Over the past several years, Minnesota has become the unlikely center of one of the largest public assistance fraud crises in the country. What began as isolated scandals has evolved into something far more troubling: a systemic vulnerability in programs designed to serve the most vulnerable—low-income families, seniors, the disabled, and those in need of basic care. Federal prosecutors have described it in stark terms: “industrial-scale fraud.” And the numbers are staggering.

Human beings like to believe they see the world as it is. We take comfort in the idea that our opinions are grounded in facts, that our conclusions are rational, and that our judgments are fair. But in reality, we rarely see things objectively. Instead, we see the world through a series of filters—formed by our experiences, upbringing, beliefs, and, perhaps most powerfully, our political identities.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly moved from a futuristic concept to an everyday reality, especially in the lives of high school and college students. Tools like ChatGPT, automated writing assistants, and problem-solving apps are now commonly used to complete assignments, study for exams, and even generate entire essays. While these technologies offer remarkable convenience and efficiency, they also raise important questions: Are students truly learning, or are they outsourcing their thinking? And more importantly, what impact will this have on the development of the next generation? The answer, like most things in life, lies somewhere in the middle. AI is neither inherently harmful nor universally beneficial—it depends entirely on how it is used.

In recent years, a new term has entered the digital vocabulary: enshittification. The word describes a common pattern in the evolution of online platforms—especially large social media networks—where a service begins as a valuable, user-friendly space but gradually declines as companies prioritize growth, advertising revenue, and data extraction over the user experience. While the term is blunt, it captures a reality many users have felt for years. Facebook is often cited as a prime example of how this process unfolds.