Category: Public Policy
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Legacy admissions are affirmative action for the rich and we keep pretending otherwise
Legacy admissions give a measurable advantage to children of alumni at elite colleges. The defense is increasingly hard to take seriously after recent court rulings.
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Wealth taxes don’t work and the data is clear
Wealth taxes sound elegant but have been repeatedly tried and repeatedly abandoned. The track record across Europe is unflattering and worth taking seriously.
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Government Response Isn’t Always Reliable
Public agencies do critical work, but assuming they will catch every threat in time is a bad bet. Personal preparedness fills gaps the system cannot close.
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One-size-fits-all safety solutions don’t work
From workplace rules to playground design to public health mandates, blanket safety policies often miss the actual risks people face. The fix is less neat than the rule.
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Domestic violence restraining orders are too hard to get and victims pay the price
Restraining order systems were designed for a different era and routinely fail people in active danger. The procedural friction is itself a form of harm.
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Flood insurance through FEMA subsidizes building where nobody should build
The National Flood Insurance Program subsidizes construction in places that flood repeatedly. The result is a policy that worsens the risk it was created to manage.
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No-fault divorce was the single greatest legal advance for women in the 20th century
No-fault divorce, often understated in feminist histories, dramatically reduced female suicide and domestic homicide. The data makes the case the law itself rarely does.
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Affirmative action ending will hurt students it was supposed to help
The Supreme Court ended race-conscious admissions in 2023. Early data on enrollment shifts suggests the costs land hardest on the students the policy aimed to help.
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The street homelessness crisis is a mental health policy failure we keep dodging
Visible street homelessness is mostly a mental illness and addiction crisis layered on a housing crisis. Policy keeps treating one and pretending the other will resolve itself.
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Mental health parity laws were never enforced
Federal law requires insurers to cover mental health like physical health. The enforcement reality has been so weak it’s effectively a dead letter.