How Progressives Froze the American Dream: The U.S. was once the world’s most geographically mobile society. Now we’re stuck in place—and that’s a very big problem. - "At an intellectual level, Jacobs understood that simply preserving historic buildings cannot preserve a neighborhood's character; she warned that zoning should not seek 'to freeze conditions and uses as they stand. That would be death.' A neighborhood is defined by its residents and their interactions, as Jacobs herself so eloquently argued, and it continually evolves. It bears the same relation to its buildings as does a lobster to its shell, periodically molting and then constructing a new, larger shell to accommodate its growth. But Jacobs, charmed by this particular lobster she'd discovered, ended up insisting that it keep its current shell forever.
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Not far from where I live, in Washington, D.C., two lawn signs sit side by side on a neatly manicured lawn. One proclaims NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE FROM, WE'RE GLAD YOU'RE OUR NEIGHBOR, in Spanish, English, and Arabic. The other reads SAY NO, urging residents to oppose the construction of an apartment building that would house the new neighbors the other sign purports to welcome. Whatever its theoretical aspirations, in practice, progressivism has produced a potent strain of NIMBYism, a defense of communities in their current form against those who might wish to join them. Mobility is what made this country prosperous and pluralistic, diverse and dynamic. Now progressives are destroying the very force that produced the values they claim to cherish.
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"In D.C., where nearly 19 percent of buildings are similarly protected, residents of the well-off Cleveland Park neighborhood once stopped the construction of an apartment building by getting the old Park and Shop on which it was going to be built designated as historic; it was one of the first examples of strip-mall architecture in the country, the research of one enterprising resident revealed."
How the Woke Right Replaced the Woke Left: The hypocrisy of Trump’s language wars
A Trump outrage that stands apart: The president blames Ukraine for its own brutalization. - "One retired U.S. Army officer who’s working in Kyiv sent me an anguished message on Wednesday: 'What the hell is happening in America? From here, we look like we’ve lost our minds. We’re not just losing our standing with current leaders but we’re losing the next generation who are watching and learning that America cannot be trusted.'"
Musk’s mass firings are already backfiring: Culling the federal workforce with a sledgehammer does nothing to advance efficiency. - "But Clinton’s approach was quite different. He launched a six-month review of agencies to identify positions that could safely be eliminated and then slimmed the workforce gradually. In short, his administration did the hard work that Musk only claimed DOGE, which stands for Department of Government Efficiency, would do. Clinton also spoke frequently about the need to help the remaining federal workers become even more productive."
Former high-ranking D.C. official charged with bribery: The bribery case is the second in recent months linked to a D.C. government agency that awards grants to community-based organizations that employ violence interrupters. - "The agency’s new director, Kwelli Sneed, has vowed to enhance transparency and accountability — but has also previously tried to separate the allegations against White from the agency itself, saying in testimony before the D.C. Council that the indictment of White was 'not an indictment on ONSE' or its leadership team."
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