In 2015, blogger Amanda Russo posted a humorous piece “Why Halloween Is Actually A Pretty Weird Holiday.” As Russo says, on Halloween we encourage our kids to take candy from strangers. We threaten our neighbors with “Trick or Treat.” We spend a chunk of change buying and giving away sugary treats, often to people we
READ MOREAmericans tend to see Sweden as a democratic socialist utopia, although the nation changed course decisively two decades ago. A White House report, “The Opportunity Costs of Socialism,” debunked the notion of enduring Nordic socialism, and now PBS has aired a documentary produced by a Swedish free-market leader intended to dispel popular American falsehoods about
READ MOREIt is with a heavy heart that we mourn the passing of a revolutionary educator, John Taylor Gatto. Gatto spent nearly 30 years as a teacher in the infamously rough New York City public school system. He was awarded New York City Teacher of the Year three consecutive years while also being recognized as New
READ MOREOne vexing current problem centers on who becomes the citizen of a given country, since citizenship confers voting rights. The Anglo-American model, in which every baby born in the country’s land area automatically becomes a citizen, clearly invites welfare immigration by expectant parents. In the U.S., for example, a current problem is illegal immigrants whose
READ MOREI don’t make my kids share their toys. I arrived at this decision after careful consideration. Unfortunately, that decision isn’t an easy one to discuss with other parents, mostly because it appears that my stance endorses selfishness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Like many other parents, I think it’s very important to teach
READ MORELove, affirmation, and acceptance seem to be the name of the game these days, especially when it comes to anything concerning gender identity. Such a view is taking hold not only in the political world, but in the scientific and research world as well. This fact is underscored by a recent policy statement from the
READ MOREContinuing the trend of social media purging, Twitter has banned “hundreds of right-wing accounts for posing as soulless, ‘nonplayable’ liberal activists”—otherwise known as NPC accounts. Twitter claimed these accounts violated their rules of “intentionally misleading election-related content.” The term non-player character (NPC) comes from the world of video games. An NPC is a character not controlled by
READ MOREMarriage is in decline. This fact is by now so familiar to conservatives that they may be tempted to gloss over an interesting shift in the manner of marriage’s decline. Thirty years ago, Americans were getting married but not staying that way. Today divorce rates are down but wedding bells are also in less demand. Growing numbers of
READ MOREIn Wind Sprints: Shorter Essays, Joseph Epstein, one of America’s great essayists, includes a piece “How I Learned to Love the Draft” in which he offered his reasons for the restoration of compulsory military service. After reading Epstein’s reasons for bringing back the draft—the exposure of young people to contemporaries from all backgrounds, a greater
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