Dispatches From the Culture Wars – June 20, 2023

https://portside.org/2023-06-20/dispatches-culture-wars-june-20-2023
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  1. Morale in the Workplace
  2. Fear, Violence and MAGA
  3. The Fight Over Education
  4. Biden’s Faulty Take on Antisemitism
  5. Onward Christian Soldiers
  6. Psychology Polarized
  7. Can MDMA Cure Race Hate?
  8. Healthcare and Dobbs
  9. Dark Money in a Nonprofit
  10. How Floridians Cope

Morale in the Workplace

By Lindsay Ellis
Wall Street Journal

More and more Americans aren’t feeling great at work. Half of workers aren’t engaged on the job, putting in minimal effort to get by, according to research by Gallup. Employee engagement, a measure of involvement and enthusiasm at work, declined for the second year in a row. There is also a growing share of the workforce that is disengaged, or resentful that their needs aren’t being met.

Fear, Violence and MAGA

By Chauncey DeVega
Salon

We must be very careful not to infer that the dangers of violence and terrorism from the Trumpists and other members of the white right and neofascist movement are somehow diminished or spent – when, in fact, such an incorrect conclusion is exactly what such malign actors desire.

The Fight Over Education

Biden’s Faulty Take on Antisemitism

By Donna Nevel
Truthout

A White House strategic plan on combatting antisemitism was recently released. At a briefing hosted by the White House and the Anti-Defamation League, the speakers reaffirmed the dangerous view that opposing Israeli apartheid and Zionism falls into the category of antisemitism. This view is echoed in the White House plan.

Onward Christian Soldiers

Psychology Polarized

By J Oliver Conroy
The Guardian

The chain of events that followed a graduate psychology class has torn the insular world of psychoanalysis into bitter factions; sparked legal petitions, counter-petitions, investigations, ethics complaints, disinvitations, resignations, death threats and accusations of libel; and led the president of the United States’ preeminent psychoanalytic association to step down.

Can MDMA Cure Race Hate?

By Rachel Newer
BBC

MDMA – and other psychedelics-assisted therapy – could transform the field of mental health through widespread clinical use in the US and beyond, for addressing trauma and possibly other conditions as well. Some researchers have begun to wonder if it could be an effective tool for pushing people who are already somehow primed to reconsider their ideology toward a new way of seeing things. 

Healthcare and Dobbs

By Julie Rovner
KFF Health News

The rush in conservative states to ban abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade is resulting in a startling consequence that abortion opponents may not have considered: fewer medical services available for all women living in those states.

Dark Money in a Nonprofit

By Daniel Boguslaw
The Intercept

The Documentary Foundation, a tax-exempt nonprofit, received millions of dollars, including hundreds of thousands in untraceable cash, at the same time that it propped up a new right-wing media venture.

How Floridians Cope

By Talib Visram
Fast Company

Sometimes, the resistance comes in the form of teachers simply conducting their classes as normal. High school history teacher Brandt Robinson has no plans to alter his lessons or methods. His world history class touches on African history, including the transatlantic slave trade and the Middle Passage. 


Source URL: https://portside.org/2023-06-20/dispatches-culture-wars-june-20-2023