Kevin Meuwissen
@kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Social Studies Education, Warner School @ the University of Rochester. Teacher education. Youth political thinking and development. Perpetual learner of things. Enjoyment enthusiast.
Reposted by Kevin Meuwissen
Whenever people complain about the number of folks relying on food stamps, it is worth reminding them that SNAP is, by too large of a degree, a subsidy for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage and their political allies who reject public policy prescriptions to reduce income inequality.
October 27, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Whenever people complain about the number of folks relying on food stamps, it is worth reminding them that SNAP is, by too large of a degree, a subsidy for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage and their political allies who reject public policy prescriptions to reduce income inequality.
I read this differently. SU has not been invited to sign or provide feedback on the compact. Syverud seems to be “inoculating” his community against future assaults via compact 2.0. His remaining term is short; is he cueing what’s to come, in potential compact expansion and leadership response?
Syracuse University says no to Trump’s “compact.”
share.google/vLwXXDhhfPwx...
share.google/vLwXXDhhfPwx...
Syracuse University declines signing Trump's higher education compact
Chancellor Kent Syverud left the door open to signing it if changes were made.
share.google
October 25, 2025 at 12:30 PM
I read this differently. SU has not been invited to sign or provide feedback on the compact. Syverud seems to be “inoculating” his community against future assaults via compact 2.0. His remaining term is short; is he cueing what’s to come, in potential compact expansion and leadership response?
Disease research and prevention. Public education. Renewable energy. And our government’s agencies and infrastructure - including the White House. They’re Americans’ shared investments, our shared wealth, built painstakingly over time. And Trump is destroying all of them with impunity.
It is shocking that Trump is quickly tearing down a portion of the White House. But isn’t the bigger story that this action is of a piece with his autocratic presumption that he can unilaterally destroy public goods without any public consultation or explanation?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/u...
Trump Is Wasting No Time in Tearing Down the East Wing
www.nytimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Disease research and prevention. Public education. Renewable energy. And our government’s agencies and infrastructure - including the White House. They’re Americans’ shared investments, our shared wealth, built painstakingly over time. And Trump is destroying all of them with impunity.
Polling “is DT doing what he promised?” is like polling “does DT say what he thinks and mean what he says?” Both are shit questions that ignore “is what he’s doing good, true, and what people want and need?” They reveal an impoverished view of gov’t as fundamentally unfulfilling and inauthentic.
52% of Americans say Trump is “doing what he promised.” But not all those people *like* what he’s doing! That is key context for interpreting this number, but was notable missing from a viral CNN segment (that the White House later turned into a press release)
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/is-trump-d...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/is-trump-d...
Is Trump “doing what he promised”? | Weekly roundup for October 12, 2025
And what does that even mean? Also this week: Shutdown polls; Left-wing populism; Low favorability ratings for all U.S. leaders; Judges' concerns about Trump; + more!
www.gelliottmorris.com
October 12, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Polling “is DT doing what he promised?” is like polling “does DT say what he thinks and mean what he says?” Both are shit questions that ignore “is what he’s doing good, true, and what people want and need?” They reveal an impoverished view of gov’t as fundamentally unfulfilling and inauthentic.
It was a nice civil society while it lasted… “‘There is almost no digital content that can be used to prove that anything in particular happened.’ Such an effect is known as the liar’s dividend: that increasingly high-caliber A.I. videos will allow people to dismiss authentic content as fake.”
OpenAI’s Sora Makes Disinformation Extremely Easy and Extremely Real
www.nytimes.com
October 3, 2025 at 2:45 PM
It was a nice civil society while it lasted… “‘There is almost no digital content that can be used to prove that anything in particular happened.’ Such an effect is known as the liar’s dividend: that increasingly high-caliber A.I. videos will allow people to dismiss authentic content as fake.”
A fantastic column about corporate power, information disorder, corrupted political discourse, a collapsing First Amendment, and the consequences thereof, post-Kirk. “No citizen who simply settles for being a consumer of democracy should expect to have a real democracy ever again.”
Opinion | Mourn, or Else
www.nytimes.com
October 1, 2025 at 6:02 PM
A fantastic column about corporate power, information disorder, corrupted political discourse, a collapsing First Amendment, and the consequences thereof, post-Kirk. “No citizen who simply settles for being a consumer of democracy should expect to have a real democracy ever again.”
Speech goals: (1) ensure top military leaders are all in one place and have to listen; (2) say outrageous, unconstitutional, violence-affirming things; (3) wait to see which leaders disavow those things; (4) purge those leaders and empower the rest.
This is grounds for Congress to remove Trump today.
Trump declares war on Americans: "Our history is filled with military heroes who took on all enemies foreign and domestic. That's what the oath says -- foreign and domestic. Well we also have domestic."
September 30, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Speech goals: (1) ensure top military leaders are all in one place and have to listen; (2) say outrageous, unconstitutional, violence-affirming things; (3) wait to see which leaders disavow those things; (4) purge those leaders and empower the rest.
Just gonna leave this right here. Wondering which big-name recording artist will crack the top 40 with a contemporary Horst Wessel Song, and when. Or maybe it’ll be a well propagandized, previously unknown Rich-Men-North-Of-Richmond-style viral sensation.
Horst Wessel - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
September 22, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Just gonna leave this right here. Wondering which big-name recording artist will crack the top 40 with a contemporary Horst Wessel Song, and when. Or maybe it’ll be a well propagandized, previously unknown Rich-Men-North-Of-Richmond-style viral sensation.
Related pragmatic problems include “autocrats use isolated instances of political violence as false pretexts to dehumanize and wage oppressive, large-scale warfare on political opponents” and “this will calcify martyrdom and vengeance within the right-wing victimization narrative.”
Political violence disproportionately hurts people with less power, not people with more power. Political violence will disproportionately hurt people of color and women and LGBTQ people. It’s not fair, but that’s the way it works. Celebrating political violence means at best indifference to that.
Political violence is bad. It usually begets more political violence.
Celebrating political violence is bad. It usually encourages more political violence, against various targets.
Campus shootings are bad. They make everyone on campus less safe.
It's bad that what I wrote here is controversial.
Celebrating political violence is bad. It usually encourages more political violence, against various targets.
Campus shootings are bad. They make everyone on campus less safe.
It's bad that what I wrote here is controversial.
September 10, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Related pragmatic problems include “autocrats use isolated instances of political violence as false pretexts to dehumanize and wage oppressive, large-scale warfare on political opponents” and “this will calcify martyrdom and vengeance within the right-wing victimization narrative.”
“Why would we put at risk laboratories that are working to cure cancers or perfect artificial limbs… or test the limits of artificial intelligence? We need to get up from under our desks and persuade fellow citizens that the institutions they’ve helped create with their tax dollars are important.”
Opinion | We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself
www.nytimes.com
September 8, 2025 at 8:46 PM
“Why would we put at risk laboratories that are working to cure cancers or perfect artificial limbs… or test the limits of artificial intelligence? We need to get up from under our desks and persuade fellow citizens that the institutions they’ve helped create with their tax dollars are important.”
I’ve heard “I didn’t vote for this” among folks who went the wrong way in the easiest two-item multiple choice test ever. Response: “Yes, you did. Maybe you didn’t INTEND for things to be this way, though there were many signs that they could. That said, how do you INTEND to act from here forward?”
New, from me:
America is no longer a functioning democracy. It is a competitive authoritarian system, hurtling rapidly toward authoritarianism.
This was a hard piece to write but we can't move forward if we don’t acknowledge where we are.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-author...
America is no longer a functioning democracy. It is a competitive authoritarian system, hurtling rapidly toward authoritarianism.
This was a hard piece to write but we can't move forward if we don’t acknowledge where we are.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-author...
The authoritarian checklist
It is time to admit that America is no longer a functioning democracy
donmoynihan.substack.com
August 28, 2025 at 6:18 PM
I’ve heard “I didn’t vote for this” among folks who went the wrong way in the easiest two-item multiple choice test ever. Response: “Yes, you did. Maybe you didn’t INTEND for things to be this way, though there were many signs that they could. That said, how do you INTEND to act from here forward?”
Reposted by Kevin Meuwissen
"many ... wrongly believe there would be one clear unambiguous moment where we go from 'democracy' to 'authoritarianism.' Instead, this is exactly how it happens — a blurring here, a norm destroyed there, a presidential diktat unchallenged. Then you wake up one morning and our country is different."
The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/america-ti...
America Tips Into Fascism
Today is different than before.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
August 25, 2025 at 4:36 PM
"many ... wrongly believe there would be one clear unambiguous moment where we go from 'democracy' to 'authoritarianism.' Instead, this is exactly how it happens — a blurring here, a norm destroyed there, a presidential diktat unchallenged. Then you wake up one morning and our country is different."
Reposted by Kevin Meuwissen
Your occasional reminder that the current U.S. government — headed by a felon, his personal attorneys, and other criminal sympathizers — has used federal power 1) to protect convicted thugs who assaulted police in his behalf and 2) to punish the
law enforcement officials who prosecuted those thugs.
law enforcement officials who prosecuted those thugs.
Reframing Jan. 6: After the Pardons, the Purge
www.nytimes.com
August 24, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Your occasional reminder that the current U.S. government — headed by a felon, his personal attorneys, and other criminal sympathizers — has used federal power 1) to protect convicted thugs who assaulted police in his behalf and 2) to punish the
law enforcement officials who prosecuted those thugs.
law enforcement officials who prosecuted those thugs.
Bad people are taking our public wealth - investments in our shared understanding of health, education, our environment, our economy - and reallocating it to pay cruel, violent, masked fascists to attack and imprison people in flagrant defiance of the rule of law.
Data that taxpayers have paid for and rely on is disappearing – here’s how it’s happening and what you can do about it
Detailed data that US government agencies collect and make available has underpinned research about people, medicine, science, crime, jobs, housing, climate and the economy.
theconversation.com
August 20, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Bad people are taking our public wealth - investments in our shared understanding of health, education, our environment, our economy - and reallocating it to pay cruel, violent, masked fascists to attack and imprison people in flagrant defiance of the rule of law.
“The assumption of our goodness protects us from accountability for indecent thoughts, words, and actions... But goodness is determined by the way you move through this world; and good people don't align with this kind of criminality and immorality, no matter what story they tell themselves.”
No, Good People Don't Still Support Him
Everyone believes they're essentially a good human being.
johnpavlovitz.substack.com
August 11, 2025 at 9:04 AM
“The assumption of our goodness protects us from accountability for indecent thoughts, words, and actions... But goodness is determined by the way you move through this world; and good people don't align with this kind of criminality and immorality, no matter what story they tell themselves.”
We educators of civic educators must rethink and rebuild. Questions: why, how, and what ought we teach now that “American democracy” is past tense; how do we assert public good and verifiable truth as core to our teaching; what kinds of micro/meso/exosystemic civics are practicable, to what ends?
depressing thought of the day:
I often hear people say how we need to invest in civic education.
But any honest civic education today would teach how broken our system of government is and just further reinforce the cynicism of a younger generation.
And anything else would be a lie.
I often hear people say how we need to invest in civic education.
But any honest civic education today would teach how broken our system of government is and just further reinforce the cynicism of a younger generation.
And anything else would be a lie.
August 10, 2025 at 8:48 PM
We educators of civic educators must rethink and rebuild. Questions: why, how, and what ought we teach now that “American democracy” is past tense; how do we assert public good and verifiable truth as core to our teaching; what kinds of micro/meso/exosystemic civics are practicable, to what ends?
Chaos and uncertainty, leading to wastefulness and claims that public goods are inefficient and ineffective, are features, not bugs, of this administration.
In the past 3 weeks, how many hours did state and district leaders spend frantically re-arranging budgets, contracts, and staffing plans to address the budget uncertainty? Did that improve student outcomes?
What a ridiculous waste of scarce resources.
What a ridiculous waste of scarce resources.
“Celebrate today, but keep organizing and keep advocating and using your voice so we can make sure that our students get the services that they need,” said Montserrat Garibay www.edweek.org/policy-polit...
July 26, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Chaos and uncertainty, leading to wastefulness and claims that public goods are inefficient and ineffective, are features, not bugs, of this administration.
The arc of history bends toward impunity for those who use power and money to dismantle justice under false pretenses.
Here's Linda McMahon on the Columbia "deal." Note that she describes it more accurately than the Times as a conservative attack on universities.
bsky.app/profile/atru...
bsky.app/profile/atru...
Linda McMahon on Columbia settlement: "This is a monumental victory for conservatives who wanted to do things on these elite campuses for a long time because we had such far left-leaning professors."
July 24, 2025 at 1:22 PM
The arc of history bends toward impunity for those who use power and money to dismantle justice under false pretenses.
Formula for a minoritarian party to destroy public goods and rule over the majority indefinitely: exercise of power > reason + rule of law + public accountability.
The six GOP Justices don't even *try* to explain why they keep leaping in to prevent courts from upholding the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress.
By doing so, they send a clearer message than any opinion could: they don't care about the law and don't think laws should bind Republicans.
By doing so, they send a clearer message than any opinion could: they don't care about the law and don't think laws should bind Republicans.
And they need to explain why they were so aggressive in slapping down President Biden's comparatively penny ante uses of executive power, compared to how aggressive they are in slapping down lower courts that take on President Trump's much more significant abuses.
July 14, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Formula for a minoritarian party to destroy public goods and rule over the majority indefinitely: exercise of power > reason + rule of law + public accountability.
Formula for a minoritarian party to destroy public goods and rule over the majority indefinitely: exercise of power > reason + rule of law + public accountability.
thinking about the dems who said we can't abolish ICE as the Department of Education gets wiped off the map
July 14, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Formula for a minoritarian party to destroy public goods and rule over the majority indefinitely: exercise of power > reason + rule of law + public accountability.
Advancements in science, medicine, public health, pollution and disaster mitigation, and renewable energies belong to 350 million Americans. They’re shared, multi-generational investments; our collective wealth. And they’re being dismantled and thrown away for secret police and concentration camps.
This might be the most important story for the U.S. since WW2.
We are obliterating our research enterprise.
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/s...
We are obliterating our research enterprise.
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/s...
Trump Seeks to Cut Basic Scientific Research by Roughly One-Third, Report Shows
www.nytimes.com
July 11, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Advancements in science, medicine, public health, pollution and disaster mitigation, and renewable energies belong to 350 million Americans. They’re shared, multi-generational investments; our collective wealth. And they’re being dismantled and thrown away for secret police and concentration camps.
I feel like this post is just a brag, really. “This road exists in a functional democracy; and also, we care about the natural world and use our public resources to tell people about that.”
bluesky wouldn't tell us if it was captured by the elites, but there would be signs
June 21, 2025 at 1:04 PM
I feel like this post is just a brag, really. “This road exists in a functional democracy; and also, we care about the natural world and use our public resources to tell people about that.”
Thanks so much, @matthewfacciani.bsky.social, for the opportunity to connect! Misguided is a great podcast; and it’s an honor to be part of the program.
How do we prepare high school students to navigate a world full of disinformation and polarization? I talk with education professor @kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social about what it looks like to teach critical thinking & civic responsibility in the classroom.
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/preparing-...
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/preparing-...
Preparing High School Students to Navigate Disinformation and Polarization
Kevin Meuwissen on teaching truth, critical thinking, and civic dialogue
matthewfacciani.substack.com
June 21, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Thanks so much, @matthewfacciani.bsky.social, for the opportunity to connect! Misguided is a great podcast; and it’s an honor to be part of the program.
A clear, compelling discussion of how democratic erosion manifests in the domains of science and education, and a pragmatic risk-assessment tool to help scholars decide what to do about that, individually and collectively. And it’s free. Save; read; share.
I am privileged to announce the publication of the Anti-Autocracy Handbook: sks.to/autocracy 1/12
The Anti-Autocracy Handbook: A Scholars' Guide to Navigating Democratic Backsliding
The Anti-Autocracy Handbook is a call to action, resilience, and collective defence of democracy, truth, and academic freedom in the face of mounting authoritarianism. It tries to provide guidance to ...
sks.to
June 19, 2025 at 10:32 AM
A clear, compelling discussion of how democratic erosion manifests in the domains of science and education, and a pragmatic risk-assessment tool to help scholars decide what to do about that, individually and collectively. And it’s free. Save; read; share.