--- description: Income inequality and slavery's legacy, superdistricts to fix Congress, gov't repression in Egypt, transforming offshore oil rigs, and more. title: These are Today's Best Ideas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 25 by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 25, 2014 4:15 PM CUT by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 25, 2014 4:15 PM CUT **1\.** [**Slavery’s long shadow is inextricably linked to modern income inequality in the south.**](http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/08/23/where-slavery-thrived-inequality-rules-today/iF5zgFsXncPoYmYCMMs67J/story.html "undefined") By Stephen Mihm in the Boston Globe **2\.** [**Superdistricts in the House of Representatives could end the tyranny of incumbency in Congress.**](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/katrina-vanden-heuvel-we-need-a-fairer-system-for-choosing-house-members/2014/08/19/bf93c84c-271c-11e4-8593-da634b334390%5Fstory.html "undefined") By Katrina vanden Heuvel in the Washington Post **3\.** [**Yelp the Police: Georgia teens build an app to rate law enforcement interactions.**](http://www.businessinsider.com/fiveo-app-built-by-teenagers-to-document-police-abuse-2014-8 "undefined") By Rebecca Borison in Business Insider **4\.** [**The new Egyptian government’s policies of repression and exclusion could push citizens into the arms of extremist groups.**](http://carnegieendowment.org/2014/08/20/egypt-counterterrorism-and-politics-of-alienation/hlk4 "undefined") By Michele Dunn and Scott Williamson at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. **5\.** [**Transforming oil and gas rigs into artificial reefs could save the delicate ecosystems formed around the structures.**](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amber-jackson/rigs-to-reefs-exploring-t%5Fb%5F5044269.html "undefined") By Amber Jackson in Huffington Post  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3174687/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-25/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3174687/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-25/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 25","datePublished":"2014-08-25T16:15:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:43:05.074Z","description":"Income inequality and slavery's legacy, superdistricts to fix Congress, gov't repression in Egypt, transforming offshore oil rigs, and more.","url":"https://time.com/3174687/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-25/","keywords":["Innovation","Environment","Oil","Government","Terrorism","slavery","Income Inequality","House of Representatives","reform","Egypt","Gas"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3174687/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-25/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 25"}}]}] ```