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There's fragile balance between compassion, civilization

National Columnists

What is unfolding across parts of Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom under Keir Starmer, should serve as a warning to every Western democracy wrestling with questions of immigration, national identity, social cohesion and the limits of political tolerance. A nation can be compassionate without becoming careless. It can welcome newcomers while still expecting assimilation, civic responsibility and respect for the laws and traditions that hold a society together. But when governments become so consumed with appearing morally virtuous that they neglect order, border ...

What's so bad about stable population?

National Columnists

Back in 1969, President Richard Nixon warned Congress against the rapid growth of the American population: "When future generations evaluate the record of our time, one of the most important factors in their judgment will be the way in which we responded to population growth." If the American headcount continued rising at the current rate, Nixon said, the nation's "social supplies – the capacity to educate youth, to provide privacy and living space, to maintain the processes of open, democratic government -- may be grievously strained." Since 1969, America's population has ...

Loss of a giant

National Columnists

Hundreds packed a New York synagogue last week to mourn the death of longtime Anti-Defamation League head Abraham Foxman, but also to celebrate his life. A child of the Holocaust, miraculously hidden from the Nazis by his Catholic nanny, only to be equally miraculously reunited with his parents after the Nazis were defeated, Abe Foxman emigrated to America and became a civil rights lawyer. For decades, he was both the face and the embodiment of the fights against anti-Semitism, making the ADL as well a powerful advocate for civil rights broadly. Whoever coined the ...

Americans love their cars, their road trips

National Columnists

Since the first American road, the Lincoln Highway, opened in 1913, Americans have found that their relationship with their nation and the roads that connect us north, south, east and west is almost patriotic in concept. Whether you are on the road for hours or days, whether you stay in your home state or visit multiple others, there is a breadth of history, scenery and experiences that connect all of us, whether we stay ensconced with our families in our cars or stay in campgrounds with a community fire ring, or at a motor lodge, or if you just take a day trip to the local ...

Lesson in economics for AOC

National Columnists

I am not an economist, but I do have some personal experience with the principles of economics and the rules that allow especially Americans to prosper while becoming more self-reliant and less dependent on government. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), aka AOC, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, graduated from Boston University cum laude, and then returned to the Bronx and worked as a bartender and waitress to help her mother fight foreclosure of their home. Nothing wrong with that, but her life experience apparently has taught her little. In some recent comments she ...

What every graduate should aim for

National Columnists

Many of today's graduates are about to make the same mistake Matthew Emmons made during the 2004 Olympics. It's commencement season for high school and college seniors. The future may be unknown, but graduates know what they want in their future -- money. A 2025 poll by Harvard Political Review asked young Americans to identify their important goals. More than 86% chose financial security. Around three in four selected owning a home, a tangible sign of financial well-being. Just 57% thought getting married was an essential pursuit. That was just a hair ahead of accumulating ...