The To-Read Pile 5

The To-Read Pile is my digest of worthwhile essays, articles, and books (with some of my light commentary added) you might’ve missed. I haven’t done one of these in a while, so this one is free (it’s usually for paid subscribers only). Happy reading.

AI and Learning

I believe our schools—from K-12 all the way up—are not take seriously enough the educational (i.e., teaching and learning) threats posed by AI. I wrote about this once, but I plan to do more. We’re in the process—without recognizing it—of jeopardizing educational institutions and the rationale for reading, writing, and human instruction. I’m convinced we can’t offshore the stuff of learning to AI without harming students. Indeed, this new MIT study should alarm us. Using AI for essay-writing is bad for cognitive development.

Interestingly, one leader taking AI seriously is Pope Leo XIV. Good WSJ article by Stancati, Hinshaw, Hagey, and Glazer explains his thinking and plans.

Looking Back

I’ve been making my way through Renewing America's Purpose, a collection of policy speeches by Gov. George W. Bush when he was running for president in 1999-2000. It’s a great history lesson—tells us something of the zeitgeist 25 years ago. But there’s also a timeless aspect to it: the focus on education, decentralization, government discipline, etc. is evergreen. My favorites so far are “A Duty of Hope” (with policy recommendations related to civil society and decentralization) and “A New Approach”/”Getting Results from Government” (about reforms to budgeting and government operations). The latter sounds like DOGE before DOGE.

Similarly, I’ve been reading Government Project, a 1951 book by Edward Banfield re-released by AEI and with a new foreword by my friend Kevin Kosar. On one level, it’s a story about a New Deal effort to help a terribly poor farming community. On another level, it’s about the limits of government planning, distant bureaucracies, and efforts that fail to understand community and humans’ non-financial needs.

Skrmetti

SCOTUS just handed down what might be this term’s highest-profile decision in US v. Skrmetti, which upheld state laws regulating medical interventions related to child gender transitions. Though clearly from a left-of-center perspective, this. long Nicholas Confessore NYT article explains the gamble to bring this case to the Court. Meghan McArdle at the WaPo has a shorter, more critical take on the same issues. Law professor Josh Blackmun wrote a thought-provoking piece on the legitimacy of legislatures reasoning from morality (and, interestingly, how Justice Scalia and Justice Kennedy saw that issue very differently). Though I’m not a fan of using natural law in constitutional interpretation, I was interested to read Hadley Arkes criticism of the conservative majority’s reasoning.

If this case is of interest to you, I’d recommend reading several of the key opinions. First, is Judge Sutton’s opinion at the appeals-court level. It does a great, level-headed job of explaining the recent history of recommended and practiced medical interventions. Also worth reading are CJ Roberts’ majority opinion, Justice Barrett’s concurrence on the creation of a new protected class, and Justice Sotomayor’s dissent. In short, the six-justice majority and the three-justice dissent have very different conceptions of the role of the people vis-a-vis the courts when it comes to resolving thorny social matters.

Drugs and Mental Health

As I’ve written, I think society will soon regret this era’s drug-legalization movement. In City Journal, Stephen Eide wrote recently about the connection between marijuana and mental illness. It reminded me of the October NYT piece on the unsurprising “unexpected” consequences of growing pot use and Charles Fain Lehman’s 2023 National Affairs essay on the drug crisis. Also check out this NIH list of research findings on the link between cannabis and mental illness.

Don’t Move!

One reason I’m an American-conservative and not a libertarian, is because I support communities’ ability to preserve—through tradition and law—things that advance human flourishing. Sometimes liberty is the thing needing preservation, but sometimes the lessons learned from liberty are the things needing preservation. Some of those lessons are things like the value of place, longstanding local institutions, multigenerational relationships, and the meaningful idiosyncrasies of small things. For these reasons, I’m generally opposed to arguments that encourage people to move to “vibrant” areas—those arguments, I find, can neglect many of the things that enable people to live the good life. I disagree with much of Yoni Applebaum’s essay in the March Atlantic making the case for more geographic mobility. But it’s worth a read.

Civil Society

My friend Daniel Stid writes the great Substack, “The Art of Association,” which is mostly about America’s amazing non-government sector. Stid is always worth reading, but this piece on civil society during Trump II and another on federal funding for nonprofits are terrific.

Post-Industrial

My pal Tony Mills wrote an outstanding essay in National Affairs discussing Daniel Bell’s famous arguments about a post-industrial society. Mills’ considers that famous book in light of current events and offers insights about populism, technocracy, higher education, and more.

More Law Stuff

Critical take by Josh Blackman on Chief Justice Roberts’ “situational jurisprudence,” President Trump Has to Obey the Constitution, But So Does Chief Justice Roberts.

I’m a fan of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. I like her temperament—her precision, her understatement, her thoughtfulness—and her philosophical approach to the law. As the least senior conservative on the Court, she doesn’t get the chance to write many huge decisions, but once she does, I think her reputation will grow and grow. This NYT article looks at her time on the Court through the lens of partisan politics, which isn’t all that helpful. But it does tell us something about her brain and character.

Interesting article on how Harvard Law Review editors make decisions. WFB’s Aaron Sibarium got access to a treasure trove of documents.

If you care about the US Supreme Court or about the highest levels of the legal profession, you should read Courtiers of the Marble Palace by Todd Peppers. It’s about SCOTUS law clerks specifically, but you’ll learn a great deal about the Court’s history and processes. Similarly, I enjoyed this 2001 lecture by CJ Rehnquist at the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. He discusses the work of the Court and its clerks. I also liked this book chapter about Associate Justice Rehnquist’s teaching a course at Pepperdine as the US Senate was considering his elevation to the chief’s seat.

How Did October 7 Happen?

I learned a great deal from this Commentary piece by Jonathan Foreman about what went wrong in Israel leading up to and during the attacks of October 7. Much of it reminded me of the September-11 postmortems (e.g., ignoring human intelligence, planners’ lack of imagination). But the slow response of organized forces surprised me.

Civics

Rick Hess makes a strong case for a “post-BS civics education.” Don’t make this complicated. Teach about America’s history and the ideas behind our governing systems, institutions, and practices.

Motoring Ahead

Very good Governing article by Alan Greenblatt on Detroit’s mayor, Mike Duggan, and the city’s comeback. It’s gaining population.

Reassessing a Tumultuous Decade

It seems like enough time has passed since the beginning of the “Great Awokening,” Trump’s 2016 win, and Covid that meaningful histories, or at least reflections, will soon be everywhere. Of course folks were writing about these things in real time, but you need distance to understand events and movements. This Jeffrey Blehar essay in National Review is a good example. He looks back on the long, violent weekend five years ago that changed Chicago.