--- description: Five of our favorite ideas of 2014: maps to understand the border, tackling structural racism, how to save second-term presidents 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: December 23 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 23, 2014 5:01 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 23, 2014 5:01 PM CUT Today we’re highlighting five of our favorite “Best Ideas” from 2014. **1\.** [**Affirmative Action should be adapted to accommodate structural racism and America’s modern segregation.**](http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/07/sheryll%5Fcashin%5Fa%5Freply%5Fto%5Fmy%5Fcritics.html "undefined") By Sheryll Cashin in the Root **2\.** [**The death penalty is incompatible with human dignity.**](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-ogletree-the-death-penalty-is-incompatible-with-human-dignity/2014/07/18/c0849dea-0e6b-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2%5Fstory.html "undefined") By Charles Ogletree in the Washington Post **3\.** [**The border isn’t the problem: A detailed, map-powered breakdown of the real story behind this immigration crisis.**](http://wilsonquarterly.com/stories/interactive-map-undocumented-unaccompanied-and-underage/ "undefined") By Zack Stanton in the Wilson Quarterly **4\.** [**Forty lost years: the case for one six-year term for U.S. presidents.**](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/74dacab2-1e3e-11e4-ab52-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3LcyY9j5M "undefined") By Lawrence Summers in the Financial Times **5\.** [**The wisdom of crowds: The CIA is learning a lot by aggregating the guesswork of ordinary Americans.**](http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/04/02/297839429/-so-you-think-youre-smarter-than-a-cia-agent "undefined") By Alix Spiegel at National Public Radio  [_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/3645556/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-23/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3645556/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-23/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 23","datePublished":"2014-12-23T17:01:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:31.637Z","description":"Five of our favorite ideas of 2014: maps to understand the border, tackling structural racism, how to save second-term presidents and more.","url":"https://time.com/3645556/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-23/","keywords":["Innovation","Obama","Immigration","Death Penalty","President","presidency","CIA","Constitution","Affirmative Action","central america","border","border crisis"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"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/3645556/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-23/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 23"}}]}] ```