Some Coronavirus Humility

https://www.city-journal.org/coronavirus-pandemic-humility

Red New Deal

Fixed that for you. pic.twitter.com/1D4g9XEMMC

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 30, 2019

1. Good to see the Democrats are going with full-blown socialism. That'll definitely go over well for them in the crucial Midwest swing states. /s

2. Democrats alleged Trump has been in cahoots with Russia. Of course that turned out to be false. However, I wouldn't be surprised if communist China is truly funding our social progressives via various middlemen and avenues difficult to trace back to the CCP. At least that seems far more realistic than Putin and Trump.

3. Victor Davis Hanson has a good article: "Why are so many young people calling themselves socialists?".

How Many Genders Are There? (Or, Where is the Logical End of Postmodern Thought and What Do We Do About It?)

This Dude – and so far as I can tell, This Dude is neither the anonymous “CalvinDude” nor the writer of the “Epistle of Dude” – has mined the social media platform Tumblr for an answer to the question, “How Many Genders Are There In 2019?”.

The short answer is 112. Unless you are a regular old male or female, neither of which is listed. In that case, adding those in, there are 114.

But wait, there’s more!

The Modern University Is Failing Students in Every Respect

From Victor Davis Hanson:

Modern American universities used to assume four goals.

First, their general education core taught students how to reason inductively and imparted an aesthetic sense through acquiring knowledge of Michelangelo, the Battle of Gettysburg, "Medea" and "King Lear," Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," and astronomy and Euclidean geometry.

Second, campuses encouraged edgy speech and raucous expression — and exposure to all sorts of weird ideas and mostly unpopular thoughts. College talk was never envisioned as boring, politically correct megaphones echoing orthodox pieties.

Third, four years of college trained students for productive careers. Implicit was the university's assurance that its degree was a wise career investment.

Finally, universities were not monopolistic price gougers. They sought affordability to allow access to a broad middle class that had neither federal subsidies nor lots of money.

The American undergraduate university is now failing on all four counts.

Read the rest here.

America's coastal royalty

Victor Davis Hanson writes:

The densely populated coastal corridors from Boston to Washington and from San Diego to Berkeley are where most of America’s big decisions are made.

The rest is here.

Politics and the English language

"Obamacare-Speak" by Victor Davis Hanson.

A nation of promiscuous prudes

"Postmodern Prudes" by Victor Davis Hanson.

Affirmative action

"The End of an Idea: Why Affirmative Action Should Stop" by Victor Davis Hanson.