It’s Tuesday, November 25. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Jed Rubenfeld on whether James Comey is safe from Trump’s wrath. America’s actual poverty line is a lot higher than we thought it was. And why are some of X’s most popular MAGA accounts based in India?
But first: Reject modernity? Not so fast.
There is a feeling in the air that modern life is meaningless.
We write about this a lot here at The Free Press—about how phones have robbed kids of their childhoods and how young people think corporate jobs are pointless. Paul Kingsnorth argued earlier this year that when people in the West stopped going to church, “the vacuum was filled by the poison gas of consumer capitalism.” TikTok is warping our moral codes, and porn has ruined our sex lives. People are depressed, nihilistic, and increasingly illiterate.
What’s the answer? God, according to a lot of people. There has been a boom in religiosity across the West. We’ve published a lot about that, too—about how Americans are flocking to podcasts and apps that teach them about scripture; how young people are getting baptized in record numbers, or traveling to France to go on a pilgrimage; and how female Catholics are bringing back chapel veils because they want to connect to a “lost type of Catholicism.”
But in certain corners of the intellectual right, the idea that life was better in the good old days has intensified into a longing for—of all social orders—medieval Christendom. There are calls to replace American democracy with a monarchy. To make our laws and lawmakers more Christian. When Tucker Carlson says feudalism sounds good, you know things have gone too far!
So we’re glad to present the opposing view today, in the form of an essay by Steven Pinker and Marian L. Tupy—who believe that we are alive at the best possible time to be human: right now. And we don’t need the Bible to have a moral code, because we have a secular one that is the reason for all human flourishing: the set of ideas we refer to as Enlightenment ideals. They are the ideas America is built on. And they are written into the Constitution, right next to God.
America has always been a negotiation between reason and faith. Right now, the negotiation is fierce. We’re proud to publish arguments on both sides of it—including this thought-provoking essay. Don’t miss it.
—Freya Sanders
John von Neumann was the original tech doomer—sort of. The immigrant mathematician and author of the pessimistic treatise “Can We Survive Technology?” also believed it was crucial to win the Cold War arms race. How is it that someone who feared the technological revolution also helped develop the atomic bomb? To find out, read Jordan Ellenberg’s profile of von Neumann, who some call “the smartest man who ever lived.”
A federal judge just threw out the indictments of James Comey and Letitia James, but are they out of the woods yet? Read Jed Rubenfeld’s latest column on the moves Trump could still deploy against his political opponents.
Would America be safer without the Second Amendment? Or would giving up our right to bear arms incur too high a cost? Find out who changed more minds in our live debate between Alan Dershowitz and Dana Loesch, moderated by Bari Weiss.
It’s easy to make money posting on X, especially if you’re posting rage bait. But what if X accounts posting things like “I am an American. Yes, I like Hitler” aren’t American at all, but actually operating out of Pakistan? River Page reports on the new X feature that shows where each account is located, and explains what it reveals about our politics.
According to the statistics, Americans are doing great. So why do so many feel like they are struggling? Because our numbers are broken, says investor Michael W. Green. Read his conversation-starting essay on the big lie about poverty in America.
Instagram Teen Accounts default teens into automatic protections for who can contact them and the content they can see.
The U.S. and Ukraine said that talks in Geneva produced major progress on a refined peace plan, though key points still need approval before being presented to Russia. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia’s demand for international recognition of seized territory remains a “main problem.” European allies have pushed counterproposals rejecting territorial concessions and limits on Ukraine’s military, leaving key issues unresolved as leaders prepare for further negotiations.
A growing number of Americans are having their power shut off as electricity prices surge, with disconnections rising in eight out of 11 states reviewed by The Washington Post and the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Higher utility costs, driven partly by grid upgrades and data centers, are pushing some low-income households and middle-class families into debt.
The Pentagon said it is investigating Democratic senator Mark Kelly of Arizona after he appeared in a video telling troops they can refuse “illegal orders.” The announcement cited a law that could recall the retired Navy officer to active duty for possible court martial. “If this is meant to intimidate me. . . it won’t work,” Kelly said.
Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff has died at the age of 81 from a seizure followed by pneumonia, according to family members. A pioneering voice of Jamaican music, Cliff helped bring reggae to global prominence with hits like “Many Rivers to Cross” and “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” winning two Grammys for best reggae album and induction in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Designer Michael Schmidt debuted a New York fashion collection made from the wool of rams that prefer same-sex partners, in partnership with a nonprofit group that rescues such sheep. The line, “I Wool Survive,” aims to highlight animal welfare and LGBT rights, challenging claims that homosexuality is a human “choice.”
Pinker needs to do his homework before pontificating like this rubbish. Try reading Holland’s Dominion, Mr. Pinker. You’ll learn from a gay atheist that the world without Christianity is barbarous. Evolved empathy? What utter balderdash.
The word intifada should not exist in this country. Arrest Muslim haters and deport them to their sad sack countries like Afghanistan and send Biden with them.