From The Chronicle, how can we work ourselves into such a politically correct dither over Don Imus's language, while still equivocating about gun control after Virginia Tech? Where are our priorities? asks Russell Jacoby. From TNR, Princeton's Christine Stansell on a lost history of abortion; and where are the liberal visionaries on the Supreme Court? Cass R. Sunstein on the Supreme Court's most innovative justice (it's not who you think). More polarizing than Rehnquist: Chief Justice John Roberts won Senate confirmation by vowing to shun ideological activism. Instead, by trashing judicial precedent and legislative statutes, he's reshaping law to fit conservative dogma.
From The New Yorker, social and cultural psychologist Jonathan Haidt talks with Henry Finder about the five foundations of morality, and why liberals often fail to get their message across; and atheists with attitude: Why do they hate Him? More and more on God Is Not Great. Manufacturing belief: An interview with Lewis Wolpert, author of Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast. The Bitterness of Regis Debray: A review of Praised be the Lords. With Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI fights back against the dictatorship of relativism, and an excerpt on The Meaning of Baptism.
From Dissent, is it possible to oppose the death penalty and still be in favor of killing tyrants? Michael Walzer wants to know; Nelson Lichtenstein on Labor and the new Congress: A strategy for winning; and an essay on the state of the unions two years after the AFL-CIO split. Should corporations be democracies? Absolutely not, says Peter Wallison. But maybe union pension plans should be. From In These Times, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers turns corporate social responsibility from oxymoron into reality.
From Business Week, an article on The Poverty Business: Inside U.S. companies' audacious drive to extract more profits from the nation's working poor; researchers are digging deeper to learn more about the high cost of being poor, and its impact on the overall economy; scholars are taking a fresh look at the financial problems of the working poor, and have some new suggestions on how to address them; and study now—and pay and pay and pay later. A review of Blame Welfare, Ignore Poverty and Inequality. An interview with Benjamin Barber on the dumbing-down of adults, faux needs, and saving capitalism.
Economist Laurence J. Kotlikoff suggests that retirees should delay collecting Social Security benefits to maximize their returns. The "Usefully Dangerous" Economist: Mark Levinson on the story of two economists—John Kenneth Galbraith and Paul Krugman. Ben Stein on assorted mysteries of economic life. For better or worth: When it comes to pricing, we might learn from Coca-Cola and Amazon. A review of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. A review of Tulipmania: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age by Anne Goldgar. When Gambling is Good: These markets often predict more accurately than experts. Why? They draw on the knowledge of people who might otherwise be ignored.
From Transit, in a survey of the history of American immigration, Charles Hirschman points out that almost all popular fears about immigration and even the negative judgments of "experts" have been proven false by history. A review of Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate. And Welcome to Start From Scratch, U.S.A.: A town is more than the sum of its cinema and soda fountain. After a disaster, where to begin anew?
