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Blog 3 Columns

  • The Real Problem with Today’s Discourse

    The Real Problem with Today’s Discourse0

    Ask a dozen people and you will probably get a dozen different answers for what is wrong with public discourse in America today. It’s the Republicans. It’s the Democrats. It’s the Russians, the Social Justice Warriors, the Millennials, the Baby Boomers, social media, lack of education, lack of opportunity, the list goes on. Whatever the

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  • In Germany, the State Can Seize Your Dog if You’re Late on Taxes

    In Germany, the State Can Seize Your Dog if You’re Late on Taxes0

    Bloomberg recently ran an article detailing how difficult high-tax states in the US can make it on wealthier individuals trying to leave. The idea of the state using teams of investigators to determine if one passes the “Teddy Bear Test” is likely to strike many Americans as creepy and slightly authoritarian. The Germans, however, show

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  • How Toxic Masculinity Permeates the Intellectual Takeout Office

    How Toxic Masculinity Permeates the Intellectual Takeout Office0

    When the #MeToo movement was at its height some months ago, I threw my shoulders back, took a deep breath, and let loose with my own story of the “toxic masculinity” I have experienced while working as the sole female in an entirely male office.   Time has passed, and instead of seeing the toxic

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  • Are We All ‘Cat Persons’ Now? How Modern Dating Destroys Intimacy

    Are We All ‘Cat Persons’ Now? How Modern Dating Destroys Intimacy0

    In our previous Public Discourse essay on the #MeToo movement and hookup culture, we argued that careful attention to human experience can teach us important and surprising things about the meaning of sex. The same can be said for popular culture. It often tells the truth about sex, in spite of itself. Kristen Roupenian’s short story “Cat

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  • What an Old Sears Roebuck Catalogue Teaches Us About Gun Control

    What an Old Sears Roebuck Catalogue Teaches Us About Gun Control1

    As I write these words, a reproduction of the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue, published in 1968 by Chelsea House, sits at my elbow. The fat catalog is a casual reader’s delight and a historian’s treasure trove. Here are medicines like laudanum, herb tea, and castor oil. Here are tools, bobsleds, gasoline stoves, windmills, bicycles, clothing

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  • Sorry, Marie Kondo. Most People Have Too Little Stuff.

    Sorry, Marie Kondo. Most People Have Too Little Stuff.0

    Marie Kondo’s Netflix show “Tidying Up” is a hit. Apparently, Americans love watching other people throw stuff into trash bags – saying “thank you” to each item first, per the KonMari method. In each episode, Kondo cheerfully sweeps into a new family’s home like a Japanese Mary Poppins and teaches them how to declutter their

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  • Quiz: How Strong is Your Thriftiness Quotient?

    Quiz: How Strong is Your Thriftiness Quotient?0

    Ben Franklin knew a lot about—preached and practiced —  thrift. So how do you go about measuring thrift or any individual‘s thriftiness quotient? I get asked this question all the time, so I devised this handy Thrift Meter. Try it and pass it along. Is there an Index or some gauge that can give you a reliable account

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  • Minimum Wage Hike to $15 Wipes Out Jobs in Illinois and New York

    Minimum Wage Hike to $15 Wipes Out Jobs in Illinois and New York0

    Big minimum wage hikes wipe out a lot of jobs. Illinois recently enacted a $15 minimum wage, a large increase in the minimum wage that will be phased in over several years. And businesses are already announcing plans to close up, move out of the state, or curb their expansion in the state. The Daily Gazette

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  • Arresting Homebirth Midwives Just Reduces Women’s Birth Choices

    Arresting Homebirth Midwives Just Reduces Women’s Birth Choices0

    After being arrested and charged with practicing midwifery without a license last fall, a midwife in upstate New York is wondering whether or not she will go to jail for the work she has done for decades. Elizabeth Catlin is a beloved certified professional midwife (CPM) who has caught hundreds of babies in the tight-knit

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