The Daily Signal

DEI killed meritocracy—and white men in America have paid the price.



Victor Davis Hanson breaks down a recent, controversial article from Compact Magazine, which examines how white males have been increasingly excluded from fields like entertainment, journalism, and academia over the past several decades. Hanson explores the effects of early affirmative action, post-George Floyd hiring practices, and who bears responsibility for these changes on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”



“I do blame the older white hierarchy, mostly liberal professors, liberal journalists, liberal directors, liberal actors, liberal screenwriters. They all had nice cushy jobs. They earned them. Then they decided in their utopian generosity that they were going to admit people into their guilds without the same criterion that they had had because it made them feel better.



“In other words, they didn't accept Tom Sowell's or Shelby Steele's advice or Jason Riley's that says, when you do that, you're going to encourage mediocrity and opportunist, and you're going to deprecate the work of African Americans or Hispanics that are very talented. But that's what you're going to do just to gratify your own sense of ego and shame. And that's exactly what happened.”



(0:00) Introduction
(0:21) Compact Article
(0:57) Affirmative Action and Its Impact
(2:50) Meritocracy Loss
(4:12) Blame and Responsibility
(5:54) Consequences of Lower Standards
(7:07) Conclusion



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“Affordability” is the word going into the 2026 midterm elections—and a GOP win is incumbent on Trump’s ability to communicate the truth on the economy.



Victor Davis Hanson says that, despite recent economic wins such as falling inflation rates and tax cuts, the public perception of economic pain persists because Democrats have successfully shifted blame onto President Donald Trump from the real culprit—former President Joe Biden. How did this happen? And can the Trump administration fix this perception in less than a year? Hanson breaks it down on today’s episode of "Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”



(0:00) Introduction
(0:21) Key Issues in the 2026 Midterms
(1:45) Trump’s Economic Wins
(3:32) Democrat Misconceptions
(4:55) Foreign Policy Focus
(6:42) Conclusion



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The disastrous way in which public officials handled the Bondi Beach massacre begs the question: Why are authorities hesitant to call out radical Islamist violence when it occurs?



From a mass shooting in Australia to canceled Christmas celebrations in Paris, Victor Davis Hanson argues these incidents are not isolated. Instead, they reveal deeper pathologies facing Western societies: open borders without assimilation, ideological blinders driven by DEI dogma, and a broader cultural, spiritual, and strategic decline. He breaks it down on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”



“In the case of these incidents, it means, if the perpetrator is from the Middle East, there's a feeling, a general feeling, that you cannot identify him. Or, if you do identify him or you say it's a radical, Muslim, you have to then say, ‘We deplore all violence. We don't—we deplore antisemitism’—which is the case in point in Australia—‘but we also deplore Islamophobia, of which there is no examples of people mass shooting Muslims in the case that we have seen.’” 



(0:00) Introduction
(1:31) Champs-Élysées Christmas Cancellation
(2:01) Brown University Shooting
(3:11) Broader Issues in the West
(3:21) Open Borders and Lack of Assimilation
(5:42) Western Decline and Its Consequences
(7:23) Final Thoughts



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On today’s Top News in 10:


The Brown University and MIT Shooter suspect is found dead, reported suicide, in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire.

A follow-up terrorist attack on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia is thwarted before more were killed.

Haitian migrants in Massachusetts join Somali migrants in Minnesota with another major welfare and NGO fraud scandal.




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Tensions between Venezuela and the United States are rising as Trump cracks down on drug trafficking, illicit oil shipments, and hostile foreign influence in Latin America. With talk of confrontation swirling in the media, questions are mounting about how far the U.S. should go—and what lessons history offers.



Victor Davis Hanson puts Trump’s standoff with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro into historical perspective and explains why a military invasion of Venezuela would be a strategic mistake on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”



“Something that the world is looking at. And for the United States to go in there and have a ground removal, I think would be unwise at this point. So, what would be the alternative? It's sort of what we're doing now. We're isolating all drug shipments, illegal transportation of embargoed oil out of Venezuela. It's kind of a quasi-blockade/embargo. And they're going to tighten the screws.”



(0:00) Introduction

(0:50) US Interdiction Efforts

(2:18) Historical Context: The Invasion of Grenada

(5:24) Challenges of a Venezuelan Invasion

(6:21) Political Ramifications

(7:37) Final Thoughts



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