Age is a moveable number determined by our internal joie de vivre quotient, or so we are often told. According to this premise, we are just as old as we feel. Our true age may be 75 or 85, but we might still prefer to be 50 or 60 in our mind’s eye.
Category: Democracy
Changing Our Schools is Vital to Our National Healing
What would you rather have in America’s schools; high test scores or students who are empathetic and have strong critical thinking skills? What good is it for an individual, or for American society, if students test well but also think that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election?
Why A “Civil War” Would Be So Hard for Progressives to “Win”
In the wake of the January 6, 2021 insurrection and other rebellious acts from the right, there is increasing talk of a new American civil war. What shape it might take is open to all kinds of interpretation.
Another Lesson We Can Learn From Jackie Robinson
Recalling that during Jackie Robinson’s era there were some who advised that people focus less on Robinson’s anger and more on the root causes of his anger, it would be wise for all of us now in the body politic to try to bring the same understanding to our political opponents.
Time for Dems to Take a Step Back in order to Move Forward
Earlier this month, Heather Cox Richardson reported that both the New York Times and the Washington Post ran op-eds penned by Republicans or former
How Democrats Can Promote Democracy starting with Iowa
But there is one part of our political process where Democrats can effect meaningful change without constitutional changes. This is the manner in which the party of progressives selects its nominees for president.
Republicans Have A Very Strange Perspective on the Here and Now
In recent years, when America has been in crisis such as the Great Recession of 2008-09, or the recent and current COVID pandemic, Republicans become extremely miserly. They resist providing necessary financial aid to those who are suffering the most.
Progressives need to move beyond their fear of talking about abortion
The alternative is for progressives to discuss abortion and sex at the same time and describe how abortion policy without a realization that “sex happens” will never reflect reality, empathy, and respect for basic civil liberties. Come on progressives. News organizations now let us use the ‘F’ word as an expletive; why can’t we talk about it for what it really means. It will greatly help the whole country better come to terms with the abortion issue and make more logical and empathetic decisions.
Donald Trump wasn’t an aberration; he was our most American President
In the meantime, we’re going to have to wrestle with Donald Trump and recognizing that part of why he so arouses our disgust is because we see him in ourselves. If we don’t like what we see, it’s up to each of us to change it.
1968 and 2020: Years of Indecency
2020 ranks with 1968 as one of the most unsettling years in American politics. The similarities between the two years are striking, but it is difficult to find shared catalysts explaining what caused them to be so filled with dysfunction. However, a common denominator might be found further back, in 1954.