Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson A new book by David Zweig, An Abundance of Caution, confirms what many of us knew as we tried to navigate the government mandates during the pandemic and lockdowns. Some have referred to him as a “data-minded journalist, author, and cultural commentator” who isn’t all that political but has been challenging the authoritarian restrictions we all tried to endure five years ago. The 464-page,‎ 1.6-pound book may be more than you would want to read, so you might want…

Kerby Anderson Rare earth minerals are essential to modern life. They are used in everything from electric vehicles to jet engines to medical equipment to the smart phone you are holding. Despite their name, rare earth minerals are not that rare. In fact, the U.S. has quite a supply of them underground. But the raw minerals need to go through a refining process before they can be used as industrial-grade materials. A few decades ago, the U.S. processed a third…

Kerby Anderson The Trump administration froze federal grants to Harvard University and set in motion a debate about what the president can do when universities defy an executive order and a Supreme Court decision. This confrontation first began when the Trump administration threatened to pull federal funding from Columbia University because administrators did little to stop antisemitism on campus. When the Trump administration tried the same tactic with Harvard, the university did not comply. The Harvard president declared that “no…

Penna Dexter Often, successful people build lives, livelihoods, and reputations in one place with the goal in mind to retire somewhere else. They dream of living out their later years playing golf in Florida or enjoying a quiet life in a mountain community or a small town. Why not stick around in the place where you know people, carry weight and have influence? Where you started and grew a business? Where you have the gravitas to pass along your wisdom,…

Kerby Anderson In a recent essay, Frederick Hess laments that “Professors Have Drifted Away from the Classroom.” I would argue that drift happened long ago, but I will agree that the problem of professor absence has grown worse. Hess does acknowledge that the problem isn’t new. “I still recall walking across campus during the summer as a doctoral student at Harvard three decades ago. I was making small talk with a senior professor when he looked around the sparsely populated…

Kerby Anderson Sixteen years ago, I wrote the book, Making the Most of Your Money in Tough Times. I tried to cover all the important issues connected with money, including a chapter on materialism and consumerism. But it didn’t occur to me to write about the group of Americans now referred to as the HENRYs. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, many Americans qualify as HENRY, which stands for high earner, not rich yet. These are people…

Kerby Anderson The Chinese Communist Party has been cheating international trade, and many are happy Trump’s tariffs are giving China what it deserves. Katie Pavlich documents the “more than two decades of lying, stealing and wildly nefarious trade practices.” Many (even in the former Clinton administration) admit they made a mistake letting China into the World Trade Organization. The communist leaders came in with ambitions of global dominance and used the special rules and treatment to operate inside the United…

Kerby Anderson When I first heard about the survey, I doubted its credibility. That’s what most people might conclude when they hear that half of left-leaning Americans say that assassinating Donald Trump would be justified. It turns out the survey was conducted by NCRI and Rutgers University Social Perception Lab. It had the chilling title “Assassination Culture: How Burning Teslas and Killing Billionaires Became a Meme Aesthetic for Political Violence.” The data included in the report is based on responses…

Kerby Anderson While there is a pause in tariffs (at least for most countries), I thought it might be worth putting some facts on the table. Different groups may disagree about the value and impact of tariffs, but at least we might agree about some basic facts. First, let’s look at our domestic market. Americans only make up about 4 percent of the world’s population. That means that 96 percent of our potential customers live outside of the U.S. Notice…

Penna Dexter The U.S., like most first world countries, needs more babies. Wife, mom, and writer, Peachy Keenan (not her real name) addresses the population crisis in her book, Domestic Extremist: A Practical Guide to Winning the Culture War. She told her audience at the 2025 Natalism Conference that the best and easiest way to raise birthrates is to “make motherhood great again.” But first, we must make marriage great again. Peachy says it’s best for babies if they are…

Kerby Anderson Joy Pullman is the executive editor of The Federalist. In a recent speech, she reminded her audience that even though economic issues are important, we should not neglect the social and cultural issues of our nation. She admitted, “I love low taxes and regulation as much as the next Milton Friedman fan, but I also know a great culture and nation is not built or sustained simply on low marginal tax rates.” We need to also focus on…