Essays Archive - Page 76 of 131

In Honor of Essential Workers

Take a minute on this Labor Day to think about a future for labor beyond Trump

September 3, 2020 • by Helaine Olen

----------- This is our fourth Labor Day weekend in Trump’s America. In no way, can we say it is a good year for American workers. We plunged from record employment to near Great Depression levels of unemployment within a matter of weeks, as the nation all but shut down in response ...

Democracy

Do They Deliver for You?

Postage stamps and the paradox of democracy

September 3, 2020 • by Laura Goldblatt and Richard Handler

Those were the good old days, right? Looking at those stamps from the perspective of our present public health crisis—when Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump crony who appears to be hamstringing the United States Postal Service (USPS) so that people will not be able to use the mail to ...

Democracy

Joe Biden’s Message of Healing

September 2, 2020 • by Robert Ivie

Joe Biden went to Pittsburgh on August 31 to make a campaign speech condemning the violence Donald Trump incites. That was the immediate reason for speaking out, but it was also an occasion to speak up for a better America, one that most citizens can affirm and from which no ...

Corporations

Enjoy Your Pandemic Waterpark

A corporation deigns to let taxpayers into a previously private park they paid for

September 2, 2020 • by Pat Garofalo

Back in 2017, Nashville, Tennessee, provided real estate investment trust Ryman Hospitality with about $13.8 million in tax breaks to build a waterpark at its Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. However, taxpayers weren’t able to access the park unless they stayed overnight at the four-star facility. The hotel limited waterpark access ...

Democracy

What We Can All Learn from the Lebanese

September 1, 2020 • by Roxana Toma

Lebanon has been crippled by long-running crises for decades. The country endured a devastating 15-year civil war and has often been caught in the crossfire of regional conflicts. In October 2019, people in at least 70 towns across Lebanon protested against government corruption, an incompetent political system, its austerity measures, ...

North America

The Rotten Alliance of Liberals and Neocons Will Likely Shape U.S. Foreign Policy for Years to Come

Trump’s rise led to unity in the interventionist ranks opposing his foreign policy

September 1, 2020 • by Marshall Auerback and James Carden

The mobilization appears to be having an impact. More recently, "more than 100 former staff of [recently deceased Senator John] McCain's congressional offices and campaigns also endorsed Biden for president," according to NBC News and dozens of former staffers from Senator Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. That GOP support comes in addition to the more ...

The Rotten Alliance of Liberals and Neocons Will Likely Shape U.S. Foreign Policy for Years to Come

Journalism

Believing Donald Trump’s Lies is a Choice

How Trump’s blizzard of falsehoods enables white racism

August 31, 2020 • by John Stoehr

Dale's work is different categorically from fact-checking. Anyone can do that. Dale, however, makes the lies the story. Moreover, he permits his methodical reporting to culminate in a moral conclusion, one vital to the healthy functioning of a free and open republic. "Trump is a serial liar," Dale said. Before I go ...

Believing Donald Trump’s Lies is a Choice

Activism

A New Era in America’s Racial Politics

How a racial reparations alliance can prove that Black lives matter

August 27, 2020 • by Rogers M. Smith and Desmond King

Asheville isn’t the first American city to apologize for slavery and enact new policies to repair some of the damage it has done to Black families. For example, in November 2019, Evanston, Illinois, decided to levy a tax on marijuana to expand housing and employment opportunities for the city’s African ...

Politics

Covering SCOTUS in the Age of Trump

A conversation with Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick

August 27, 2020 • by Dahlia Lithwick and Claire Potter

Yet in the final days of the last session, Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed by George W. Bush, voted with the liberal minority in two key cases. Philosophically committed to consensus-building, this is something Roberts has done at key moments since 2016, raising questions about whether he had taken Kennedy’s ...

Democracy

Fascism or Caesarism?

How Napoleon, not Hitler, exemplifies an enduring threat to modern democracies

August 27, 2020 • by David A. Bell

As a historian, my first reaction has been to answer the question with a resounding “no.” My professional training has led me to think of fascism as a specific historical phenomenon, largely limited to the period from the early 1920s to the end of World War II, and built around ...

Capitalism

Is Capitalism in Crisis, Dying, Dead — or Very Much Alive, for Better or Worse?

In search of an elusive concept

August 27, 2020 • by Ben Kodres-O'Brien

In 2014, a Museum of Capitalism opened for the first time, as if to commemorate a dying form of life. “The museum began just as capitalism ended,” declared the wall text for the most recent iteration of the travelling museum, at The New School in New York in fall 2019: ...

Is Capitalism in Crisis, Dying, Dead — or Very Much Alive, for Better or Worse?

Philosophy

What Did Aristotle Think About Slavery?

Why we need to read great books closely

August 27, 2020 • by Steven B. Smith

I admire Professor Collard’s attempt to defend Aristotle despite his views on slavery. My question is whether he actually held the views she attributes to him. We must avoid two common responses that seem to me misguided. The first is to reject Aristotle out of hand because his views do not ...

Essays

In Honor of Essential Workers

Take a minute on this Labor Day to think about a future for labor beyond Trump

Do They Deliver for You?

Postage stamps and the paradox of democracy

Joe Biden’s Message of Healing

Enjoy Your Pandemic Waterpark

A corporation deigns to let taxpayers into a previously private park they paid for

What We Can All Learn from the Lebanese

The Rotten Alliance of Liberals and Neocons Will Likely Shape U.S. Foreign Policy for Years to Come

Trump’s rise led to unity in the interventionist ranks opposing his foreign policy

Believing Donald Trump’s Lies is a Choice

How Trump’s blizzard of falsehoods enables white racism

A New Era in America’s Racial Politics

How a racial reparations alliance can prove that Black lives matter

Covering SCOTUS in the Age of Trump

A conversation with Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick

Fascism or Caesarism?

How Napoleon, not Hitler, exemplifies an enduring threat to modern democracies

Is Capitalism in Crisis, Dying, Dead — or Very Much Alive, for Better or Worse?

In search of an elusive concept

What Did Aristotle Think About Slavery?

Why we need to read great books closely

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