One opportunity for positive change opened by the terrible crisis we are in with COVID-19 is that people are beginning to question some fundamental beliefs about how society works. There is a chance we can shatter some of the toxic narratives that justify, and lend support to, the brutal systems of inequality, racism, and environmental … Continue reading Solidarity Forever: Essential Workers, Public Goods, and How We Are in This Together
Understanding Accountability So We Can Hold the Police to Account
Ever since the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, people all around the country are mobilized to challenge the systemic racism that is deeply embedded in every institution of our country. We are in a moment full of sadness, trauma, and a sense of urgency. Many of us are worried that the moment … Continue reading Understanding Accountability So We Can Hold the Police to Account
Alternatives to Killing People for the Economy
As the U.S. begins to reopen after being shut down to protect us from spreading Covid-19, many people are beginning to talk about a choice between what is good for the economy and what will keep us healthy. Much pain and suffering has come as people have lost their livelihoods and their homes, and so … Continue reading Alternatives to Killing People for the Economy
Mobilizing Climate Action in the Face of Planet of the Humans
We are in a climate emergency. That means we all need to do everything we can to get the world to stop burning fossil fuels and chopping down trees. And we need to do it as quickly as possible. Getting to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 will take everything we have. That's why … Continue reading Mobilizing Climate Action in the Face of Planet of the Humans
Facing Our Other Crises With Lessons From COVID-19
As I have been thinking about the worldwide response to COVID-19, like many people I have been amazed that this pandemic would spur people to move out of a business-as-usual approach to life and into forms of action that will stop at nothing to achieve an important social goal. While I have complied very willingly … Continue reading Facing Our Other Crises With Lessons From COVID-19
Rethinking Freedom, Government, and Expertise in the Time of COVID-19
by Cynthia Kaufman and Carlos Davidson With the COVID-19 crisis we are being asked, and in many cases ordered, by the government to drastically change our lives: not to go to work unless it is essential, not to socialize in large groups, or in some places not to go out at all, except for essential … Continue reading Rethinking Freedom, Government, and Expertise in the Time of COVID-19
Motivating Climate Action: A Review of Per Espen Stoknes “What We Think About When We Try Not to Think About Global Warming.”
Averting the worst outcome of the climate crisis will require a huge amount of very thoughtful and brave work. Unfortunately the crisis has a number of qualities that make it especially hard to organize around. It seems remote in time and place, its causes and impacts are diffuse, and the solutions require major social transformation. … Continue reading Motivating Climate Action: A Review of Per Espen Stoknes “What We Think About When We Try Not to Think About Global Warming.”
Creating a Home through the Green New Deal A review of Bruno Latour’s Down to Earth
Near where I live, in Pacifica California, there is a big piece of land right at the ocean that was once slated to be the site of a giant freeway interchange. That plan was stopped by local people who saw no need for increased freeway capacity. When I moved to town 14 years ago it … Continue reading Creating a Home through the Green New Deal A review of Bruno Latour’s Down to Earth
Bring Back Pell Grants for Prisoners
When I was in working on my PhD in philosophy at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, I paid for part of my education by teaching in prison. For me it was an incredibly rewarding experience. It was great working these students who had time to read and think, and wonder in the deep ways … Continue reading Bring Back Pell Grants for Prisoners
Belonging and Social Change: A Critique of the Politics of Wokeness
We are in an amazing and dangerous time, where the chronic social problems which have caused so much trauma over so many years are coming to be seen as urgent and in need of attention by a rapidly increasing number of people. As so many people become “woke” to these problems, it is important that … Continue reading Belonging and Social Change: A Critique of the Politics of Wokeness
