Skip to main content

We, the Plutocrats vs. We, the People - Saving the Soul of Democracy

Bill Moyers TomDispatch
Our country's greatest failing, the true disaster, of our time: the scourge of growing inequality, economic and political. It is despicable as the very wealthy convert their financial might into political power to guard that wealth while exacerbating inequality further. This is the vast difference between a society whose arrangements serve all its citizens or one whose institutions have been converted into a stupendous fraud - democracy in name only.

Child Care Often Pricier Than Rent, Food, and College Tuition

Teddy Wilson Rewire
"Improving our nation's child-care system will have a compound effect," said Aleyamma Mathew, director of the Women's Economic Justice Program of the Ms. Foundation for Women. "Not only on the millions of women in the workforce but on communities and the economy as a whole."

A Muslim Woman Was Set on Fire in New York. Now Just Going Out Requires Courage

Linda Sarsour The Guardian
Muslim American communities are facing the most hostile civic and political environment since days, weeks and months after 9/11. Hate crimes against Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim has risen exponentially in the last year. Bigotry against Muslims has become the norm and often has no consequences. The irresponsible and rhetorical vilification of Muslims in this current election cycle is leading to violent acts against members of a faith community and it must stop

Europe's Left after Brexit

Yanis Varoufakis Yanis Varoufakis
In the past year two referenda shook up both the European Union and Europe's Left: the Greek OXI in July 2015 and Brexit in June 2016. Exasperated by the EU's mixture of authoritarianism and economic failure, a segment of Europe's Left is calling for a 'break with the EU',[2] a stance that has come to be associated with the term Lexit.[3] DiEM25, the transnational Democracy in Europe Movement, rejects that logic and offers an alternative Progressive Agenda for Europe.

Debating Walzer on Religious Revivalism

Avishi Margalit and Assaf Sharon Boston Review
While Michael Walzer's book on religious revivalism is acknowledged by the reviewers as a critical engagement and characteristically insightful, they also fault the author for wrongly diagnosing its effects and its prescription. In a link (below the review) Walzer replies, as do the reviewers.

Tidbits - September 15, 2016 - Reader Comments: Standing Rock; Trump Supporters; GOP Voter Suppression; Saudi Arabia; Women's Boat to Gaza; data crunching tool; sex; and more.....

Portside
Reader Comments: Standing Rock - Protest, Solidarity and Pension Funds; Hillary Right About Trump Supporters; GOP Manipulation and Voter Suppression; Class War by Other Means; Saudi Arabia; Women's Boat to Gaza Sets Sail; Facts and Numbers to Fightback With - EPI's new data crunching tool; Announcements: Virtual Book Discussion about `Because of Sex; 50-Year Rag Reunion & Public Celebration - Austin, Texas

Brexit and Migration: a Swiss View

Vasco Pedrina Global Labour Institute
We have to grasp the fact that the supposedly stupid people who are under the influence of right-wing populists, who refuse to understand that impoverishment is the price that has to be paid for the enrichment of the few and the unstoppable globalisation of capitalism, are really not so stupid. They are calling for a change of course. And so we must think back to the idea of solidarity, of social rights and democracy.

"A Racial Entitlement" - The Right to Vote

Benjamin Jealous; Joan Walsh
"It no longer surprises me when extremist state legislators try to restrict our voting rights. I don't like it and we fight against it, but I'm no longer surprised by it." "What surprises and outrages me is that yesterday a Supreme Court Justice said that the protection of the right to vote is a 'perpetuation of racial entitlement.'" Benjamin Jealous, President and CEO, NAACP

Tidbits - February 24, 2013

Portside
Recent Problems with Portside Delivery. Readers' Comments on: Roots of Poverty; Israel, Palestine and the Oscars; Friday Nite Videos; `Demographics' Are Not Simply Passive Numbers; Do You Know Genetics; Big Labor's Lock 'Em Up Mentality; Oscar Nominee `Invisible War'; Portside should use Facebook page more. Announcements - upcoming events in New York, Bay Area, Chicago and Washington, DC