Realizing that human institutions are made up of frail people is part of growing up; to be humble before the self-knowledge of our own defects. Only the stupid believe they can bestride the world like conquering colossi. But God knows … Continue reading →
We’ve already talked an awful lot here about the phenomenon of the NeverTrumpers on the right. Even so, this piece on the subject is well worth reading: Before President Trump’s explosive entrance onto the political scene, mainstream conservatism was somewhat … Continue reading →
In the George Packer article I wrote about on Saturday, he sharply criticized “meritocracy.” We hear quite a bit of that sort of thing these days. First, let’s define the word: Meritocracy…is a political system in which economic goods and/or … Continue reading →
In 1619, slavery was ubiquitous throughout the world. There was nothing surprising or unusual about it being brought to the Americas. Slavery has nothing to do with American exceptionalism or American aspirations or values, unlike the claims of the 1619 … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Part I can be found here.] By now you may have heard of Richard Carranza, the current chancellor of the New York City public school system. He was appointed by NYC mayor de Blasio, and he’s made quite a … Continue reading →
The College Board, which has been devising and administering the test known as the SATs, has announced the latest tweak they’ve devised to try to even the playing field: The College Board, which oversees the SAT exam used by most … Continue reading →
Not that we needed a reminder. But she certainly provides it. Here’s the text of an open letter from the New York state budget director Robert Mujica concerning the recent decision by Amazon not to follow through on a planned … Continue reading →
In Europe there’s a trend to criticize or even in some cases do away with the field of gender studies. Naturally, this makes the gender studies professors very very nervous: The attacks take many different forms, including blacklists and harassment … Continue reading →
Milton Friedman’s answer to the question, circa 1972: I think it’s in their own self-interest, in a double way. First, in a collectivist society, intellectuals have more power than they do in a free enterprise system. In the 1930s, the … Continue reading →
The United States is one of the strongest bastions of free speech in the world, and perhaps one of the last. Even Europe doesn’t have anything like our protections for free speech, nor does Canada. Both have hate speech laws, … Continue reading →
There’s been a lot of delighted buzz on the right about a new video of Jordan Peterson being interviewed by a British journalist named Cathy Newman. The gist of that buzz is that he demolished her in spectacular fashion—in the … Continue reading →
I saw this at Ace’s a long time ago: I admire just about everything Thomas Sowell has ever written, and when first saw this I thought “Bingo, touche!” But then I started thinking about it and realized it’s not as … Continue reading →