Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Election night on November 3 could be much more confusing than any election in modern times. We usually expect to know who our next president will be before we head to bed. One major exception was the 2000 election night that ended with questions about Florida ballots and hanging chads. The 2020 election night promises to be even more confusing because of mail-in ballots. If the presidential election is close, we won’t know for some time who will…

Penna Dexter The vast California State University system announced last month that anyone receiving a degree from one of its schools must complete coursework in ethnic and social justice studies. These courses, like English and science, are now required for a bachelor’s degree. This requirement simply makes official the political indoctrination of students that’s taken place, and is growing, at universities across the country. Students are taught that America is systemically racist and that the drivers of prosperity and the…

Kerby Anderson Broken windows and destroyed buildings in cities like Minneapolis, Seattle, and Portland provide a test of the “broken windows” economic theory. Dr. Merrill Matthews writes about this because some economists failed to learn the lesson from the French economist Frédéric Bastiat. I have written about this in the past, but here is a quick summary. Bastiat told the story of a shopkeeper with a broken window who must pay the glazier six francs. This seems like good news…

Kerby Anderson Let me start with an important question. Should teachers be considered essential workers? Over the last few months we have designated police officers and firefighters along with doctors, nurses, and health care professionals as essential workers. We even designated grocery workers, delivery drivers, food processors, and truck drivers as essential. These people (and many more we could list) went to their jobs every day. Some complained, but most considered the potential risks and did what they could to…

Kerby Anderson At just about every protest rally across America, you will hear the words: “Hands up, don’t shoot!” These words were supposed to be the words shouted by Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri before he was killed by police officer Darren Wilson. Talk show host Larry Elder calls it “The Ferguson Lie” on a PragerU video and spends more than five minutes explaining why it is a lie. Author and columnist Michael Brown refers to it as, “The Ferguson…

Kerby Anderson Adam Mill argues that “If Social Media Wants to Play Doctor, They Should Prepare to be Sued for Malpractice.” He has a point. It involves the frequent debate about the effectiveness of using hydroxychloroquine. Its use got political once the president talked about it during one of the coronavirus task force briefings. Doctors and researchers can debate how safe and effective it might be, and we can leave that debate to another conversation. The real question is why…

Kerby Anderson It appears that most school districts are headed for another round of online learning. Professor Mark Bauerlein (author of the book, The Dumbest Generation) identifies many problems with online learning and provides some suggestions for parents. The major problem with online learning is that it occurs on a tool that students already use “to play video games, share photos, watch shows, check Instagram, send messages, order food, get directions, and tweet.” It isn’t easy for even the most…

Penna Dexter According to The Wall Street Journal, “There are nearly 60 million prekindergarten, elementary, middle and high school students in the U.S., and with online learning a poor substitute for actual time in school, many of their educations risk being diminished.” Many parents are determined not to let that happen. But, in single-parent households and homes where both parents work, it’s not going to be easy. Three economists from Northwestern University surveyed working parents in May and June and…

Kerby Anderson On the campaign trail and in university classrooms, capitalism and the free market are under attack. Defenders of a free market system make a convincing case for the economic benefits of capitalism. Adam Smith, for example, emphasized its efficiency but said little about its morality. That is a bit strange given that he was a professor of moral philosophy. When defenders of capitalism ignore the moral issue, it allows socialists (like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) to criticize…

Kerby Anderson How many nonprofits will shut their doors because of the pandemic? That is a question some researchers tried to answer by looking at various financial scenarios. They tried to analyze the financial future of the 315,698 US-based nonprofits by considering 20 different scenarios. As a baseline, they concluded that about four percent would close even in the absence of a COVID-19 crisis. Some degree of turnover is likely for a variety of reasons. Then they concluded that using…

Kerby Anderson It appears that mathematics and grammar are now also examples of racism and western imperialism. At least that is what we are hearing on a number of college campuses. Nancy Pearcey writes about one teacher who argues that the “idea of 2 + 2 equaling 4 is cultural” and a product of “western imperialism/colonialism.” Apparently, even mathematics is to be reshaped by critical theory. Lest you think this is the only example, she provides many others. A professor…