Alfie Kohn

@alfiekohn

author and lecturer on topics in education, parenting, and human behavior.... (Personal messages more likely to be read if left on ) He/him

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Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· 29d

2/2 @elienyc.bsky.social, always a breath of fresh air, asks whether our current plight is due only to violations of the Constitution - as opposed to a problem with the Constitution itself, which didn't guarantee justice for all so much as it protected the rights of the elite: tinyurl.com/5stfsf8m

The core failure of our Constitution is that it is based on individual political and civil rights, ‘with no mention of economic or social rights. It's based on what we call “negative rights” things that the government cannot do to its citizens. What's missing is a robust conception of “positive rights”: the things that the government must do for its citizens. Indeed, there have been efforts, led by the Supreme Court, to “calcify” the Constitution as “a charter of negative liberties” and nothing more. It's a mistake that we keep making.

You can see how that design and structure are great from the perspective of a wealthy white man who merely needs the government to stay out of his way (and out of his pocket). It's not so great from the perspective of a person who needs affirmative things from the government. And it is largely silent on the broader issues of social and public good.

...Of course this nation’s rich, white founding fathers didn't write a right to shelter into their grand declarations: They all had homes and thought that everyone who “deserved” one had one, too. Of course they didn't contemplate a right to dignity: They were far too busy denying the dignity and humanity of all the people they oppressed.

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jul 13

I've written separately about curiosity (tinyurl.com/yy3k852x) & about A.I. (is.gd/acOSmQ) in education. Here, a neuroscientist discusses both - specifically how people who rely on AI for research "extract ready-made conclusions [rather] than building connections of their own": tinyurl.com/mr2fsbm4

...When an AL summary answers your search query in three seconds, the window closes before curiosity can deepen. You get what you came for, but you also lose what would have turned curiosity into learning: the adjacent article you might have read, the resulting tangent you might have followed, the connection between two ideas with no obvious relationship.

Researchers call this incidental learning, and it’s the mechanism behind many serendipitous discoveries. Scientific breakthroughs, artistic leaps, technological innovation — these rarely emerge from efficient retrieval of known information. They emerge from periods of undirected exploration, when people follow questions further than they need to and find things they weren't expecting...

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jul 12

Really? They "trade strikes"? Over what part of the U.S. have Iranian bombs been falling?

[NYT headline]
Cease-Fire Unraveling as U.S. and Iran Trade Strikes Again

A fresh round of attacks by the U.S. was the latest volley in a familiar pattern of back-and-forth strikes fueled by disputes over the Strait of Hormuz.

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jul 12

News neutered by newer news

[breaking news header] LINDSEY GRAHAM, SOUTH CAROLINA'S SENIOR U.S. SENATOR, DEAD AT 71 AFTER ‘BRIEF AND SUDDEN ILLNESS’

[existing header] Up for reelection, SC’s Lindsey Graham appears invincible. And if you oppose him, he doesn’t care.

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jul 10

Characteristically pointed piece by Cory Doctorow on the difference between the left and the right, particularly with regard to property rights: tinyurl.com/2s43xxxt

Mistaking cultural signifiers and identity markers for politics
is centrism's most dangerous pathology, the thing that makes
centrism the handmaiden of the right. If you think identity
markers are politics, then you'll be tempted to think the
answer to a world run by 150 rich, white, cis straight guys is
to replace half of them with women, POCs and queer people. The
difference between the Teft and the right isn't the identities
of the ruling class - it's whether we have a ruling class at
all.

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jul 9

We shall fight those who oppose fascism on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

[WashPost headline]
Rubio tries to enlist other nations in antifa fight, buts ome allies recoil

The secretary of state plans to convene foreign ministers in Washington next week. The event has unsettled some U.S. and European officals.

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jul 6

Every recipient of social security and/or Medicare is now receiving pro-Trump propaganda from the department charged with overseeing their benefits. As civil servants and experts are fired or silenced, the federal government is transformed into an authoritarian cult.

President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Administration are not only
protecting Social Security, but we are providing meaningful and immediate
relief to older Americans who have spent decades contributing to our nation's
economy.

Just last year, on July 4, 2025, President Trump signed into law the Working
Families Tax Cuts Act. This historic legislation included a tax cut that allows
Americans 65 and older to keep more of their hard-earned Social Security
benefits. Thanks to President Trump, over 35 million American seniors
received an average of $7,500 in relief this tax season.

If you did not take advantage of the President's signature tax cut for seniors, |
encourage you to review eligibility requirements through the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) website for next year's tax filing season.

Under the leadership of President Trump, we are protecting and
strengthening Social Security while providing world-class customer service:

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jul 5

Cartoon features angry elephants carrying tiki-torches, holding a piece of paper saying "SUPPRESSION GERRYMANDERING," and chanting, "Voters will not replace us!..."

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jul 3

I don't mind a challenging crossword puzzle clue, but come *on*. Is Will Shortz asleep at the switch?

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jul 3

Elie Mystal warns that the Court's decision allowing red states to discriminate against a handful of trans women and girls in sports will be used by the Trump regime and other Republicans to *require* discrimination against trans people - and not just on the athletic field: tinyurl.com/3u2xm78z

I spoke to NYU Law professor Melissa Murray about this ruling. She said that it will become the basis of discrimination against trans people across a host of issues. “The administration,” she said, “is going to saddle this ruling and ride it like Seabiscut to prosecute their view that the marginalization and inequality of trans people is necessary for sex equality writ large.”

Murray warned that we've already seen the model that Republicans and the Trump administration will use: the case that overruled affirmative action, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. That ruling, Murray said, seemed to only affect a narrow issue—the specific use of affirmative action for college admissions—but the Trump administration has used it to justify discrimination on a much wider scale, ending so-called DEI programs across the federal government; reaching into any number of private institutions to disrupt their hiring practices; and, perhaps most important, cutting off funding for institutions and programs that don’t share the administration's bigoted views.

Murray predicts that the same thing will happen with trans rights. The decision that trans women have no equal-protection rights on the field will be extended to the workplace and every manner of government or government-sponsored institution.

And this metastasizing bigotry will not stop in red states. B.P.J. was about whether red states are allowed to discriminate against trans people. The next case will be about whether blue states are required to discriminate against trans people, as they will surely be ordered to do by Trump and Stephen Miller—“to protect women and girls,” they'll say. I can imagine a day when the Supreme Court orders states to adopt the same kind of bigotry the court merely allows.

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jul 2

NYT headline: "Is Kidmaxxing the Ultimate Status Symbol for Ultimate Wealth?"

Still from the Monty Python movie "The Meaning of Life" featuring dozens of children singing "Every sperm is sacred."

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jul 1

Critics decide that victims are ultimately to blame for bigotry to which they're subjected

Critics question trans rights movement's strategies after a string of Supreme Court setbacks This weeks decision upholding state bans on transgender athletes follows others involving transition care and parental notification.

By Julian Mark

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 29

Absolutely. Witness the same court's inclination to curb executive authority when Biden was president. This headline on WashPost is more accurate in its specificity than they may have intended:

WashPost headline: "Supreme Court expands Trump's power over independent agencies"

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 27

From @adamserwer.bsky.social: Alito and his five colleagues have made it clear that racism, no matter how egregious, can never rise to the level of an actionable harm (unless it's white people who "could be perceived as the victims of racial discrimination"): tinyurl.com/y5pvyem8

‘Mullin now sets up an even more impossible double standard. If the
government wants to discriminate against Black people, any pretext will do. “As long as there is a plausible basis—any plausible articulable basis—for the government's action, then the Court will look to that basis as sufficient,” Aderson Francois, a law professor at Georgetown University, told me, “even in the face of evidence that government actors were motivated by animus.” If a Black person wants to prove they've been discriminated against, however, no amount of evidence will suffice.

“This Court sees race when it wants to, and blinds itself to racism in most other cases,” Melissa Murray, a law professor at NYU, told me. “It’s hard to imagine how egregious the statement would have to be to be considered ‘overtly racial’.”

This is a “color-blind” Constitution that the architects of Jim Crow could love. Many of the devices employed during segregation, such as poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and literacy tests, were superficially race-neutral. In fact, slavery itself could conceivably be race-neutral—after all, one does not need to be a racist to seek cheap labor for a profitable business!

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 23

My favorite part of news stories these days is the series of automatic denials from Trump lackeys that the paper feels obliged to include (in parentheses).

Mock news story is headlined "More Indictments of Trump Critics on the Way" and reads as follows: "WASHINGTON - Sources reveal that the Department of Justice plans to prosecute several more Democratic officials for a variety of alleged offenses. (A White House spokesman says there are no such plans.) Critics point to a pattern of prosecutions in which the administration singles out President Trump's opponents for punishment. (The spokesman denies the existence of any pattern.) The latest indictments are expected to be announced on Friday. (The spokesman insists that there is no such day as "Friday.")"

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 22

www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...

Panel from Tom Tomorrow's "This Modern World":
Trump: "We'll funnel $300 billion Victory Dollars to Iran! Stupid Obama could NEVER have achieved THAT! They HAVE to give me the Nobel Peace Prize NOW!"
Vance: "You have VERY successfully begun to possibly end the war you launched for no apparent eason, sir!"

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 17

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 14

www.nytimes.com/2026/06/13/u...

Meme featuring angry woman wearing MAGA cap: "I voted to be racist - not poor!"

Blue-collar white voters are, for the first time, seriously doubting Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy. A review of polling by The New York Times shows an extraordinary swing on that issue among white voters without college degrees between his first midterm election and now.

Then, working-class white voters approved of his management of the economy by margins of 30 percentage points or even more. Now, recent polls show them disapproving by anywhere from 14 to more than 30 points.

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 9

Can you find the common denominator?

ANGUISHED PARENTS, CRYING DOCTORS:
LIFE AMID UTAH'S MEASLES OUTBREAK
The state's outbreak means adapting to America's new reality, in which vaccine-preventable diseases become common again

® ProPublica
NEW: Regulators have linked Mark McAfee's raw dairy farm to more than a dozen recalls and outbreaks that left hundreds of people ill
“I've put a couple kids in the hospital,” McAfee said. “But here's the thing: I'm a pioneer.”

He Profits Off Raw Milk That's Making People Sick. The Government Isn't Stopping Him.

With Raw Farm, the largest raw-milk dairy in the country, Mark McAfee has capitalized on a once-fringe product that's been thrust into the...

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 8

Any journalist who refers to Trump as a "populist" ought to be banned from the profession: tinyurl.com/4dwevjcn

Trump Clears Way for Corporate Tax Dodge Hidden in the Fine Print

U.S. companies skirted at least $40 billion in taxes since the beginning of 2025 thanks to schemes in places like Malta, Bermuda and Cyprus.

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 6

Triple-header today for the largest recipient by far of U.S. foreign aid

Pentagon Sees Growing Espionage Threat From Israel

The Defense Department has increased the threat assessment to its highest level, and Israel is believed to have eavesdropped on U.S. talks with Iran.

Israeli Strike Kills 3 Lebanese Soldiers, Days After Truce Was Signed

Infant Killed as Israeli Military Fires on Car in West Bank, Palestinian Officials Saya

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 5

Cartoon features a giant wooden horse labeled "AI" outside ancient gates, where one sentry says to another, "A gift from the geeks."

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 4

Firesign Theatre: "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers"

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 4

I'm told Mattel's lawyers wanted to call this toy Voir Dire

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· Jun 1

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· May 31

So we end up with canned perfection—writing that can't really be argued with, because it has no underlying deliberative reasoning process, no train of thought. As | wrote on X recently, Al writing is almost impossible to edit, because even when it sounds plausible, a closer look will show that every element is equally off: The tone is bland; individual word choices are baffling; the structure lacks sense; key pieces of the argument are missing; facts are false. Working on Al text, as an editor, is like trying to operate on a body whose skin, muscles, veins, bones, and organs are all compromised. There's nothing to leave intact, nowhere to begin.

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· May 27

I guess the critics who predicted that Bezos's Washington Post would abandon hard-hitting political journalism are feeling pretty silly now, huh?

WPost headline: "Did Trump pick the right blue for the Reflecting Pool? We asked a pool guy."

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· May 24

Let's play "Find the Orwellian euphemism intended to disguise an educational agenda of mindless obedience"! (h/t @garystager)

[headline on education website]
Strategies That Empower Students to Answer Questions When Called Upon

Alfie Kohn@alfiekohn· May 23

This old study still packs a punch in illustrating how standardized tests simultaneously overestimate and underestimate kids' understanding. (My summary is below; the study itself is here: www.jstor.org/stable/41193...)

$Consider a fifth grade boy who, researchers found, could flawlessly march through the steps of subtracting 2 5/6 from 3 1/3, ending up quite comectly with 3/6 and then reducing that to 1/2.. Unfortunately, successful performance of this final reduction does not imply understanding that the two fractions are equivalent. In fact, this student remarked in an interviens that 1/2 was larger than 3/6 because “the denominator is smaller so the pieces are larger." Meanwhile, one of his classmates, whose answer had been marked wrong because it hadn't been expressed in the correct terms, clearly had a better grasp of the underlying concepts. Intrigued, these researchers proceeded to interview a number of fifth graders about another topic (division) and discovered that 41 percent had memorized the process without really understanding the idea, while 11 percent understood the concept but made minor errors that resulted in getting the wrong answers. A standardized test therefore would have misclassified more than half of these students.$