Nonjudgment

To clarify up front, I'm not taking a political position here, just pointing out what looks like groups doing what they criticize others for. They seem to be living by their values when they like the outcomes, but other times violating their values. I'm following up my post from a few months ago Heritage Foundation promoting socialism, as usual. Charlie Kirk did too. I've had a few guests on my podcast from the Manhattan Institute and I've attended a few of their events. I found this article last week from them: Want More Babies? We Need More Friends, whose subtitle tells what the article is about: "If Americans are to revive our sagging national birthrate, we must rebuild the ordinary social structures that made children…

I rated Eger's book The Choice as one of My favorite books and movies of 2025 as well as my life, comparable to Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. I listened to The Choice and I don't remember another book that led me to tears so much. I was outright bawling. I can't recommend it enough. I found her through Philip Zimbardo's work. They were friends and colleagues. She knew Frankl too. She died on April 27. I recommend starting with The Choice, then watching videos of her, of which there are plenty. Her book became an international bestseller. Oprah featured her. She was covered globally. Here are some articles, followed by some quotes from them. Forced to dance for Mengele at Auschwitz, she was…

On December 25, 2025, I wrote a post Help restore my shaken confidence in people from Christmas Eve day that recounted a troubling experience I had delivering food to a community fridge. I wrote about how after spending a lot of time and energy on a holiday, a group of people showed tons of aggression and zero gratitude pushing everyone out of the way to get all the food they could for themselves. In the US in 2025, it felt risky to specify that they were elderly Chinese women, but they were. People there who weren't elderly Chinese women didn't get a chance. They were pushed out. One had a tug of war with me over food I didn't intend to distribute. She grabbed it…

I read stories on The Atlantic's website sometimes, but rarely read the physical magazine. I found a copy in my building's mailing room's recycling bin. I guess a neighbor with a subscription didn't feel like reading this month's issue. Here's the issue in particular online. The articles tended to be intellectual, left-leaning or full anti-Trump, but largely portraying either victimhood or implying solidarity with or support for the downtrodden. The back had an ad for Rolex. Inside I noticed a few ads promoting flying to self-indulgent or elite things, like programs for college-bound kids to pad their transcripts and travel agencies offering luxury vacations. Ads tell you about readers since advertisers don't want to waste their money. The magazine felt aspirational, for rich people whose…