The media can, as we know, promote fear, hatred, and extremism. Can it also lead us to greater civility and more productive debate?
Something’s Happening Here: Hatred and Hope in the U.S.A.
What is happening to the USA? I was born and grew up there, but when I listen to some of the interviews with Americans in the aftermath of the recent tragedy in Tucson, I feel as though I’m wandering through the landscape of an unknown planet: bewildered, uncomprehending, and scared. Can that large a gulf really separate us?
Your Human Rights: Do You Know Them?
It’s the final hours Human Rights Day. I spent a lot of the day thinking about Wikileaks and the powerful political machinery that lines up against you if you dare…IF YOU DARE…to challenge authority as Julian Assange has done.
Credibility Vs. Transparency: A Closer Look at NPR and its Ethics Code
NPR has gotten into hot water twice recently over incidents related to its ethics code, famously over the firing of news analyst Juan Williams. Mike Sakasegawa takes a moment to examine the implications of that code and offers a fresh perspective.
Get Free From Wall Street: An Interview With David Korten
David Korten’s 1995 bestseller, When Corporations Rule the World, was a key document in building the anti-globalization movement. In the aftermath of the 2008 economic meltdown, he wrote Agenda for a New Economy, a critique of the overwhelming influence of Wall Street on economic policy, which has resulted in a political system that serves, not the many, but the very wealthy few. Now, Korten is back with a strategy for taking back our political and economic systems and using them to create localized, community-controlled economies that foster the things we really need.
A Hollywood Romance Gone Bad: President Obama and Leadership Expectations
When it comes to politics, Nathan Thompson is pretty convinced the majority of people would rather be seduced by a charismatic actor than select the person whose ideas best fit what the current situation calls for. But did Obama sign on for a theatre role or the presidency?
Putting an End to Enemy Making
Nathan Thompson weighs in on a nation consumed by questions of religious tolerance sparked by the proposed building of a mosque near Ground Zero and physicist Stephen Hawking’s claim that God played no role in the creation of the universe.
A Slightly Immodest Proposal
There is a plague of government workers upon the land and we may have to turn to the 18th century essayist Jonathan Swift and his Modest Proposal for a solution. With apologies to Mr. Swift.
How to Respond to the Building of Controversial New York Mosque
Nathan Thompson reflects on some of the vicious and destructive comments by people who are against the building of a Cordoba House mosque and Islamic cultural Center near Ground Zero in New York.
Victims and Bullies:The Destructive Cycle of People and Politics
Mary Rose says we have become “masters at controlling others but is it now time to master control of self.” The survival of our species and our planet depends upon it.