Top 5 Articles: Individualism, White Privilege
Some long essays this week, but they're worth it.
Top 5 articles for your week:
“I Wanted to Know What White Men Thought About Their Privilege. So I Asked.”
Because, “As I looked at the man in Seat 2B, I wondered if my historical positioning was turning his humanity into evidence of white male dominance. Are white men overly determined by their skin color in my eyes? Are they being forced, as my friend suggested, to absorb the problems of the world?”
“What Happened to the American Century?”
Because if you want to examine the various causal factors to the decline of American power, here you go!
Because, “The more that individualism can be portrayed as a chimera, the more that any individual’s achievements can be considered as derivative from society, the less the achievements warrant respect. Society may, as an optional act of political grace, allow the individual to keep the remainder of what society thinks is misleadingly called the individual’s possession.”
“What Americans Do Now Will Define Us Forever”
Because Adam Serwer helps us understand the ugliness of the politics of this past week.
“The Future of the City Is Childless”
Because cities aren’t designed for having children or taking care of children.
Image is of the Apollo 11 projection on the Washington monument this week, image credit: Carolyn Kaster/AP