Every seventh-grader in America learns of Horatio Alger, the 19th-century novelist whose “rags to riches” tales mythologized the American Dream. Through perseverance, hard work, and good character, Alger’s poor but honest heroes were always rewarded with success.
Even at the time, Alger’s stories were caricatures of reality. But his books were popular for a reason: his notion of who’s “deserving” is a bedrock of the American ethos, and it’s still suffused into our politics. President Bill Clinton’s famous promise—that if you “work hard and play by the rules,” you deserve the American Dream—is a modern reformulation of Alger’s ethic. Americans want to reward the strivers; we know the kid who hit the triple deserves more esteem than the kid who was born on home plate.
This conception of meritocracy also animates the “holistic” admissions processes that most US colleges have adopted in recent years. By learning about a student’s background and the context of their achievements, colleges hope to identify extraordinary students in difficult circumstances (i.e., the kids who are hitting the triples).
But in Trump’s America, these efforts are not admirably meritocratic; they’re illegal “DEI.”
Earlier this summer, according to the Wall Street Journal, Attorney General Pam Bondi warned colleges against using “‘unlawful proxies’ for race—such as geography or applicant essays on overcoming hardships”—in admissions. No one knows how many colleges have complied, but at least one prominent organization—the College Board—has already decided to capitulate.
In his latest piece for the Monthly, legal scholar Rick Kahlenberg wrote about the College Board’s shameful termination of “Landscape,” a college recruiting tool designed to identify promising students from low-income communities, regardless of their race. Rick called it “the worst kind of capitulation” to Trump.
What’s significant about Rick’s stance is that he’s among the nation’s most prominent opponents of race-based affirmative action in college admissions. In fact, he testified against the practice in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard—the landmark Supreme Court case that made racial preferences in college admissions illegal.
Rick argues that race-neutral admissions policies are not only acceptable but should even be encouraged. The result would be more diversity, but on terms that Americans believe fair. Trump, on the other hand, is waging war on diversity itself.
I talked to Rick about the kind of America we’ll end up having if Trump’s idea of “merit” holds sway. His response: “the resegregation of higher education.”
I hope you’ll watch or listen.
Also worth a look at the Monthly…
Why the “barista with a BA” is BS. The rise of AI has launched a fresh round of hyperventilation about the obsolescence of college degrees. The New York Times recently sent over-educated parents and their college-age children into a panic with its profile of a young graduate with two master’s degrees who couldn’t get a job at a local game store. Monthly Editor Nate Weisberg, however, counsels calm. “The education-to-employment conveyor belt might be noisier and slower than in the past, but it’s still moving,” he writes. And while the labor market might be slowing, people with college educations are still relatively insulated, compared to less-educated peers. Read here.
Dim hopes for democracy in Syria. Syria is scheduled to hold its first parliamentary elections since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. But the odds of democracy taking hold are slim, concludes Claremont-McKenna professor Hicham Bou Nassif, an expert on the Middle East. “Most Arab societies struggle with issues about nation-building, majoritarianism, and the relationship between Islam and the state,” he writes. “But nowhere in the Arab world are these dynamics colliding with more intensity than in Syria today.” Read here.
America’s got talent—but not enough without H-1Bs. Trump’s ill-advised $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas will badly damage US competitiveness, argues ITIF President Rob Atkinson. “Will this de facto ban on H-1B visas protect American workers? Don’t count on it. Likely the opposite will result: Fewer U.S. jobs and weaker U.S. companies.” The better option, Rob says, is to convert the H-1B lottery into an auction, with tiers by firm size or category of organization for a level playing field. Read here.
Reason for hope. Contributing writer David Atkins argues that America is more resilient than we think. “Much of Trump’s power is illusory,” David writes, and citizens are beginning to stir themselves into active resistance. Read here.
Cheers for Beshear. Gavin’s got the memes and JB’s got the quips, but could plainspoken Andy Beshear be the Democrats’ perfect messenger in 2028? Vanderbilt historian Zachary Clary makes the case for the Kentucky governor as a top-tier presidential contender, despite the lack of showmanship displayed by his more online peers. He lauds Beshear’s low-key style, formidable economic record, and championship of progressive values, despite a ruby-red legislature and electorate. Read here.
Plus…
President Joe Biden’s top economist, Jared Bernstein, explains why traditional economic data fail to capture the affordability crisis so many American households are experiencing.
As the government shutdown drags on, Politics Editor Bill Scher makes a good point about Republicans’ lack of seriousness in keeping government open—if they really wanted government open, they’d kill the filibuster to do it. But they haven’t.
Vince Stehle, Executive Director of Media Impact Funders, writes about how philanthropy is riding to the rescue of public media.
Journalist and Monthly contributing editor Jonathan Alter sees growing signs of Trump’s weakening grip on the nation, as scandal after scandal comes to light and massive No Kings protests return on October 18 (make your posters now!).
In this week’s podcast, I talk to veteran Democratic pollster Pete Brodnitz about the upcoming governor’s race in Virginia. GOP candidate Winsome Earle-Sears is trotting out a culture war playbook that could fall very flat if the economy is tanking.
And elsewhere…
Cruelty is the point. Not content with imposing work requirements on Medicaid, the Trump administration now wants to put work requirements and time limits on the recipients of federal housing assistance. Millions of low-income Americans could lose their housing, according to ProPublica.
ICE-trocities. Earlier this week, ICE raided an apartment building in Chicago, traumatizing residents with their brutality. One witness told WBEZ that she saw agents “dragging residents, including kids, out of the building without any clothes on and into U-Haul vans.” “It was heartbreaking to watch,” this resident reported. ICE is also deporting Emmy Award-winning El Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara after his arrest for live-streaming immigration raids in Georgia. The ACLU, PEN America and a host of other organizations have condemned the deportation as illegal.
Big Brother is watching. “If you think Charlie Kirk was a wonderful person, we can’t be friends.” That message cost a Ball State University employee her job—even though she posted it privately on Facebook. Suzanne Swierc’s ordeal should frighten everyone.
Man behind the throne. The most dangerous—and destructive—man in Washington might be Russell Vought, the architect of Project 2025 who now directs the Office of Management and Budget. As the New York Times reports in its comprehensive profile of his “achievements,” Vought is the mastermind behind Trump’s campaign to usurp Congress’s power of the purse. And “to many legal experts,” the Times reports, “Mr. Vought’s work is a threat to the foundations of democracy.”
Culture wars don’t fix potholes. In 2022, the citizens of Odessa, Texas, elected an extremist right-wing mayor who vowed to help the town “publicly repent” for its sins. Going full-court MAGA, Odessa became a “sanctuary city for the unborn,” and transgender residents were banned from public restrooms that didn’t match their sex at birth. But after “two years of chaos, charges of favoritism, and culture wars,” reports the Texas Monthly, Odessa voters ousted their MAGA leaders and installed responsible adults. It’s a terrific parable of the limits of MAGA governance—one that should give us all hope for a return to sanity. Someday.
***
Thank you to everyone who completed our reader survey.
We are thrilled to have an audience that is engaged and committed to the cause of democracy. Among the tidbits we learned is that 97% of you voted in the last election (keep it up!), and for 88% of you, democracy and the rule of law are your top concerns.
As always, our inbox and comments are open, and we welcome your feedback.
Have a great week!
Anne
