Arthur Brooks was unsure why he lost a Thanksgiving dinner argument about free enterprise with his family, until he realized he was focusing too much on money and not enough on people.
Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, delivered the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s annual Roy H. Park Lecture Series lecture Thursday to more than 400 people in Carroll Hall. His speech centered on what he believes is right and wrong with American politics.
Brooks said he thinks conservatives need to focus on universally moral values of fairness and defending the impoverished — instead of dwelling on materialistic values that only appeal to a fraction of the population.
“Conservatives, quite frankly, are losing the battle of moral arithmetic,” he said.
“Contending for Americans’ votes on the basis of lifting up the poor is the best thing that we could possibly do.”
Brooks said welfare strategies should consist of agendas that focus on a long-term commitment to the poor.
“Politicians are going to need to stand up for people who are struggling and say, ‘I’m going to fight for you and your family whether you vote for me or not’, and actually mean it,” he said.
Brooks said since 1970, there has been a decline of 80 percent in the percentage of the world population living in the worst poverty — and he attributed this change to the principles of free enterprise.
“It’s the American free enterprise system that has been spread around the world starting in 1970 that has literally pulled billions of people out of poverty for the first time in the history of the world,” he said.
