THE PAGE THAT COUNTS

Miles Schneiderman

Years from 1972 to 2022 that Republicans have controlled the presidency: 29 Years from 1972 to 2022 that Democrats have controlled the presidency: 22 Number of Supreme Court justices appointed by Republican presidents in that time: 12 Number of justices appointed by Democratic presidents: 5 [1]

Number of people who have served as Supreme Court justices in U.S. history: 116 [2] Number of justices who have been Constitutional originalists (i.e., believe the Constitution should be interpreted as it would have been at the time it was drafted): 6 [3] Number of those justices currently serving on the Supreme Court: 5 [4]

Number of incarcerated workers in the United States prison system: Almost 800,000 Share of these workers who say they will face punishment, including solitary confinement and loss of family visitation, if they refuse to work: 76% Average hourly wage range of incarcerated workers: 13–52 cents Share of this wage taken by prisons to cover fines, taxes, restitution, and other fees: Up to 80% Value of goods and services generated by incarcerated workers: Over $11 billion per year [5] Number of the 100 largest American private defense contractors that profit from incarcerated workers: 37 Share of the 25 largest American arms manufacturers that profit from incarcerated workers: 64% [6]

Total CO2 emissions from the U.S. military in 2017: 23,367 kilotons Rank of the U.S. military for highest CO2 emissions, compared to the world’s nations in 2014: 45 [7]

Percent of toxic air spider plants can remove from a small sealed chamber in 24 hours: 95 Square feet of space from which peace lilies can remove toxins: Up to 100 [8] Increase in productivity measured in offices with indoor plants: Up to 15% [9] Share of respondents in a 2021 poll who said houseplants supported their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: 57% [10]

Typical age at which a human child can solve an “Aesop’s Fable paradigm,” which involves dropping stones into a tube filled with water until a piece of food floating in the water becomes accessible: 7 Number of non-human animals found to be capable of solving this challenge: 3 (rook, Eurasian jay, New Caledonian crow) [11] Approximate number of neurons found in crow brains: 1.5 billion (similar to some monkeys) [12] Number of animals found in a recent study to possess indicators of self-awareness and consciousness despite not having a cerebral cortex: 1 (crows) [13]

SOURCES: [1] U.S. Supreme Court. [2] U.S. Supreme Court. [3] ACLU, via Democracy Now! [4] ACLU, via The Washington Post. [5] ACLU. [6] Mint Press News. [7] Royal Geographical Society. [8] NASA via New York Post. [9] University of Exeter, via ScienceDaily. [10] Wonder. [11] PLOS One. [12] Smithsonian. [13] University of Tübingen, via Science.