Intelligent commentary on matters of importance.
Victor Davis Hanson: The War between Experience and Credentials
One of the most depressing aspects of the coronavirus epidemic has been the failure of the credentialed class — the alphabetic transnational and federal health organizations, the university modelers, the professional associations, and their media enablers. Their collective lapse was largely due to hubris and the assumption that titles and credentials meant they had no need to accept input and criticism from those far more engaged in the physical world — they saw no need to say, “At this time, I confess we are as confused as you are.”
In sum, the ER doctors, the nurses, and the public in general all eagerly welcomed the research of the experts. But the reverse — in which experts would listen to those with firsthand experience — was not true. The asymmetrical result is that we all have paid a terrible price in misjudging the perfidy of China; the rot within the World Health Organization; the origins, transmission, infectiousness, and lethality of the virus; and the most effective, cost-to-benefit response to the epidemic in terms of saving lives lost to the infection versus the likely even more lives lost through the response.
Suzanne Venker: America is awash in overmothered men
Growing up fatherless, or with a father a son rarely sees due to divorce or workaholism, almost invariably stunts a boy's growth. The end result is almost always too much mother, which means boys will absorb too much femininity and none of the masculinity they need. Ergo, he will spend years trying to figure out what it means to be a man. It's a tough subject, and thus taboo. But at some point, we will have to answer why there are so few strong, grounded, purposeful men among us when they used to be a dime a dozen. Daniel Greenfield: 1-800-INFORM It’s not just New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Informing on your friends and neighbors is a nationwide trend where smartphone technology meets classic commissarism. Chula Vista, CA advertises that its official app can be used to report "groups not-adhering to the COVID-19 stay-at-home directive” in both English and Spanish. Santa Clara, CA has set up a public health referral email address at the DA’s office and is urging rats to call or email. In Hays County, TX, Judge Ruben Becerra was asked how he plans to keep "non essential customers out of Lowe's , Home Depot and other stores". He replied, "Call the police in the city the store is located. My order comes with a fine. Take pics. Get proof." Steven F. Haward: Earth Day at 50 The decline in most forms of pollution across the board are greater in magnitude than the more celebrated drop in the crime rate or the large reduction in welfare dependency from welfare reform in the 1990s. The congenital Malthusianism of environmentalists, however, prevents them from celebrating this progress or learning the lessons (chiefly economic growth and technological improvement more than lawsuits) that could inform the next generation of environmental policy. To the contrary, many environmentalists will fly into a rage when you point out the facts of this immense improvement, because belief in the end of the world is their chief source of happiness.