Author: Kerby Anderson

Kerby Anderson
Theft in stores and businesses has increased significantly. This includes everything from shoplifting to smash-and-grab to organized retail crime. The stores may initially pay the price, but they pass on the cost to us as customers in the form of higher prices to cover their losses. The local community also pays a price when stores close because of higher crime rates.
The CEO of Target Corp. has put a number on what is called “inventory shrinkage,” which is mostly theft from stores. Their cost this year was $500 million. When you lose a half billion dollars to theft, you must start making tough decisions. That is why Target (along with many other companies) have started closing stores in high-crime areas.
The Wall Street Journal editors make an important point. Leftists in some of these cities complain about the loss of these stores that create what is called a “commercial desert.” They blame the companies, when they should be complaining about the progressive policies of the politicians in these cities that have allowed crime to skyrocket. The editors remind us that “the first duty of government is to provide for public safety.”
And it is worth mentioning that these losses aren’t just from individual acts of shoplifting. Stores face a growing threat from organized retail crime. “Gangs plan their raids on retail stores, warehouses and trucks or rail hubs.” They aren’t stealing for personal consumption but to sell stolen goods for a profit over the Internet.
In this next election, voters must replace leftist district attorneys with candidates who will enforce the law. This runaway theft affects all of us and creates a culture of disorder and a culture of disdain for the law.

Kerby Anderson
Theft in stores and businesses has increased significantly. This includes everything from shoplifting to smash-and-grab to organized retail crime. The stores may initially pay the price, but they pass on the cost to us as customers in the form of higher prices to cover their losses. The local community also pays a price when stores close because of higher crime rates.
The CEO of Target Corp. has put a number on what is called “inventory shrinkage,” which is mostly theft from stores. Their cost this year was $500 million. When you lose a half billion dollars to theft, you must start making tough decisions. That is why Target (along with many other companies) have started closing stores in high-crime areas.
The Wall Street Journal editors make an important point. Leftists in some of these cities complain about the loss of these stores that create what is called a “commercial desert.” They blame the companies, when they should be complaining about the progressive policies of the politicians in these cities that have allowed crime to skyrocket. The editors remind us that “the first duty of government is to provide for public safety.”
And it is worth mentioning that these losses aren’t just from individual acts of shoplifting. Stores face a growing threat from organized retail crime. “Gangs plan their raids on retail stores, warehouses and trucks or rail hubs.” They aren’t stealing for personal consumption but to sell stolen goods for a profit over the Internet.
In this next election, voters must replace leftist district attorneys with candidates who will enforce the law. This runaway theft affects all of us and creates a culture of disorder and a culture of disdain for the law.

Kerby Anderson
Mark Lewis has a good question for anyone who seems unconcerned about the influx of millions of migrants who have arrived illegally. He asks, “What Are All These Illegals Going to Do?” He is talking about approximately 30 million who are here and will never be sent back to their country of origin.
Now that they are here, what will they do? He cites four possibilities. First, they can pick crops. Many are already doing that and have been doing that for years. They shouldn’t be here, but they are here now even though they may be taking jobs from other Americans.
Second, they could take other menial jobs, but those may not pay very well and so they may end up on welfare or homeless or even involved in crime. Most of the people here illegally don’t have too many skills or much education. Robots and automation are eliminating many of the jobs that used to exist for Americans or foreigners with few job skills.
The last two categories should disturb all of us. He acknowledges that “some illegals will sell drugs.” That shouldn’t be a surprise since some of the migrants crossing our border have connections to the drug cartels. Even if they don’t have those connections, the lure of quick profits from the drug trade will entice many into the drug trade.
Finally, he says the millions here illegally are a revolution waiting to happen. “The illegals are going to discover that Joe Biden’s America is not what it was advertised to be.  Most of them will exist in squalor and deep poverty, with no easy avenue of escape.”
This is an important question you should ask your family, friends, and coworkers. You should especially ask the candidates who will soon be asking for your vote and financial support. What are these illegals going to do? The few possible answers should concern all of us.

Kerby Anderson
Mark Lewis has a good question for anyone who seems unconcerned about the influx of millions of migrants who have arrived illegally. He asks, “What Are All These Illegals Going to Do?” He is talking about approximately 30 million who are here and will never be sent back to their country of origin.
Now that they are here, what will they do? He cites four possibilities. First, they can pick crops. Many are already doing that and have been doing that for years. They shouldn’t be here, but they are here now even though they may be taking jobs from other Americans.
Second, they could take other menial jobs, but those may not pay very well and so they may end up on welfare or homeless or even involved in crime. Most of the people here illegally don’t have too many skills or much education. Robots and automation are eliminating many of the jobs that used to exist for Americans or foreigners with few job skills.
The last two categories should disturb all of us. He acknowledges that “some illegals will sell drugs.” That shouldn’t be a surprise since some of the migrants crossing our border have connections to the drug cartels. Even if they don’t have those connections, the lure of quick profits from the drug trade will entice many into the drug trade.
Finally, he says the millions here illegally are a revolution waiting to happen. “The illegals are going to discover that Joe Biden’s America is not what it was advertised to be.  Most of them will exist in squalor and deep poverty, with no easy avenue of escape.”
This is an important question you should ask your family, friends, and coworkers. You should especially ask the candidates who will soon be asking for your vote and financial support. What are these illegals going to do? The few possible answers should concern all of us.

Kerby Anderson
Depression is the US has reached record levels. According to the latest Gallup poll, “The percentage of US adults who report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime has reached 29%, nearly 10 percentage points higher than in 2015.” This is a troubling statistic, especially at a time when the country is enjoying a level of prosperity.
Treatment for depression has also increased. “The percentage of Americans who currently have or are being treated for depression has also increased, to 17.8%, up about seven points over the same period.”
Those who were polled were asked, “Has a doctor or nurse ever told you that you have depression?” and “Do you currently have or are you currently being treated for depression?” The answers to both of those questions became part of the ongoing Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index.
It is also disturbing to discover which demographic groups showed the greatest increase in depression. More than one-third of women (36.7%) report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime. Women (23.8%) and adults aged 18 to 29 (24.6%) also have the highest rates of current depression or treatment for depression.
Lifetime depression rates are also climbing among Black and Hispanic adults. In fact, these rates have now surpassed those of White respondents. In the past, White adults usually had marginally higher rates of both lifetime and current depression.
The reasons for rising depression are many: social isolation, loneliness, and substance abuse. Christians might add loss of meaning and rejection of the supernatural as other key factors. That is why I recommend that pastors and Bible teachers address the issue of depression and explain the medical, social, and spiritual factors to their congregation. This is an important issue the church cannot ignore.

Kerby Anderson
Depression is the US has reached record levels. According to the latest Gallup poll, “The percentage of US adults who report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime has reached 29%, nearly 10 percentage points higher than in 2015.” This is a troubling statistic, especially at a time when the country is enjoying a level of prosperity.
Treatment for depression has also increased. “The percentage of Americans who currently have or are being treated for depression has also increased, to 17.8%, up about seven points over the same period.”
Those who were polled were asked, “Has a doctor or nurse ever told you that you have depression?” and “Do you currently have or are you currently being treated for depression?” The answers to both of those questions became part of the ongoing Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index.
It is also disturbing to discover which demographic groups showed the greatest increase in depression. More than one-third of women (36.7%) report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime. Women (23.8%) and adults aged 18 to 29 (24.6%) also have the highest rates of current depression or treatment for depression.
Lifetime depression rates are also climbing among Black and Hispanic adults. In fact, these rates have now surpassed those of White respondents. In the past, White adults usually had marginally higher rates of both lifetime and current depression.
The reasons for rising depression are many: social isolation, loneliness, and substance abuse. Christians might add loss of meaning and rejection of the supernatural as other key factors. That is why I recommend that pastors and Bible teachers address the issue of depression and explain the medical, social, and spiritual factors to their congregation. This is an important issue the church cannot ignore.

Kerby Anderson
Today is Memorial Day. For many Americans, it is merely a day off. For others, it marks the start of summer. But hopefully for many of you, it is a day to honor those who fought for our freedom and especially for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Sure we can enjoy our picnics and go for a walk or go for a swim. But we should take some time to put up a flag, make a banner, and perhaps participate in a parade honoring our military.
Certainly those in the military feel more loved than the vets who returned from the Vietnam War. But it wouldn’t hurt to thank those who have served our country and to make them feel appreciated. We will never be able to repay them enough for their service.
What else can we do? If you visit a few websites, you will find all sorts of suggestions. Here are a few to consider. Participate in a “National Moment of Remembrance” at 3 PM today. Pause, listen to taps, and reflect. I was in London’s Heathrow airport on Veterans’ Day. When time came to stop and reflect, the airport was absolutely quiet for a minute or so. I was impressed. We can learn something from the British and their reverence for their war dead.
You might encourage your friends, neighbors, and family to visit cemeteries and perhaps even place flags on the graves. I have been to military cemeteries in Hawaii and the Philippines and have seen what is done there. We need to do the same back home.
Those of you who live near the nation’s capital might visit one of the memorials for the Vietnam Veterans, the World War II Veterans, or the Korean War Veterans.
I will let you consider what you might do to make this day special. The point is to make this day special. Too often we come to think about it as nothing more than a Monday holiday or the kick-off for summer. It should mean so much more for us.

Kerby Anderson
One way to predict what our government is going to do in the future is to look at what other governments are doing in the present. Look at Argentina. The official annual inflation rate is 104%, though the actual inflation rate may be even higher. The government of Argentina has now banned operations that allow bank clients to purchase cryptocurrencies. This announcement came just days after two large institutions announced they would let clients buy bitcoin.
This looks like an attempt to “close the exits” because of a fear that citizens would be looking for ways to preserve what little wealth they have. I cannot blame the citizens for wanting to find ways to prevent the money they were able to set aside each year from losing more than half of its value every year. You would want your savings in the US dollar or bitcoin rather than in the Argentine peso. And I understand why the government is trying to prevent a flight to safer investments.
We have seen the same reaction to possible capital flight in China. The government has instituted capital controls that restrict domestic households from investing abroad, and foreign investors are restricted from accessing financial markets. Closing the financial exits keeps funds within China’s borders.
We also see the possibility in Europe. Christine Lagarde is the president of the European Central Bank. She has called for regulation of bitcoin. In fact, she believes that the regulation “has to be applied and agreed upon … at a global level because if there is an escape that escape will be used.” Again, governments want to “close the exits.”
At the same time, governments are exploring the development of central bank digital currencies. These CBDCs will provide government leaders with more control over the economy and provide them with the possibility of more control over us. That’s why they need to close the exits.

Kerby Anderson
Two months ago, I talked about the push toward central bank digital currencies in several countries, including our own. Earlier this month, John Stossel sat down with Governor Ron DeSantis. One of the topics was the US government’s plan for a central bank digital currency.
The governor makes it very clear what he thinks about a CBDC. He warns, “Sometimes government does things that may appear to be benevolent but really are kind of like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Instead, he says, “This is a wolf coming as a wolf.”
The Biden administration says a CBDC will “protect consumers, investors … and the environment.” The governor responded that the last statement is a “tell.” The government, he argues, would impose certain criteria. “You’re filling up too much (with gas). Wait a minute — climate change. You can’t be doing that! You bought another firearm?”
Lest you think that would never happen, let me remind you about what happened in Canada to the truckers protesting the vaccine rules. The government blocked their bank accounts. That would be even easier with a CBDC.
Ron DeSantis also questions the legality of a CBDC. “The Federal Reserve has come out and said, we would only do it after consulting with the legislative and executive branches. Ideally, we’d get specific congressional authorization.” The governor responded that this isn’t just ideal, it is constitutionally required.
This debate will end up in Congress. Senator Elizabeth Warren argues that “Legitimate digital public money could help drive out bogus digital private money.” Senator Ted Cruz has already introduced legislation to prohibit the Federal Reserve from developing a central bank digital currency.
It’s time for debate to begin in Congress on the future of digital currency.

Kerby Anderson
The Biden administration is taking aim at nearly every appliance in your home. Three months ago, I talked about the gas stove controversy. But that is just one example of how the proposed Energy Department standards will affect your home. The administration has proposed or finalized new standards for ovens, microwaves, refrigerators, and laundry machines. This is in addition to other rules that will affect furnaces, air conditioners, and lightbulbs.
The latest set of rules will apply to dishwashers. The editors of the Wall Street Journal refer to these as “The Federal Dirty Dish Rule.” The regulations are an attempt to make dishwashers more efficient in terms of energy and water. New appliances must cut energy usage by 30 percent and reduce water use from 5 gallons to 3.2 gallons.
A little history is in order. Back in the Obama administration, dishwasher regulations raised the average price of a machine nearly $100. But trying to make dishwashers more energy and water efficient didn’t make them more efficient at cleaning glasses, dishes, and utensils. One consumer complained that it’s “ridiculous that dishwashers I had years ago worked better than the high-tech ones today.”
Slowing dishwashing times is also a complaint. To meet higher efficiency standards, the machines recirculate water in longer cycles. A typical run time can be two or three hours. Once the cycle is over, many owners may decide to run the dishwasher again. That seems to undermine the administration’s goal of energy and water conservation.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, nearly 20 percent of American households own a dishwasher that is never used. I think it is time for the government to rethink their “dirty dish rule.”

Kerby Anderson
Wokeness can be found in just about every academic discipline including the recent revelations of woke science. If there is anything more dangerous, it is “woke medicine.” The attack on meritocracy is well documented in Heather Mac Donald’s book, When Race Trumps Merit.
As important as the book is, the danger is driven home by Ann Coulter’s column, “No Biggie, Just the End of Civilization.” Many institutions have dropped their standards, but she decided to focus on the impact on medicine. For example, “the American Medical Association, the American Association of Medical Colleges and the American Association of Pediatrics have all agreed that medicine is racist.” You can find lots of articles in science journals and medical journals talking about racism.
The solution is to lower standards or change standards for medical school. Heather Mac Donald writes “the average score for white applicants on the Medical College Admission Test was in the 71st percentile … The average score for black applicants was in the 35th percentile – a full standard deviation below the average white score.”
Therefore, we shouldn’t be surprised that “medical schools responded by dropping the MCAT for black and Hispanic students.” One medical school offered these students admission based on their “strong appreciation of human rights and social justice.”
One medical institute announced it would spend $2 billion. Was it to find a cure for brain cancer? Parkinson’s disease? Heart disease? No, the $2 billion was set aside to promote “diversity and inclusion in science.”
I think you would agree with me that when it comes to various professions like medicine, I want doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals selected for their expertise not for their skin color.

Kerby Anderson
David Bernhardt reveals that “The Deep State Is All Too Real.” He should know since he has worked in the government as a cabinet secretary and writes about it in his new book. He says we have “two competing conceptions of American governance: the version students are taught in the classroom, and the one that exists in the real world.” Unfortunately, more and more rules and regulations are being made by the administrative deep state rather than by Congress.
Much of this began in the 1930s when Congress delegated much of its lawmaking authority to the executive branch. Federal agencies issue regulations that have the force and effect of law. And to make matters worse, the Supreme Court’s Chevron doctrine encourages courts to defer to executive branch interpretations of the law.
You might then reasonably ask, where is any accountability? He reminds us that the federal government has 2.2 million civilian employees, but only 4,000 of them are political appointees the president can remove. In other words, career bureaucrats (who were not elected by the American people nor appointed by the president) make major policy decisions.
In my booklet, A Biblical View of the Deep State, I dismiss the idea that the federal bureaucracy is like a military unit (where every order is routinely obeyed). Instead, the bureaucracy is often more like a university faculty (where many have their own ideas about what should be done).
David Bernhardt does provide some hope. In 2020, President Trump issued an executive order that would let the president remove certain federal employees in the bureaucracy. The Supreme Court will hear arguments for a case that would force the judges to reconsider Chevron defense.
These two actions might return the American government back to some necessary checks and balances.

Kerby Anderson
Economist Stephen Moore wonders if the goal of President Biden and his administration is to turn out all the lights. His climate change agenda is forcing us to buy a certain type of lightbulb and to use a certain kind of energy. In the end, we may not have enough electricity to keep the lights on or to keep electric cars moving.
A few weeks ago, the Biden Administration proposed limits on tailpipe emissions that would essentially require two thirds (67%) of all new vehicles sold in the US by 2032 to be all-electric. But the latest polls show that nearly half of all Americans don’t want an electric car and only 6 percent of drivers are buying them.
Stephen Moore says “that was child’s play compared to the latest Biden scheme to shut down as many as half of our electric power plants across the country. These are the plants that charge those Tesla batteries and cellphones. They also keep the lights on in our factories, schools, hospitals, stores, and homes and power the internet.”
On one hand, the administration is working to force more Americans to drive electric cars. On the other hand, the same administration is pushing a plan that would shut down most of the nation’s gas-fired and coal-fired plants that provide electricity. Stephen Moore asks, “Where are we going to get the electric power to charge 150 million EVs every night? From windmills?”
We need more power plants to generate electricity, not fewer. Even if these power plants do not shut down, the administration says they will have to pay for carbon offsets to justify any carbon emissions. Guess who will pay for that? You, the consumer, will pay for that with higher utility bills.
I believe these administration policies will turn the lights out on our economy.

Kerby Anderson
The Federal government is running out of money and needs to raise the debt ceiling. But the debate centers on whether Congress can bring some controls on spending before raising the debt limit. The argument for spending controls was strengthened by the latest numbers from the Congressional Budget Office for the month of April.
April is usually the best month for the federal government since that is when tax payments are due for the previous year. But the April 2023 budget surplus fell by $135 billion from April 2022. When you include various adjustments, the decline was $275 billion. That means higher budget deficits for the rest of the year.
The primary reason for the mounting deficit is spending, which is up 12 percent in the first seven months. Entitlements are up 11 percent, while education spending is up 56 percent.
The other reason for the increasing deficit is decreasing revenue to the Federal treasury, which fell by 10 percent. Individual income taxes fell 18 percent.
Here’s a quick summary. Spending has increased significantly, while revenue has decreased. And the president and many Democrats do not want any spending decreases tied to what they feel should be an automatic increase in the debt limit. Does that make any sense to you?
By the way, it gets worse. Interest on the national debt rose 40 percent. That is due to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. That portion of the Federal budget is growing faster than any other area. And borrowing more money in the future will also be more expensive.
The national debt is larger than our nation’s Gross Domestic Product. Federal spending is up, and federal revenues are down. And the cost of borrowing more money is increasing significantly. That’s why it is time to rein in spending.

Kerby Anderson
Until recently, reading articles in Scientific American was an important way for those of us who love science to keep up with research trends. That isn’t the case anymore. Last year at this time, an article in Scientific American argued against banning gender-reassignment surgery because it ignores the health benefits to trans people.
This month, Scientific American published an essay by a Princeton professor with the provocative title, “Here’s Why Human Sex Is Not Binary.” He starts with a statement we can accept that “ova don’t make a woman, and sperm don’t make a man.” That is true, but the rest of the essay strains at trying to make the case for sex being more than male and female.
It is hard to imagine two decades ago an essay like this showing up in a scientific magazine. But I was encouraged to read some of the reactions to this essay that are summarized in an article by Joshua Klein.
Colin Wright fumes “This new piece . . . arguing that ‘Human Sex Is Not Binary’ is so poorly argued I’m embarrassed on his behalf. I don’t even know if it even qualifies as ‘pseudoscience’ because it’s just so supremely confused.”
Another on Twitter exclaimed, “Another load of balderdash published in Unscientific American. Where do they dig up these grifters?”
Stephen Knight proclaims, “This is insane. This article attempts to argue that by using objective biological criteria to differentiate between the two human sexes (large gametes or small gametes), we are actually just ‘trying to restrict who counts as a full human in society.’”
It’s good to see this backlash from scientists who haven’t lost their common sense and scientific integrity.

Kerby Anderson
What does the word “Christian” mean these days? It doesn’t seem to mean very much. The last few reports from George Barna’s Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University reveal that a very small percentage of American Christians have a Christian worldview.
Nearly seven in ten (69%) of Americans self-identify as Christian. Yet only about 4 percent of Americans have a Christian worldview. George Barna explains, “Christian has become somewhat of a generic term rather than a name that reflects a deep commitment to passionately pursuing and being like Jesus Christ.”
The self-identified Christians may embrace many basic doctrines of the Christian faith, but then diverge on one or more important issues. For example, a significant number deny the idea of objective truth rooted in Scripture. They deny the existence of absolute truth, and thus make their decisions based upon relative ethics and personal experience
Most Christians may say they believe in the Bible and the gospel message. But they also indicated on their surveys they believe people are basically good. Of course, if people believe they are good, then they may not believe in sin and the need for a savior.
If you look at the cultural issues, you find even more discrepancies between their views and a Christian worldview. These differences in biblical beliefs will then manifest themselves in the widely divergent views today among American Christians on questions of morality and politics. This includes divergent views on sex, marriage, family, and abortion. Those, in turn, affect how American Christians vote on candidates and key political issues.
If you are a pastor or Bible teacher, you need to get back to the basics. It is likely that many of the people you teach do not have a Christian worldview. They need your biblical teaching and biblical discipleship.

Kerby Anderson
Each year I teach second-year students at a bible school a class on homosexuality. One of the questions we discuss is what percentage of the population is homosexual. I quote from studies done by the University of Chicago and the Alan Guttmacher Institute which put the percentage around 2 percent. Then I show the students a Gallup poll that found US adults estimated that 25 percent of Americans are gay and lesbian. Of course, those estimates are off by an order of magnitude.
We now have articles quoting the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System of the CDC that estimates that only 75 percent of American high-school students now identify as heterosexual. The headlines and articles therefore claim that 25 percent are LGBTQ.
In a recent commentary, Wilfried Reilly raises some significant questions. First, “there is simply no genetic or biological explanation for a surge like this one.” This is significantly different from the many studies I have quoted in the past.
Attempts to argue that this is due to “increased social tolerance for gays” does not hold either, especially when you consider that many other European countries have been even more tolerant of LGBTQ. I think a better explanation is social contagion, which I have discussed in relation to transgenderism in previous commentaries.
Andrew Sullivan is a prominent gay columnist and provides this answer. “The most plausible explanation is that everyone wants to be LGBTQ now — so why not lie and be cool? Only problem is that this makes the LGBTQ community majority straight.” As you can tell, he doesn’t believe the 25 percent headlines and doesn’t think this is helpful to his gay agenda.
There is no reason to believe the 25 percent claim. It reminds me of the Gallup poll estimate from many years ago.

Kerby Anderson
Historian Nial Ferguson begins his PragerU video with a lament that few students graduate from college with any idea of what makes Western Civilization different from the rest of the world. In his video with the title, “Why the West Won,” he summarizes a few key points from his book, Civilization: The West and the Rest. He explained that western civilization succeeded because of six killer apps—competition, modern science, the rule of law, modern medicine, the consumer society, and the work ethic.” These are the secret sauce of Western Civilization.
You may not have time to read his book, therefore, I suggest you take five minutes to watch the video. And since these ideas aren’t being taught in the universities today, you might share the video with some young people.
These are the six killer applications. The first was economic and political competition. The second was the scientific method. All the major 17th century breakthroughs happened in Western Europe. A third application was the rule of law and representative government. This included private property rights and representation of property owners in elected legislatures.
The fourth was modern medicine. Nearly all the 19th and 20th century breakthroughs in health care were made by Western Europeans and North Americans. Fifth was the consumer society. The industrial revolution took place because there was both a supply and a demand. Sixth was the work ethic. Westerners worked harder and saved more of what they earned. This led to capital accumulation which in turn led to investment in the wonders of modern technology.
These six killer apps made the West successful and have now been downloaded to other countries as well. That is why the west won.

Kerby Anderson
Leftists have redefined many key terms to push their radical agenda. One of those words is the word “equity.” We traditionally understood the term to mean equality. You can even find this word in the Bible. But in our modern culture, equity doesn’t mean equality of opportunity but equality of outcomes.
Activists push DEI, which stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. At universities DEI bureaucracies have grown significantly. A study by the Heritage Foundation found 163 DEI personnel at the University of Michigan, 94 at the University of Virginia and Ohio State, 86 at the University of California, Berkeley, 83 at Virginia Tech, and 80 at Stanford. I recently wrote about the behavior of the DEI Dean at Stanford, who has now been put on leave.
Jack Miller in a recent column writes about “Equity’s War on Equality.” The equity agenda is making its way into K-12 schools across the country. In some schools, honors classes are being eliminated so as not to “perpetuate inequality.”
He laments that “teachers are simply slowing down instruction for everyone. Students are increasingly taught at the lowest common denominator rather than being challenged to do their best.” Motivated students complain that often the students slowing them down are unmotivated and have no desire to try harder.
Jack Miller does have some good news. Parents are mobilizing at the ballot box and at school board meetings. “They do not want to sacrifice academic excellence for grand social experiments. They want their kids to become educated and ambitious, not indoctrinated, and complacent.”
Equity, the way it is currently being defined, is not equality. Rather it is an attack on meritocracy and keeping gifted and motivated students from doing their best.

Kerby Anderson
Periodically I must remind my listeners that you should pay less attention to what people say and more attention to what they do. Climate change activists encourage us to lower our carbon footprint while flying to conferences in private jets. Progressive politicians warn that global warming will raise the level of oceans yet live in homes next to the shore. Liberals claim there is a rape epidemic on college campuses, but still send their daughters to the university.
The latest claim is that “coffee is racist, and drinking coffee perpetuates white supremacy.” Therefore, argues the author, “It’s time to boycott and divest.”
According to the article, “Coffee first came to North America and Europe between 1650 and 1700. But coffee was an important, almost religious, part of Black culture going as far back as the 1400s in Ethiopia. After the whites got the first sip of the Black delicacy, they brutally enslaved people of color to keep up with demand, turning a ritualistic drink into another consumer product in the colonial capitalist machine.”
I don’t know how much of that can be verified by historians, but let’s assume it’s all true. The argument is that by consuming coffee you are helping an industry built on racism. By consuming coffee, you are perpetuating white supremacy.
Now for the more important question: do you think we will see a massive boycott of coffee over the next few months? I doubt we will see a dent in the coffee business, and if there is any decline in coffee sales it will pale in comparison to the number of people who no longer buy Bud Light.
The article may claim that coffee is racist and call for a boycott. But I doubt we will see any boycott. Once again, we can see the value of paying more attention to what people do rather than what they say.