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The Lost Counterculture

Stephen Maher Jacobin
Inherent Vice is perhaps the most brilliant depiction of the construction of neoliberal hegemony and the harsh end of the dreams of the 1960s generation. It speaks powerfully to the here and now, indicting the nostalgic escapism that yearns for “the sixties” and showing that this epochal world as commonly imagined never existed.

Meritocracy and "Testocracy," An Interview with Lani Guinier

Jeff Bryant Salon
The over-emphasis on test scores and other quantifiable outcomes – often at the exclusion of other kinds of data – distorts just about every aspect of American society.T hat, in part, is the view of “The Tyranny of the Meritocracy: Democratizing Higher Education in America,” a new book by Harvard law professor and civil rights authority Lani Guinier.

When You’ve Lost Bernie Sanders: How Netanyahu Destroyed the Israel Lobby

Juan Cole Informed Comment; Common Dreams
Bernie Sanders’s announcement may well signal a turning point in the domestic politics of Mideast policy. Despite his strong progressive vision, Sanders has in the past been reluctant to criticize Israel. He, like many on the American left, held up Israel in general as a progressive cause, regardless of the country’s colonial actions in the Palestinian West Bank or its illegal blockade of Gaza.

Beyond Survival: Organizing to End Human Trafficking of Domestic Workers

National Domestic Workers Alliance National Domestic Workers Alliance
With survivor stories and data, the Beyond Survival report and campaign paint a stark reality of domestic worker trafficking in the United States. Including clear policy recommendations for domestic and international decision-makers, emphasizing that survivors themselves must lead the way to end labor exploitation, Beyond Survival empowers trafficking survivors through integrated trainings and leadership development to transform work and end human trafficking.

Call for US to Negotiate with North Korea: Proposal to Cancel Nuclear Tests

World Beyond War World Beyond War
The North Korean (DPRK) government disclosed on January 10 that it had delivered to the United States an important proposal to “create a peaceful climate on the Korean Peninsula". The US should negotiate with North Korea on its proposal to cancel nuclear tests in exchange for a US suspension of joint military exercises with South Korea.

Greece Needs an Exit Option

Dean Baker Al Jazeera America
Greece needs a viable exit option, both because it may actually want to go this route and also because it needs greater bargaining power with the troika.

How Radical Change Occurs: Eric Foner

Mike Konczal / Kevin Baker The Nation / New York Times
Foner wanted to document his last time teaching the course, and he's teamed with edX to present it as three online classes. The themes running through his work—race in America, the influence of radicals on history, and economic oppression as a force of white supremacy—have never felt more relevant.