"There is a major cultural schism developing in America. But it's not over abortion, same-sex marriage or home schooling, as important as these issues are. The new divide centers on free enterprise--the principle at the core of American culture."-- Arthur Brooks, Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2009

Nowhere is this schism more visible than within American evangelicalism, especially among the rising generation of twenty-somethings and college students commonly referred to as "Millenials." Left-leaning evangelical activists such as Jim Wallis and Tony Campolo criticize the capitalist system and argue that in a nation as wealthy as America the government can and should take care of the poor. These arguments resound with Millenials--whose values reflect as much care for child soldiers in Uganda as for unborn infants in their own hometowns.

What is missing from this discussion is a thoughtful consideration of whether the criticisms of free markets are actually valid. Is it possible that market-based solutions are the key to ending poverty, providing health care and education, and raising the standard of living for all? At this event, Jay W. Richards, author of Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution and Not the Problem (HarperOne, 2009) will lead a discussion of the way in which the free enterprise system can be used to meet the biblical mandates to alleviate poverty, care for the sick, and steward our environmental resources. This is the second event of a new initiative of the American Enterprise Institute to engage young people in a conversation about the relationship between the free enterprise system and values.