Your 2 Cents’ Worth: Thursday, Aug. 25

Five migrants including a child have died while attempting to cross the English channel, French authorities said on Tuesday. The news comes hours after the U. K. passed a controversial bill that would allow the government to deport some migrants who enter the country illegally to Rwanda. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The deaths took place after an overcrowded boat carrying around 110 people set out to cross the busy shipping lane from France to England.

It’s common to meet the idea of intuition with an eye roll. We tend to value reason over everything else, using expressions like “think before you act,” “think twice,” and “look before you leap.” We don’t trust intuition. In fact, we believe it’s flawed and magical thinking, either vaguely crazy or downright stupid.

Israel’s war in Gaza has roiled college campuses across America, as students have set up encampments and rallied against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, sparking free speech debates and creating sharp divisions with members of government, alumni, donors, other students, and some faculty amid accusations of antisemitism. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Emerging as one of the most prominent and controversial figureheads of the opposition to pro-Palestinian protesters is Columbia Business School assistant professor Shai Davidai, who is Jewish and Israeli American and has recently found himself barred from parts of Columbia’s New York campus amid the latest flareup in tensions.

PEN America has canceled its prestigious 2024 awards ceremony after nearly half the writers nominated for a prize withdrew their work in protest of the organization’s stance on the war in Gaza. The group, which is dedicated to free expression, announced on Monday the cancellation of the April 29 awards in New York City.

A white family in Atlanta, Georgia today has 46 times as much wealth as a Black family; a racial wealth gap that is exactly the same as it was nationally in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation ending the era of legalized enslavement. Over forty years of neoliberal economic policy have profoundly exacerbated income and wealth inequality especially across racial lines.

The U. S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a case on whether Idaho can enforce its near-total abortion ban in medical emergency situations under a federal law that requires most hospitals to treat patients with life-threatening conditions. The case marks the second abortion-related challenge to come before the Justices this term, following the Court’s decision in Dobbs v.