Portside

The shadow of war spreads

As the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Pope Francis unified people of different generations. He encouraged genuine love for humans—”Todo, todo, todo.” He spoke out against war, militarism, and the ravages of climate change.

The Great Hunger was a modern event, shaped by the belief that the poor are the authors of their own misery and that the market must be obeyed at all costs.

Today, while the Trump administration continues to unveil new attacks on what the Bible calls, “the least of these,” it’s important to remember the prophetic tradition of faith leaders of the past as well as the heroic moral organizing happening now.

The unforgiving reality of cash bail transforms “innocent until proven guilty” into “guilty until proven wealthy.”

The rich are growing astronomically richer while poverty reduction has ground to a standstill. In today’s world of widespread poverty and unprecedented wealth, how about raising the wages of the most poorly-paid workers?

New research suggests that the company makes the communities it operates in poorer—even taking into account its famous low prices.