Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson More than sixty years ago, American philosopher James Burnham wrote his famous book, Suicide of the West. He predicted that “suicide is probably more frequent than murder as the end phase of a civilization.” In a recent column, Tony Morley laments that many in the West “engage in an unprecedented campaign of cultural self-flagellation and rejection of Western and Enlightenment values.” The critics come from within and from without. “Polarized critics from within perceive the downfall of the…

Kerby Anderson Perhaps you have seen that OpenAI is now offering a chatbot known as “Shepherd” that is a “Christ-like shepherd offering an empathetic ear and compassionate guidance.” In case you are wondering, the guidance comes from input provided by Reddit. In the past, I have reminded you of the phrase “garbage in, garbage out.” It is hard to take seriously an AI chatbot that learned about the world from Reddit. Alex McFarland has been a guest on my radio…

Kerby Anderson Every few months, another credible study is published that warns of the dangers of frequent use of marijuana. The most recent study came from researchers at the University of California, San Diego of 11,000 adolescents. They discovered that marijuana users experienced impaired brain development compared to non-users. This affected everything from verbal recall to working memory and spatial skills. As I have said in previous commentaries, we are seeing more and more states legalizing marijuana as we are…

Kerby Anderson Psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt has been researching the influences on teenagers and young adults. Several years ago, we interviewed him about his book, The Coddling of the American Mind. More recently, he has become known for his book, The Anxious Generation. He was recently asked on a podcast, “Who makes better parents? Left-Wingers or Right-Wingers?” At first, he pointed to data that showed a slight gap where conservatives are a little happier than liberals. He added that…

Kerby Anderson The Middle East is changing and so is the world. Israel’s war with Hamas is one reason, but a more significant reason is the Iran war. Victor Davis Hanson outlines “The Global Ripples from the Iran War.” Whether you agree with the current military action or not, you should acknowledge that the war is changing the world as we knew it. He persuasively argues that it has shattered old alliances, checked China and Russia, and realigned the geopolitical…

Penna Dexter It should not be a shock: New York’s mayor of just under six months — Zohran Mamdani — is looking for a financial bailout from the state. He claims — correctly — that his city has a “revenue” problem. He’ll have to compete for funds with the governor, who previously told political opponents to “jump on a bus and head down to Florida.” Governor Kathy Hochul is now begging the rich ones to come back and help out…

Kerby Anderson Two of the most famous dystopian novels are 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. In a recent YouTube video Diana Knox says, “Orwell got only half of it right. Huxley the other half.” Orwell’s book described “a world controlled by fear, surveillance, censorship, and formed conformity.” Huxley’s world did not have anyone watching you, but you still conform. She observes that “Orwell was afraid of what would be done to us. Huxley was…

Kerby Anderson Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been talking about a financial realignment of the global financial system, which he calls Bretton Woods 2.0, but should probably be described as Bretton Woods 3.0. Here are the three eras of the U.S. economy. Bretton Woods is the agreement established in 1944. The U.S. dollar became the reserve currency, and the agreement also created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The dollar was pegged to gold, and every other currency…

Kerby Anderson Former congressman Jason Chaffetz remembers the first time his local grocery store asked him to join their loyalty program. He and his wife declined because they didn’t want to give out their information. Slowly, over time, the benefits seemed to outweigh the nebulous risks. Soon they were also getting coupons and even noticed their savings listed at the bottom of their receipt. In his latest book, he calls this the privacy trade off. You can probably relate. Every…

Kerby Anderson You have probably heard the phrase, “the government giveth and the government taketh away.” That is an apt description of taxes and tariffs in 2026. Many Americans have been pleasantly surprised by the tax refunds they have received this year because of the tax cuts inserted into the One Big Beautiful Bill. No taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security provided many Americans with a significant check from the IRS. Unfortunately, while the government was putting money back…

Kerby Anderson A recent report from the Justice Department documents the previous administration’s weaponization of the FACE Act against pro-life individuals and organizations. FACE stands for Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances and applies to both pro-abortion and pro-choice facilities. Jeremy Dys (First Liberty Institute) explains that after the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson, “angry mobs took out their frustration on pro-life America” with spray paint threats of violence and with vandals “throwing Molotov cocktails at…