Check out these recent articles from around the web:

What if We’re the Bad Guys Here? by David Brooks: “The most important of those systems is the modern meritocracy. We built an entire social order that sorts and excludes people on the basis of the quality that we possess most: academic achievement. Highly educated parents go to elite schools, marry each other, work at high-paying professional jobs and pour enormous resources into our children, who get into the same elite schools, marry each other and pass their exclusive class privileges down from generation to generation.”

The Weaponization of Loneliness by Hillary Rodham Clinton: “Many of the activities and relationships that had defined and sustained previous generations, such as attending religious services and joining unions, clubs, and civic organizations—even participating in local bowling leagues—were disappearing. Putnam’s more recent work shows that these trends have only gotten worse in the early decades of the 21st century, and that they go hand in hand with intensifying political polarization, economic inequality, loss of trust in government, and a shift in the national attitude from ‘we’re all in this together’ to ‘you’re on your own.’”

A Hidden Currency of Incalculable Worth by Esau McCaulley: “Poverty is the great thief of time, robbing parents of hours spent with their children. It takes them away from sporting events, choir concerts, ballet recitals, afternoon homework and watching Saturday morning cartoons, snuggled on the couch in pajamas. Despite the indestructible myth of the poor as lazy, many heads of struggling families endure long, unpredictable hours for little pay to provide for their offspring.Scholars call this time poverty. It may seem unconventional to describe a lack of seconds, minutes and hours as a form of destitution. But poverty is a scarcity that extends to every aspect of life.”

Rising Heat Deaths Are Not Just About the Temperature by Tish Harrison Warren: “We, as a society, cannot simply wash our hands of these deaths, passively blaming them on a number on a thermometer. Human society and industry have contributed to the rising heat of climate change. And human society — the government, the church and individuals alike — has failed to ensure that those most at risk are kept safe. So, as heat deaths rise, when we speak of those who die, don’t just say they died of heat. Say they died of poverty, of neglect, of a world that values the wealthy more than those who are not, of a society that looks away from the preventable suffering of the vulnerable.”

Non-white Moderates Are Real Democrats — Not GOP Pawns by Jonathan Chait: “The party’s most restive constituencies are increasingly racial minorities: African Americans and Latinos as well as Asian Americans. These constituencies remain heavily, even overwhelmingly Democratic but disproportionately compose the party’s moderate wing, which is why Republicans are beginning to eat into their margins.”

When It Comes to Swimming, ‘Why Have Americans Been Left on Their Own?’ by Mara Gay: “America can build more public pools. It can transform natural bodies of water into safer places to swim. It can subsidize swimming lessons and raise pay for lifeguards, making the job more attractive. The United States can build a culture of swimming instead of one of drowning.”

Myanmar’s military said it bombed ‘terrorists.’ It killed children. by Rebecca Tan and Cape Diamond: “At least 157 people were killed, according to two local groups that have verified the toll over several months. It was the single deadliest attack by the Myanmar military since it seized control from a civilian government in 2021, and a stunning demonstration, analysts said, of how far the junta is willing to go to crush the resistance movement that has pushed it out of large swaths of the country.”

Charles Ogletree, legal scholar who championed reparations, dies at 70 by Harrison Smith: “Charles J. Ogletree Jr., a Harvard Law professor who championed civil rights in the classroom as well as the courtroom, notably through his resolute but unsuccessful campaigns to obtain reparations for the survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre and the descendants of enslaved people, died Aug. 4 at his home in Odenton, Md. He was 70.”

I am a young Latina and I’m lonely in the church by Catalina Morales Bahena: “After the women’s conference, I began to realize that I no longer have to wonder what my grandmother would say, because I can actually ask many of the women still in our pews because we are many. I can reach out and actually begin to find my people again and not be alone. Yet, I also left the space wishing that the church looked different, that I had friends in the pews that looked like me and like me, wanted a more spiritual life in the church. I don’t know if that will happen, but at least now I know I’m not alone in my faith and struggle to be heard.”

The NBA Is Saying “Trust Us.” Should We by Tom Haberstroh: “From where I sit, the potential for corruption and interference by dark forces hasn’t been eradicated simply because everyone’s swimming in money. Referee operations rife with cronyism and nepotism, the vagaries of the load management era and shadowy intel networks among power brokers have left the league vulnerable to lurking wrongdoers. There are conflicts upon conflicts upon conflicts. And it’s not even just the conflicts — but the mere perception of conflicts. This is why the level of trust that exists among both insiders and outsiders is still woeful.”

In a post-Dobbs world, helping women in crisis is key by Heidi Schlumpf: “Jeannie French has worked in real estate for years, so she’s well aware of the adage about the three most important factors in a property: “location, location, location.” That’s why when she decided to open a combination resale shop/pregnancy help center, she knew it had to be in downtown Pittsburgh, where women in need would stop by.”