In the midst of the government shutdown, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were at risk of being paused. This brought up a decades-old debate about SNAP as a whole. Many Democrats rushed to the defense of SNAP recipients, asserting that SNAP is necessary for many working families and that cutting off these benefits would […]
You Should’ve Seen This Coming
“I Should’ve Seen This Coming” reads the title of a recent article in The Atlantic, one of many attempts to rationalize and mitigate the failure of moderates and progressives to predict what they see as the Trump administration’s unforeseeable chaos. From the very moment of Trump’s electoral victory, countless such titles — Harris-voter apologia, if […]
When Words Have No Meaning
“War is peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength.” With this oxymoronic yet powerful slogan, Ingsoc in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four demonstrates its omnipotent capability of thought manipulation by which the meaning of words follows nothing but its will. Thankfully, people today are not forced to accept contradictions embodied by one Party but can choose […]
Is Trump Right About Global Security?
With China on the rise and Russia on the march, prioritizing defense is more essential now than it’s been in decades. Trump says he believes in “peace through strength,” adopting Reagan’s slogan. On the surface, this should be a solid strategy — preparing for war deters our enemies from starting them, and helps us win […]
Remembering Trayvon Martin
I began writing this on February 26, the thirteenth anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s death. Years have passed and the same question remains: freedom to, or freedom from? Said juxtaposition frames the entire relationship society had with the murder of Travyon Martin — although I know the jury didn’t view it that way. Did Travyon Martin […]
How Old is Too Old?
Benjamin Franklin’s saying, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes,” underscores the inevitability of aging and mortality — topics many prefer to avoid. Despite a reluctance to discuss aging, cognitive decline, and mortality, age became a highly contentious issue in the 2024 presidential election. When Joe Biden was still in the race at 81 years […]
Our Enemies Are Weaker Than We Thought
We’ve reached the three-year mark of Putin’s three-day lightning strike to seize Ukraine. Evidently, Russia is hardly the superpower that we thought it was. What’s more interesting is that it’s not just Russia: over the past few years, a number of anti-democratic regimes have revealed that the West overestimated their strength. It’s worth understanding why […]
The Center Holds by a Thread in Germany
After three and a half years of economic stagnation, rising prices, and political infighting, outgoing Chancellor Olaf Sholz’s tenure atop the German government ended with a whimper. Leaving office with a 20% approval rating, Sholz presided over the worst electoral result in his party’s history, as the Social Democrats (SPD) cratered to just 16% of […]
Searching for Order and the Afikomen
In a few weeks, Jews around the world will sit down at elaborately decorated dinner tables, muster smiles as they chew herbs dipped in bitter saltwater and hard-boiled eggs, and stumble along through the Haggadah. The Jewish holiday of Pesach, or Passover, is a yearly reminder of the limited range of Jewish cooking, but also […]
Quashing Quakers in Massachusetts Bay
Mary Dyer had already been twice banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but she had no intention of leaving lost souls behind. Three times she returned to preach a gospel of the Inner Light, a theological claim characteristic of the Quakers which teaches that people have individual access to God and thus no need for […]