Portside

A new book and film highlight the story of four brilliant teenagers who try to chase the American dream

The “red-red-green” coalition has taken office in Thuringia, German -- having squeezed through to victory by one single wavering vote.

Attorneys general in at least a dozen states are working with energy companies and other corporate interests, which in turn are providing them with record amounts of money for their political campaigns, including at least $16 million this year. They share a common philosophy about the reach of the federal government, but the companies also have billions of dollars at stake. And the collaboration is likely to grow.

Only the U.S. and Israel voted against UN resolutions calling for the prevention of an arms race in outer space and prohibiting the manufacture of new weapons of mass destruction. These two resolutions were among several dealing with disarmament passed by the UN General Assembly December 2nd. The U.S., Israel, Canada, and Micronesia voted against a resolution calling on Israel to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while 20 countries abstained.

President Obama's new policing task force is a welcomed first step, but bolder change is needed to fix the broken relationship between law enforcement and communities of color. The Administration's current proposals are not enough to significantly transform policing nationally or ensure the country learns the right lessons from the tragedies in Ferguson and New York.

With the acquittal of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on all charges of murder and corruption, the military-backed regime of former General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is sending a strong message that Egypt’s authoritarian rulers and their repressive institutions are not accountable for their actions. But, Mubarak’s actual conviction took place three years ago in Tahrir Square when millions of Egyptians condemned his repressive 30-year rule.

The US now is less equal and socially mobile than Europe. Many say education is key to addressing this growing inequality. But the American education system is an offshoot of an increasingly class-driven society, where Americans from different class backgrounds are living in what are effectively becoming different countries. And this inequality threatens to perpetuate itself "almost automatically."

Thirty years since the Union Carbide gas leak tragedy, Bhopal is a city defined—and divided—by the disaster. Authorities labeled 36 wards gas-affected and 20 wards gas unaffected. Today, the contrasts between these areas are clear. The gas-affected areas are home to shanty towns where the deaths took place. They surround the now-dilapidated factory. It is in these towns that the legacy of the 30-year-old gas disaster lives on.

“Non-competes (agreements) create a Balkanized labor force where you’re not a sandwich maker, but either a Jimmy John’s or Subway sandwich maker. Workers, in other words, are being forced to pledge fealty to companies that can still fire them at will. The payoff, of course, is that workers who, practically-speaking, can’t switch jobs are workers who can’t ask for raises.”

Policymakers have to figure out how to turn economic growth into wage growth for the bottom 90 percent. Otherwise the American Dream will just turn into another fairy tale.