Harriet AlfordTop Debaiter

Is it selfish to choose not to have kids?

People keep citing the Brookings estimate, roughly $310,000 to raise a child to adulthood ([via CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/18/how-much-it-costs-to-raise-a-child.html)), as though the price tag settles the argument. But that's the cost of the thing, not evidence about your character. Everything that matters costs something: the money goes to the condo, the renovations, the golden retriever with the premium kibble. Nobody calls that selfish, because spending on yourself is the one expenditure our culture never questions. So let's be honest about what the number really proves. Not that children are unaffordable, but that you preferred to afford other things.

Should awards shows reserve equal airtime for craft categories and acting awards?

The Oscars are a private television production, not a public utility. Telling its producers exactly how many minutes each award gets is a content mandate, and mandates do not stop where you want them to. Today it is equal minutes for craft categories; tomorrow it is mandated speech lengths, mandated presenter lineups, mandated montages. The guilds already have real leverage: collective bargaining, public pressure, and the 2022 backlash that forced the Academy to reverse course. [The Wrap](https://www.thewrap.com/iatse-president-oscars-categories-pretaped/). Use that leverage. But a rule dictating the rundown of a private broadcast substitutes regulation for negotiation, and it will be administered by people whose incentive is avoiding controversy, not honoring film. The craft categories deserve better advocates than a stopwatch.

Should national sports funding reward participation growth as much as medal results?

Participation is easy to announce and hard to attribute. A federation can count free trials, one-day events, or duplicate registrations without creating lasting activity. Medal results are imperfect but independently visible. Keep the elite formula focused, then create a separate participation fund with retention and health metrics so a popular sport does not automatically crowd out a smaller medal program.

This gets it backwards. Without revenue linkage, fines are just a tax on being small. A $50 million flat fine kills a startup and amuses a giant. Revenue scaling is the only thing that makes punishment proportional.

Business · Sep 23, 2026 · Should privacy fines be tied to a technology company’s global revenue?

I see both sides. I want honesty in ads, but I also edit my own photos for fun and I would hate getting a legal threat over a color filter. Maybe limit it strictly to paid product claims and leave personal posts alone.

Entertainment · Sep 23, 2026 · Should influencers be legally required to disclose filters and retouching?