Economy

by Jeffrey Kucik | – With the U.S.-China trade war intensifying, there is a lot of talk about whether tariffs save American jobs – as President Donald Trump claims – or destroy them. On May 14, for example, Trump said his tariffs helped save the U.S. steel industry. Whether or not that’s true, many economists […]

Inequality

The Reality for the Middle Classes behind the supposedly “Surging” U.S. Economy

Inequality.org

By Sarah Anderson | – A tiny uptick in wages won’t do much to help Americans squeezed by debt and facing rising prices for medicine, child care, housing, and other essentials. Recent economic reports have President Donald Trump crowing. The big headline numbers do sound encouraging. The unemployment rate is down to 3.6%, the lowest […]

Democratic Socialism

The GOP is Demonizing the Left in New Red Scare, but US Public wants . . . Socialism

Jim Hightower

(Otherwords) – The policies Republicans smear as Stalinist are a good deal more popular than their own. By Jim Hightower | May 1, 2019 “Socialism,” snarled Donald Trump at a recent pep rally of far-right Republicans. The obedient crowd of Trumpistas snarled back in unison: So-sh’ll-izz-ummm! There you have the entire intellectual content of the […]

Democratic Socialism

The World’s Happiest People Already have a Green New Deal, and they Love It

George Lakey

(Waging Nonviolence ) – Green New Deal advocates in the United States should look to the Nordic countries for inspiration on how to overcome the 1 percent and address climate change. According to the latest report from the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Nordics are once again in the top tier of the […]

Plutocracy

It’s the Corporations, Stupid. Russia Collusion was never the Real Scandal

Peter Certo

( Otherwords.org) – Collusion with corporations has always been hiding in plain sight. It takes real people to fight that — not an elite prosecutor. By Peter Certo | March 26, 2019 Robert Mueller won’t be filing any more indictments related to the “Russiagate” investigation. Though the search unearthed ample evidence that Russia wanted Trump […]

Neoliberalism

“Free” Markets and the Attack on Democracy

John Buell

(Informed Comment) – Many US citizens take comfort in the conviction that progress toward democracy has been steady even if stalled or even periodically reversed. History is on our side. Early in the post Revolutionary period the right to vote was extended to all white men, even those who held no property. Women achieved the […]

Plutocracy

Our New Gilded Age and the Scandal of Constant Money Scandals

Rajan Menon

(Tomdispatch.com) – Despair about the state of our politics pervades the political spectrum, from left to right. One source of it, the narrative of fairness offered in basic civics textbooks — we all have an equal opportunity to succeed if we work hard and play by the rules; citizens can truly shape our politics — […]

Climate Change

We Don’t have a Global Emissions Problem, we Have a Rich Peoples’ CO2 Problem

The Conversation

By Nicholas Beuret | – American congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently shook up environmental politics by releasing a broad outline of a Green New Deal – a plan to make the US a carbon-neutral economy in the next ten years, while reducing both poverty and inequality. Lauded by many as a radical and necessary step, president […]

Democratic Socialism

Bring Back Eisenhower Socialism

OtherWords

By Chuck Collins | – Conservatives want you to believe that not having to choose between paying for rent or medicine is Soviet-style tyranny. By Chuck Collins | March 12, 2019 Beware of the specter of socialism! Anytime a politician proposes a wildly popular idea that helps ordinary people, a few grumpy conservatives will call […]