Tag: ideas

Howard Zinn: Life and Legacy

This story originally appeared over at The Boston Occupier. By Doug Enaa Greene Although Howard Zinn died over two years ago at the age of eighty-seven, his legacy lives on through popular education initiatives and struggles for social justice. Howard Zinn was a pioneer in combining the roles of academic and activist. Not only was…

Inequalities, Taxes, and More Inequalities

By Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer Thanks to Occupy, most working people are well aware of the growing inequalities in wealth. But for those who lack the specifics, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich provides a useful overview: “…the rich have been getting a larger and larger portion of total income. From 9 percent in…

Climate Change and the Next U.S. Revolution

By Shamus Cooke The U.S. heat wave is slowly shaking the foundations of American politics. It may take years for the deep rumble to evolve into an above ground, institution-shattering earthquake, but U.S. society has changed for good. The heat wave has helped convince tens of millions of Americans that climate change is real, overpowering…

Irreformable Corruption, Rebellious Cities, Commerce, and Coal Trains

By Nicholas Caleb Through a process of losing confidence that has spanned my twenties, I’ve finally given up on national politics and find it incapable of being reformed through existing institutional reform mechanisms (except maybe a constitutional amendment coming from a state driven convention; different can of worms for a different post). The lack of…

Coming Out Of Rio: Green’s Dead, Movement’s Alive

Story and photo by Kari Koch We all knew it, but now it’s official. The Green Economy and the green-washing of industry is not going to solve the global climate crisis, protect our communities from harm, or manage our common resources. Most importantly though, Rio+20 has made it clear that a Green Economy is not…

Money, Power, and Politics

By Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer There has been much recent talk about the impact of money on politics, especially in the wake of the Citizens United ruling that ratcheted up the role of corporate money in political campaigns. Organized labor was quick to blame this ruling for its defeat in Wisconsin. Many assume that…

Corporate Fish In A Wretched Bay — Report From Rio+20

Story and photos Kari Koch The fish on the Botafogo Beach in Rio have been getting a lot of attention this week and many beautiful pictures have been posted proclaiming the genius of building lovely art out of plastic water bottles. I too was interested in these fish and today went to go see them…

The 99 Revolutions

by Nicholas Triolo Chapman Photos by Igal Koshevoy A simple lap around Chapman Square one evening turns into an extended meditation on rhythm, global resistance, and the discovery of meaning in the monotonous. Friday night. Freshly ejected from work and suffering from a serious case of the Digieye. You know what I’m talking about—dry, cloudy…

Symbolism of the Cascadian Flag

By Alexander Baretich I designed the Cascadian flag, aka the Doug, way back in the mid 1990s when I was a graduate student studying in Eastern Europe.  Though I totally love the people, cultures and landscape of Eastern Europe, I was deeply homesick for the forests of Cascadia, specifically the Willamette Valley forests I grew…