The Way It Iz

So here’s the rule: If you do something or hold an opinion that is controversial, everything you ever do for the rest of time is linked to that one event or opinion. Not only that, but anyone you ever associate with, even if it’s explicitly for a completely different reason, is also guilty of having committed that act or holding that opinion. If you think this rule is insane, I’m with you. It also means you’re not a member of the left.

By Izzo Zwiren

The New York Times does not understand capitalism. I know - this is a shocking bit of information to take in. Why would we ever think that a publication that often promotes the virtues of socialism wouldn’t understand what capitalism is? But it’s true. Several different New York Times contributors have recently made assertions that prove that they either have ulterior motives to demonize capitalism, or they actually don’t have a clue as to what capitalism is all about. While I’d like to think that the Times just doesn’t understand capitalism (in fact, that was the first sentence of this article), I think we all know that they understand exactly what they are doing: They are trying to demonize capitalism in any way possible.

The Oxford Union is one of the world’s oldest debate forums. Starting in 1823 on the campus of the historic British university, the Oxford Union has played host to a tremendous lineup of debates and guest speakers. Participants in the debates are generally students and/or alumni of Oxford University but can also include experts in a particular field who never attended the school. Debate topics can range from philosophy to politics to history, and even sometimes comedy. The format is generally three or four speakers to a side, with some time given for audience participation. In general, each side is well-represented and often makes well-thought-out arguments, regardless of whether or not the debater actually agrees with the side he or she is taking. At the end of the debate, those in attendance can vote for the side they think won. All this is done in the most British way possible: in tuxedos and evening gowns.

With the news cycle what it is today, it wouldn’t surprise me if Americans were having trouble keeping up with the outrage du jour. One day it’s abortion, the next it’s police brutality, then it’s reparations, the next it’s gun control, and then the president decides to tweet something, and everyone is outraged about that. Honestly, it gets tiring. In the 1990s and the 2000s, if politicians wanted to bury a story, they’d release information late on a Friday so the weekend happens, and by Monday, the whole thing blows over. That is definitely not the case anymore. Firstly, you can’t expect that just because something is released on Friday, it doesn’t mean that it won’t be trending on Twitter by Friday night. Secondly, really, all a politician has to do to bury a story is tweet something borderline controversial, and the story in need of burial is instantly forgotten. Obviously, the bigger the story, the more it takes to be buried, but you get the idea.

When a politician is accused of having a communications problem, it is generally due to their message not resonating with voters. The master of resonating with voters was President Ronald Reagan, who was known as “The Great Communicator” due to the simple fact that he understood how people took in and processed information and was able to adapt that understanding to speeches and debates. I believe that the worst communicator in recent memory was John Kerry, a man who ran against a very beatable George W. Bush in 2004 but had an incredibly boring delivery, and he often spoke over the heads of others, which only amplified his monotonous drudging.

Last Sunday, the country woke up to devastating news. For the second time in under a 24-hour period, and in an all-too-familiar occurrence, a mass shooting was committed on US soil. While the shooting in Dayton, Ohio, did not come with an explanation, the El Paso Walmart shooting was accompanied by a manifesto that left no doubt as to the white supremacist’s motivations. In fact, over the last 12 months, white supremacists have been responsible for several high-profile foreign and domestic attacks, including two synagogue shootings in Poway, California, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as the Christchurch, New Zealand, shootings in two mosques, leaving 51 dead.