Statue of Lady Justice at the Crown Prosecution Service in London.

Recent links of note:

“Britain’s real hate crime scandal”
Brendan O’Neill, The Spectator
Britain’s vote to withdraw from the European Union this June gave rise to a media narrative about widespread xenophobia throughout the nation, on the lips and in the actions of the white working class. The notion of a spike in “hate crimes” in Britain has been bolstered by statistics from the Crown Prosecution Service, which reported that such crimes have increased by nearly 25 percent over past years. Unconvinced that his nation, in which minorities and immigrants are likelier than whites to enter top professions such as medicine, has suddenly become an incubator for rabid racial oppression, The Spectator’s Brendan O’Neill opted to take a closer look at what might be driving the alleged hate crime trend. His inquiry led him to the “Hate Crime Operational Guide,” a manual for law enforcement officers that “demands increased reporting and recording of hate crimes,” with such crimes requiring no evidence other than the alleged victim’s feeling of having been targeted. O’Neill’s research shows that what seems like an uptick in racial hatred is in truth little more than a massive shifting of the goalposts, designed to impugn the culture of a nation that should have no reason to worry about its reputation for tolerance.

“What Do They Do?”
Kevin D. Williamson, National Review
In the years following the 2008 “Great Recession,” commentators on both the Left and the Right have criticized the divergence in lifestyle between America’s highest earners and its broad middle class. For example, the American Enterprise Institute sociologist Charles Murray, though a defender of free enterprise and unequal incomes, has nonetheless critiqued today’s upper class for choosing neighborhoods, eating habits, and sources of entertainment that set them apart from the American mainstream. Writing in National Review, Kevin D. Williamson dismisses this line of thinking, unconvinced that the indulgences of the rich are somehow unraveling our social fabric. On the contrary, Williamson argues that the early adoption by the wealthy of luxury goods like high-end groceries kicks off the process of cost reductions that eventually brings fresh produce to the middle class at ever cheaper prices. With a bit of his signature wryness, Williamson suggests that more good-natured envy and less indignation might correct today’s preoccupation with reining in the well-off.

From our pages:

“Tanglewood dispatch” & “Tanglewood dispatch No. 2”
Eric C. Simpson
On recent performances by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and various other artists and ensembles.

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