Emissions inequality is getting worse – here’s how to end the reign of the ultra-polluters

BY NICHOLAS BEURET, University of Essex Climate change is overwhelmingly a problem of wealthy people. The wealthiest 1% of humanity produce over 1,000 times the emissions of the poorest 1%. In fact, these 77 million people are responsible for more climate-changing emissions than the poorest 66% (5 billion people) of humanity. Since 1990, the personal emissions … Continue reading Emissions inequality is getting worse – here’s how to end the reign of the ultra-polluters

‘MAGA Mike Johnson’ Wants Commission to Cut Social Security Formed ‘Immediately’

BY JESSICA CORBETT When Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives elected Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson as speaker last week, critics quickly sounded the alarm about his previous calls to cut trillions of dollars from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—and the GOP leader triggered a fresh wave of fears on Thursday with related comments to … Continue reading ‘MAGA Mike Johnson’ Wants Commission to Cut Social Security Formed ‘Immediately’

Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s Crises [Book Review]

BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR Has capitalism taken us over the cliff? And why can’t we stop? Marjorie Kelly‘s most recent book, Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s Crises is one of the most important explanations of how wealth and power have created an unlivable world and sacrificed the future for … Continue reading Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s Crises [Book Review]

‘We are gambling with the future of our planet for the sake of hamburgers’: Peter Singer on climate change

BY PETER SINGER I wasn’t aware of climate change until the 1980s — hardly anyone was — and even when we recognised the dire threat that burning fossil fuels posed, it took time for the role of animal production in warming the planet to be understood. Today, though, the fact that eating plants will reduce your … Continue reading ‘We are gambling with the future of our planet for the sake of hamburgers’: Peter Singer on climate change

Why Billionaires Hate Social Security

BY RICHARD ESKOW The real goal of billionaire-funded Social Security rhetoric is to prevent the public from drawing a connection between Social Security’s finances, the working-class retirement crisis, and the ludicrous amounts of wealth held by America’s billionaires. Consider the billionaire. I’m not talking about people who were born into wealth; they have their own issues. … Continue reading Why Billionaires Hate Social Security

Does Your Government Care? A Citizen’s Checklist for Regenerative Government

BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR, PHILIP KOTLER, ENRICO FOGLIA In our book – REGENERATION: The Future of Community in a Permacrisis World, we point out that in the US today, we see that our politicians can’t even stand up to the NRA, let alone address climate collapse.  Instead, they distract us with culture wars and fake controversy – banning books, … Continue reading Does Your Government Care? A Citizen’s Checklist for Regenerative Government

How AI could take over elections – and undermine democracy

BY ARCHON FUNG and LAWRENCE LESSIG Could organizations use artificial intelligence language models such as ChatGPT to induce voters to behave in specific ways? Sen. Josh Hawley asked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this question in a May 16, 2023, U.S. Senate hearing on artificial intelligence. Altman replied that he was indeed concerned that some people … Continue reading How AI could take over elections – and undermine democracy

Salman Rushdie renews fight against book-banning – 3 essential articles on right-wing challenges to what schoolkids can read

BY HOWARD MANLY No one needs to tell Salman Rushdie about the cost of free speech. In 1989, Rushdie’s novel “The Satanic Verses” triggered the ire of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called for the writer’s death. Protests against Rushdie’s novel ignited violent attacks against bookstores across the world, and the book was later … Continue reading Salman Rushdie renews fight against book-banning – 3 essential articles on right-wing challenges to what schoolkids can read

“Can Politics be Regenerative?” – An Interview with Sicily’s Cettina Martorana

A family-oriented professional, Cettina Martorana initially didn’t want to run for office in the Sicilian regional elections of 2022. Her kids challenged her with a question – “How come you tell us to do what’s right but you aren’t taking that advice when you are asked to run?”  The result?  Martorana is a candidate in the upcoming … Continue reading “Can Politics be Regenerative?” – An Interview with Sicily’s Cettina Martorana

GOP ‘message laundering’ turns violent, extremist reactions to search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago into acceptable political talking points

BY KARRIN VASBY ANDERSON, Colorado State University After the FBI completed a lawful search of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Aug. 8, 2022, conservative politicians responded with one of three strategies: silence, circumspection and attack. Many responses echoed Trump’s own framing of the search. In his Aug. 8 message he claimed his residence was … Continue reading GOP ‘message laundering’ turns violent, extremist reactions to search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago into acceptable political talking points

An antidemocratic philosophy called ‘neoreaction’ is creeping into GOP politics

BY GEORGE MICHAEL, Westfield State University President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election were brazenly antidemocratic. Yet Trump and his supporters nonetheless justified their actions under the dubious pretense of preserving American democracy – as a matter of getting the vote right, of reversing voter fraud. There’s a good reason they … Continue reading An antidemocratic philosophy called ‘neoreaction’ is creeping into GOP politics

The U.S. Government’s Program Of Welfare For The Wealthy

BY – STANLEY F. STASCH From the late 1940s to the mid-1970s, ordinary people in the United States enjoyed a tremendous increase in their prosperity. It was the highest level of prosperity the world had ever experienced, and it resulted in the creation of the great American middle class. That period was immediately followed by the … Continue reading The U.S. Government’s Program Of Welfare For The Wealthy

“Make the Sahara Green Again” – Elon, Jeff, Bill, and Zuck?

BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR and PHILIP KOTLER As the dust settles from COP 26, the world is left with a sense of deep dread.  The numbers don’t add up. And our billionaires are busy either rigging democracy or planning to run off to Mars. But what if there was something constructive the four horsemen – Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, … Continue reading “Make the Sahara Green Again” – Elon, Jeff, Bill, and Zuck?

Pandora papers: media rage at billionaire tax cheats ignores Boris Johnson’s failure to reform tax havens

BY Matthew Shillito, University of Liverpool Many of the world’s richest and most powerful people are in the spotlight for the wrong reasons – again. The Pandora papers is the third and largest leak of documents in which the secret financial practices of the wealthy are exposed in the media. They highlight mass tax avoidance and … Continue reading Pandora papers: media rage at billionaire tax cheats ignores Boris Johnson’s failure to reform tax havens

Why Tunisians are still out on the streets — a decade after the ‘Dignity Revolution’

BY Saerom Han, University of Aberdeen; Andrea Teti, University of Aberdeen, and Pamela Abbott, University of Aberdeen It has been 10 years since nation-wide protests in Tunisia led to the ousting of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his regime. Ben Ali led Tunisia for 23 years. Tunisia’s “Dignity Revolution” marked the first time … Continue reading Why Tunisians are still out on the streets — a decade after the ‘Dignity Revolution’

How can America heal from the Trump era? Lessons from Germany’s transformation into a prosperous democracy after Nazi rule

BY SYLVIA TASCHKA, Wayne State University Comparisons between the United States under Trump and Germany during the Hitler era are once again being made following the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Even in the eyes of German history scholars like myself, who had earlier warned of the troubling nature of such analogies, Trump’s … Continue reading How can America heal from the Trump era? Lessons from Germany’s transformation into a prosperous democracy after Nazi rule

Why Can’t Billionaires Advance the Common Good?

BY PHILIP KOTLER & CHRISTIAN SARKAR The cover of the May 20, 2020 issue of Forbes magazine carries a picture of Larry Ellison, billionaire founder of Oracle Corporation. On page 114, there’s a Billionaires Index that runs six more pages in very small print.  The following becomes clear: Almost every country has billionaires. Even Venezuela and … Continue reading Why Can’t Billionaires Advance the Common Good?

The end of Golden Dawn: has Greece shown us how to deal with neo-Nazis?

BY Georgios Samaras, King’s College London When a wave of right-wing extremism hit Greece in 2012, few would have predicted that Golden Dawn, one of the groups involved, would grow to become the third largest party in the Greek parliament. This was the beginning of a long period of turmoil in Greek politics that saw a … Continue reading The end of Golden Dawn: has Greece shown us how to deal with neo-Nazis?

Biden vs. Trump: A Tale of Two Narratives

BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR and PHILIP KOTLER In our work on cultural narratives, we’ve proposed that cultural narratives create meaning for our place in the world, and provide a map for the journey ahead. The structure of a cultural narrative can be diagrammed as follows: In politics, the structure of a cultural narrative becomes an ideological framework for living … Continue reading Biden vs. Trump: A Tale of Two Narratives

Trump Doesn’t Believe in Democracy—Here’s His 25-Step Reelection Plan

BY ROBERT REICH Trump will do anything to be re-elected. His opponents are limited because they believe in democracy. Trump has no limits because he doesn’t. Here’s Trump’s re-election playbook, in 25 simple steps: 1. Declare yourself above the law. 2. Use racist fearmongering. Demand “law and order” and describe protesters as “thugs”, “lowlife” and … Continue reading Trump Doesn’t Believe in Democracy—Here’s His 25-Step Reelection Plan

It can’t happen here – and then it did

BY JOE SALTZMAN, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism When Americans think of journalists attacked, arrested or imprisoned while doing their job, they think of it happening in distant lands – in places like Russia, Syria, Afghanistan, El Salvador and Mexico. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are so ingrained … Continue reading It can’t happen here – and then it did

‘No Warming, No War': Report Details How US Militarism and Climate Crisis Are Deeply Interwoven

BY JESSICA CORBETT A new report examining the federal budget illuminates the deep connections between the climate emergency and the U.S. military, arguing that the shift to a green economy requires a just transition away from both fossil fuels and endless war.The report, entitled No Warming, No War: How Militarism Fuels the Climate Crisis—and Vice … Continue reading ‘No Warming, No War': Report Details How US Militarism and Climate Crisis Are Deeply Interwoven

‘We Know This Script': Naomi Klein Warns of ‘Coronavirus Capitalism’ in New Video Detailing Battle Before Us

BY JESSICA CORBETT In a new video from The Intercept, author and activist Naomi Klein explains how the Trump administration and other governments across the globe are “exploiting” the coronavirus outbreak “to push for no-strings-attached corporate bailouts and regulatory rollbacks,” and urges working people worldwide to resist such efforts and demand real support from political … Continue reading ‘We Know This Script': Naomi Klein Warns of ‘Coronavirus Capitalism’ in New Video Detailing Battle Before Us

“Justice through Music” – An Interview with David Hinds from Steel Pulse

Musician David Hinds is the founder and front-man for Steel Pulse, the world’s leading reggae band.  For over forty years, Hinds and the band has brought conscious music and a message of equality to fans all around the world.  Now, with the timely release of Mass Manipulation, their first album in over fifteen years, Hinds is back with a message of … Continue reading “Justice through Music” – An Interview with David Hinds from Steel Pulse

“Now that CEOs found purpose, what are they going to do with it?”

BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR and PHILIP KOTLER Maybe they’ve been spooked by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.  Or maybe they decided that it’s time to reclaim the political conversation before America turns full-fascist.  Whatever the reason, the CEOs of this  great nation published their own manifesto under the august umbrella of the Business Roundtable.  In it, they finally … Continue reading “Now that CEOs found purpose, what are they going to do with it?”

Can Billionaires Save America?

BY PHILIP KOTLER – A recent news item mentioned that a group of 18 ultra-wealthy Americans including George Soros and Abigail Disney and members of the Pritzker and Gund families published an open letter asking presidential candidates to support a moderate wealth tax of 1 percent.  The wealth tax revenue would be used to fund environmental initiatives, fuel economic growth, and … Continue reading Can Billionaires Save America?

The Flywheel of Corruption: Why Our Democracy Isn’t Working

by PHILIP KOTLER and CHRISTIAN SARKAR – For some time now we’ve been saying that the wheels have fallen off our democracy. Things aren’t looking good around the world.  The Guardian reports the world’s 26 richest billionaires own as many assets as half the planet. 26 plutocrats own as much wealth as 3.8 billion people.  Welcome to serfdom. And … Continue reading The Flywheel of Corruption: Why Our Democracy Isn’t Working

“I’m a Capitalist,” Says Warren…But Why?

Let’s drop the dead-end debate of capitalism versus socialism and focus on choosing terms that capture what we really mean—an open, fair, and accountable market essential to real democracy. by FRANCESS MOORE LAPPE My headline poses a question I struggle with. “Capitalism” refers to an economy driven by owners of private capital, typically with the aim … Continue reading “I’m a Capitalist,” Says Warren…But Why?

Will You Help Artist Ron English Build a “Welcome Wall”?

BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR – Renowned U.S. Artist Ron English has started a protest wall project down at the border with Mexico.  In response to Trump’s push for a border barrier, he’s decided to build his own wall – a “Welcome Wall.” The Mexican American “Welcome Wall” will be a 2000 ft long physical wall along the US/Mexico … Continue reading Will You Help Artist Ron English Build a “Welcome Wall”?

“Let Us Fix American Democracy”

BY PHILIP KOTLER – No democracy is perfect.  Some democracies work better than others.  Swiss democracy works well.  Canada’s democracy works pretty well.  American democracy has fallen on hard times. In 2016, I published Democracy in Decline in which I cite many problems and solutions.  We have voter suppression and low voter turnout.  We let politicians choose their … Continue reading “Let Us Fix American Democracy”

Historian’s Advice to Davos Elite Worried About Pitchforks: ‘Stop Talking About Philanthropy’ and Start Paying Higher Taxes

BY JON QUEALLY – “I mean we can talk for a very long time about all these stupid philanthropy schemes… But we’ve got to be talking about taxes. That’s it. Taxes, taxes, taxes. All the rest is bullshit in my opinion.” While the private jets have mostly left the airport outside of Davos, Switzerland following the … Continue reading Historian’s Advice to Davos Elite Worried About Pitchforks: ‘Stop Talking About Philanthropy’ and Start Paying Higher Taxes

The Suffering Working Class – What Can Be Done?

BY PHILIP KOTLER – The low-income working class is one of the largest groups in America.  You can spot its members working at Wal-Mart or McDonalds, in large or small factories, in clerical jobs, and toiling in agricultural areas. This group includes single individuals, unmarried co-habitors, married childless couples, and families.  The common denominator is that they … Continue reading The Suffering Working Class – What Can Be Done?

‘Tear Gassing Children Is Outrageous and Inhumane': US Condemned for Violence Against Asylum Seekers

BY JON QUEALLY – “Asking to be considered a refugee & applying for status isn’t a crime,” says Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after U.S. Border agents fire tear gas into Mexico. As legal experts and human rights advocates overnight and Monday morning continued to denounce the tear gassing of children and other asylum seekers by U.S. forces … Continue reading ‘Tear Gassing Children Is Outrageous and Inhumane': US Condemned for Violence Against Asylum Seekers

At the Heart of Global Woes, 157 of World’s 200 Richest Entities Are Now Corporations, Not Governments

BY JAKE JOHNSON – As corporations in the United States and around the world continue to reap record profits thanks to enormous tax cuts, widespread tax avoidance schemes, and business-friendly trade and investment policies, an analysis by Global Justice Now (GJN) published Wednesday found that the world’s most profitable companies are raking in revenue “far in excess … Continue reading At the Heart of Global Woes, 157 of World’s 200 Richest Entities Are Now Corporations, Not Governments

Lamentations: Disaster-Capitalism, Puerto Rico, and the Art of Patrick McGrath Muñiz

BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR Alba’s Dream (2017) The public has not forgotten Puerto Rico, and neither has Patrick McGrath Muñiz. After experiencing Harvey in Houston, and witnessing Hurricane Maria passing over Puerto Rico and Irma in Florida, where most of his family and friends live, the issue of climate change has become even more personal for the … Continue reading Lamentations: Disaster-Capitalism, Puerto Rico, and the Art of Patrick McGrath Muñiz

The Closing of the Golden Door: When Fear Became U.S. Immigration Policy

BY PHILIP KOTLER – There is a hidden meaning behind Trump’s slogan to “Make America Great Again.” His slogan is code for “Let’s Make America White again.” Immigration policy is one of the toughest issues facing the U.S. and its core beliefs and values. Both political parties are doing their best to bury or avoid … Continue reading The Closing of the Golden Door: When Fear Became U.S. Immigration Policy

Consumption, Economic Growth And The Future Of Marketing

BY DIMITAR SABEV – From its very beginning marketing enhanced economic growth by provoking and channelling consumption, and in many cases this has been socially beneficial. There is growing evidence that the social and economic system based on the premise of constant and rapid growth has breached its limits. Consumption has to decouple from economic growth … Continue reading Consumption, Economic Growth And The Future Of Marketing

Brand Confusion: What Do Our Political Parties Stand For?

BY PHILIP KOTLER and CHRISTIAN SARKAR – For many years, Americans held a clear idea of the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties. The Republicans were a party on the right, the Democrats a party on the left. But now the distinctions aren’t so clear. What went wrong? Neither party today is answering or … Continue reading Brand Confusion: What Do Our Political Parties Stand For?

Progressive Taxes: Needed to Offset Income Inequality?

BY MARK BLESSINGTON – True or false: Are America’s wealthy few growing their wealth at the expense of everyone else? The question is not whether the rich are getting richer. The question is whether they are gaining wealth at the expense of everyone else. The Congressional Budget Office provides a comprehensive report on wealth every three … Continue reading Progressive Taxes: Needed to Offset Income Inequality?

It’s Time For A Single-Payer Healthcare System

By PHILIP KOTLER – We have had “Obamacare” and now the Republicans have fallen short in replacing it with “Ryancare” (a.k.a. “Trumpcare”). Both plans have their unforgiving and deep critics and enemies. I think that it is time to adopt the healthcare system that Canada and most other nations have: a single-payer healthcare system. A single-payer … Continue reading It’s Time For A Single-Payer Healthcare System