Heard at Heritage

In 2004, the first students began participating in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program – a private school choice program serving low-income families in Washington, D.C. This year marks 15 years of the scholarship program’s operation in the nation’s capital, with more than 1,650 children currently using D.C. OSP scholarships to pay tuition at participating private schools across the city. School choice programs have increased considerably across the country over the past decade, with more and more students having access to options such as vouchers and education savings accounts. What has been the impact of this consequential school choice measure, what does the future hold for the OSP, and what does it mean for families? Join us during National School Choice Week for a conversation with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, led by Heritage Foundation president Kay Coles James, followed by a discussion featuring program stakeholders and scholars. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Conservatives, classical liberals and libertarians celebrate the fact that people have unequal (or diverse) talents, preferences, risk averseness, attachments and cultures because these are the central element to the rich tapestry of an enlightened, humane and prosperous society. These differences will inevitably lead to economic differences. And those differences are not objectionable. Any political system that mandated economic equality would be unjust. It is unjust to treat unequal situations equally. Instead, we should seek equal protection of the law or equal justice under law.Government should not enforce a pre-determined distribution of income or wealth. Individual effort, merit, preferences and values matter morally. An unplanned distribution is just if the distribution is the result of individuals acting freely in accordance with just rules. However, because poverty hinders the ability of the poor to flourish and to lead a fulfilling life, public policies, private charity, education and other initiatives to address poverty and improve opportunity are warranted. But the pursuit of economic equality is not. In fact, the pursuit of economic equality can be extremely damaging to social welfare and manifestly unjust.For a complete list of speakers, topics, and dates of the Free Markets: The Ethical Economic Choice speaker series visit heritage.org/free-markets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It has been 25 years since Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) with near unanimous support. Since then it has prevented the government from infringing on the freedom of a wide variety of religious individuals and groups to exercise their religious beliefs. But with the new Congress, there could be legislative efforts to limit the application of RFRA. Join us for a keynote address from Acting Attorney General Whitaker followed by a panel discussion featuring Jewish, Muslim, and Christian perspectives on protecting religious freedom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Constitution contains a number of provisions designed to protect economic liberty, including the contracts clause, the takings clause, the Privileges and Immunities Clause, the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clauses, and others. The structure of the constitution and the negative commerce clause also protect economic freedom. This reflects the founders support for limited government, private property and freedom of commerce. Please join us for a discussion of the constitutional protections for economic freedom and the original meaning of these constitutional provisions.For a complete list of speakers, topics, and dates of the Free Markets: The Ethical Economic Choice speaker series visit heritage.org/free-markets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did you know that contraception and abortion were not originally part of the women’s movement? How did the women’s movement, which fought for equal opportunity for women in education and the workplace, and the sexual revolution, which reduced women to ambitious sex objects, become so united?In the book Subverted, Sue Ellen Browder documents for the first time how it all happened, in her own life and in the life of an entire country. As a long-time freelance writer for Cosmopolitan magazine, she wrote pieces meant to soft-sell unmarried sex, contraception, and abortion as the single woman’s path to personal fulfillment. She did not realize until much later that people higher and more clever than herself were influencing her thinking and her personal choices as they subverted the women’s movement.Many pro-life women now reject the “feminist” label because of its association with radical pro-abortion groups and policies, while maintaining their belief in equality, dignity, and rights to opportunities afforded to men. They reject the notion that a movement or belief system that advocates on behalf of the disadvantaged can simultaneously advocate for the right to destroy vulnerable, innocent human life.In the age of the Women’s March and #MeToo, can we address the needs of both women and unborn children? Or is a movement that claims to support the interests of “all women” forever destined to not include the voices and interests of people who identify as pro-life?Confusion reigns thanks to the early promises of the feminist movement and its current manifestation. Join The Heritage Foundation and Live Action for an illuminating discussion with expert panelists as we explore how we got here and discuss what today’s women can do to counter the radical forces that hijacked a worthy cause. Copies of Sue Ellen Browder’s book will be available for purchase. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative turns five years old this fall, first unveiled by President Xi Jinping in a pair of speeches in late 2013. The infrastructure and connectivity initiative has proven far more ambitious, and far more controversial, than anyone could have predicted at that time. Under the BRI umbrella, China has already spent, pledged, or invested over one hundred billion dollars in infrastructure projects spanning the globe.However, since mid-2017, international concerns about the BRI—and the outgrowth of Chinese “sharp power”—have been mounting. The U.S., EU, India, Australia and others have criticized the BRI model—which they accuse of fueling corruption, failing to meet international standards, and leveraging “debt-trap diplomacy” for geopolitical ends--while beginning to promote their own infrastructure initiatives and visions for the region. Please join our expert panel as we examine the future prospects of the BRI, Chinese perspectives on the BRI at Five and changing international attitudes toward the initiative, and the evolving U.S. and allied policy responses. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sri Lanka was plunged into a political crisis in late October when President Maithripala Sirisena suspended parliament and attempted to install his former ally and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister. Decried as illegal and unconstitutional by incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his supporters, the extra-constitutional maneuver has been opposed by a majority in parliament and several court rulings. Nevertheless, Sirisena and Rajapaksa have refused to disband their new shadow government and the country’s political crisis endures.The turmoil is unfolding at a time Sri Lanka is grappling with the consequences of a major expansion of Chinese influence and investments, portrayed as a warning to others about the risks of Chinese “debt traps” and the strategic ambitions underpinning the Belt and Road Initiative. As China and India compete for influence in Colombo and prepare for the potential return of the Rajapaksas, the Trump administration has suspended a major aid package and urged the country to resolve the crisis through democratic means. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ambassador John Bolton unveils the Trump administration’s new Africa Strategy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rapid changes in reproductive technologies combined with the redefinition of marriage have resulted in more and more children intentionally denied a relationship with one or both of their biological parents. Meanwhile, the media claims that “all kids need is love.”A new children’s rights organization is shedding light on the very real and lasting cost children pay when the desires of adults are prioritized over children's rights. Them Before Us is providing a platform to bring these children together and give them a voice.Join us as we explore the philosophical, legal and practical underpinnings of the rights of children in family structure, and how viewing matters of marriage and parenthood through the lens of children can persuade a skeptical culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our military faces a wide array of challenges across the globe today. China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and transnational terrorism all require U.S. military resources, but defense budget cuts have left the force underfunded and undersized for the tasks we are asking it to perform on a daily basis. The National Defense Strategy Commission, a bipartisan effort to assess the state of the military, alarmingly assesses that the U.S. military, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, is at risk of losing an armed conflict with Russia or China. Please join us for a unique opportunity to hear Senator Jon Kyl, a commissioner on the Commission, discuss these challenges into the future and Congress’s responsibilities in addressing them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.