

October 22, 2016

 

 

Liberals still want more gun control; what do the facts and the Constitution say about that? Millennials are more likely than other generations to view Communism favorably. The history of population control ideas is ugly. Growth management laws hurt the poor. Plus, some items for your calendar.

 

 

More guns, more enraged liberals. The Left, not deterred by Heller, still pushes for more gun control. But does gun control actually reduce gun violence? How should we understand the Second Amendment today? Weighing in on these questions are John Lott, author of The War on Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies; Nelson Lund, professor at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University; and David Clarke Jr., Sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. [The Heritage Foundation]

 

There is a big gap in how the generations view Communism. A new survey by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation finds, for starters, that 55 percent of millennials believe Communism was and still is a problem, compared to 80 percent of Baby Boomers and 91 percent of elderly Americans. [Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation]

 

The dark history of population control: Thomas Malthus, writes Matt Ridley, was a nice man whose ideas on population control have been used to justify cruel actions: “Malthusian misanthropy – the notion that you should harden your heart, approve of famine and disease, feel ashamed of pity and compassion, for the good of the race – was wrong pragmatically as well as morally. The right thing to do about poor, hungry and fecund people was always, and still is, to give them hope, opportunity, freedom, education, food and medicine, including of course contraception, for not only will that make them happier, it will enable them to have smaller families.” [RationalOptimist.com]

 

The high costs of forced density: Growth management laws, writes Randal O’Toole, constitute a “‘new feudalism’ in which the government decides who gets to develop their land and how.” He continues: “Growth management slows regional growth, exacerbates income inequality, and particularly harms low-income families, especially minorities such as African Americans and Latinos. The key to keeping housing affordable is exactly the opposite of what growth management prescribes: minimizing the regulation of vacant lands outside of incorporated cities.” [Cato Institute]

 

Things to do next week:
-- The Manhattan Institute’s 2016 Social Entrepreneurship Awards will honor nonprofits doing great work to solve social problems. 6:30 p.m., October 24, New York City.
-- The semifinalists in Think Freely media’s 2016 Great Communicators Tournament will square off. 6:30 p.m., October 26, DC Improv, Washington, D.C.
-- Justice Clarence Thomas will give the 9th Annual Joseph Story Lecture. 6:30 p.m., October 26, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C.
-- The Acton Institute’s Annual Dinner will honor the late Justice Antonin Scalia. 6:00 p.m., October 27, JW Marriott, Grand Rapids, Mich.
-- American Enterprise Institute President Arthur Brooks will keynote the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s Dinner for Western Civilization. October 27, New York City.

 

 

 

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