In 2000, columnist David Brooks wrote Bobos in Paradise, hailing the dawn of a new phase in America’s longstanding story of meritocracy. The “bobos” were a peculiar breed — part bohemian, part bourgeoisie — blurring class divides in a way that would introduce a new form of enlightened, activist citizenship in a country with an otherwise ambivalent middle class. Continue Reading...
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August 25, 2021
Chinese Communist Party announces plans to increase film censorship in Hong Kong
Hong Kong officials announced Aug. 24 plans to amend a film censorship law to forbid screenings of films that qualify as a violation of national security.
The proposed amendments are the latest crackdown in the Chinese Communist Party’s, or CCP’s, quest for absolute control, under the National Security Law, or NSL. Continue Reading...
August 25, 2021
Finding meaning in the menial
In the opening pages of Roald Dahl’s acclaimed children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we meet the Bucket family, which includes young Charlie, his parents, and his four grandparents. Continue Reading...
August 24, 2021
An approach to land conservation conservatives should get behind
Some sects of environmentalists are well known for disrupting and interrupting land transactions for the cause of conservation, using whatever legal and regulatory means necessary to control, coerce, or prevent concerted human development. Continue Reading...
August 24, 2021
Jimmy Lai: Mogul, pro-democracy activist, and Communist China’s biggest target in fight to suppress free speech
Lai Chee-Ying, also known as “Jimmy Lai,” is a successful Hong Kong entrepreneur, media mogul, and democratic activist who fled, young and penniless, to Hong Kong from mainland China. Lai eventually founded Apple Daily, one of the most well-read newspapers in Hong Kong. Continue Reading...
August 23, 2021
Strong families are good for the economy – and vice versa
Families and free market economies: On the surface, they seem unrelated. We associate family with game nights, holiday traditions, and cute baby photos, while the economy is associated with the stock market, cold-hearted businessmen, and bloated corporations. Continue Reading...
August 21, 2021
Afghanistan I fought for lacks foundation for freedom
I deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. Eleven years later, I watched the Taliban devastate all the progress we fought for.
Afghanistan’s chaos and the Taliban’s return to power is heartbreaking and maddening. Continue Reading...
August 20, 2021
Welcoming the stranger: The dignity and promise of Afghan refugees
The Taliban has rapidly retaken Afghanistan, just weeks before the final withdrawal of U.S. troops. With the country bracing for another wave of oppression, thousands of Afghans have fled to the airport in Kabul, hoping to escape the return of sectarian violence and tyrannical rule. Continue Reading...
August 20, 2021
Hong Kong activists accuse Jimmy Lai of pushing sanctions against China as part of plea deal with Chinese Communist Party
Two convicted Hong Kong activists Aug. 20 pinned jailed media tycoon Jimmy and his former top aide Mark Simon as the “masterminds” in a push for foreign countries to sanction China. Continue Reading...
August 19, 2021
Hong Kong group behind large pro-democracy protests disbands
The Civil Human Rights Front, or CHRF, a prominent civil rights group that has commonly supported and organized some of Hong Kong’s most notable pro-democracy protests, has disbanded under increasing restrictions in Hong Kong’s wide-sweeping National Security Law, or NSL. Continue Reading...