Dr. David Deming: Also, if you get rid of the SAT, as many colleges have done, what you have left is things that are also related to wealth, probably even more so. Whether you can write a persuasive college essay, whether you can have the kinds of experiences that give you high ratings for extracurricular activities and leadership; those things are incredibly related to wealth.

My worry is that if we get rid of the SAT, you’re getting rid of the only way that a low-income student who’s academically talented has to distinguish themselves. Getting rid of the SAT means those people don’t have the opportunity to be noticed. I don’t think the SAT is perfect, but I think the problem isn’t the test. The problem is everything that happens before the test.

Drug addiction is an illness, but it is different from many other illnesses in a crucial respect. Most people with diabetes or cancer wish they could make their diseases disappear. Addicts have a more complex relationship with their disease. People with addiction often do not want treatment. They frequently think they have a handle on their drug use. That attitude is at the root of many people’s addictions.

“You need to answer the question: Why would people stop using an incredibly rewarding drug if there is no real consequence at all?” said Keith Humphreys, a drug policy expert at Stanford University.

A crucial part of Portugal’s change in 2000 was its attempt to nudge people to stop using drugs. The country did not simply decriminalize the substances. It also set up new incentives for seeking help: People caught using drugs can be sent to a special commission that tries to get them into free treatment. If drug users do not cooperate or they show serious problems, the commission can impose penalties, such as barring people from taking some jobs or visiting certain locations. It is a carrot-and-stick approach.

Oregon does not have much of a stick... As a result, people continue to use drugs, without an incentive to seek help. The implication here — that law enforcement matters for stopping addiction — might make some liberals uncomfortable. But the evidence strongly suggests that people with addiction often need a push to seek help. By ending the threat of arrest or prison time and not creating anything like Portugal’s commissions, Oregon was left without a push.

I guess the aliens will be making first contact with the Chinese.

And, is it just me or is it weird as hell that it's the Republicans fighting for free speech today? Free speech used to be a progressive, liberal Democratic topic. It's certainly not just the Republicans that are getting silenced by the tech companies.

I don't know what people are talking about, you can do that in the US too via Zelle.

It’s possible to disrupt this downward cycle but it involves doing all the sorts of things large corporations don’t want to do, like reducing insane executive compensation, accepting antitrust reform, prioritizing customer service, paying creatives, not wasting your money on dumb shit like Netflix-themed restaurants, and (gasp) taking a small financial hit in order to retain users and maintain product quality.