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Australia’s Compulsory Voting System
There has been an insufferable degree of smugness of late in the chatting classes about Australia’s electoral system. A special for Australian Broadcasting Corporation produced by veteran journalist Annabel Crabb has done much to swell the heads of officials, politicians and pundits. But the production called Civic Duty has to be seen alongside a general […]
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How Censorship and Smears Are Chipping Away at Democracy and Freedom
Do Journalists Protect or Harm Democracy? Almost half (45%) of teens in a recent survey by The News Literacy Project said journalists harm democracy. Only 56% believed reporters value fairness and accuracy. 80% concluded that news content is subjective, and nearly 70% thought press outlets intentionally add bias to their coverage. The cynicism illustrated in […]
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Things Are Shitty Because We Are Ruled By People Who Want Things To Be Shitty
Which sounds more likely: (A) that things are bad because the population keeps organically voting for policies which just so happen to hurt ordinary people while benefitting the rich and powerful, or (B) that things are bad because the rich and powerful want things this way? Does it seem more likely to you that (A) […]
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Elections Reflections
Yesterday’s election results are tremendously positive and hopeful for democratic socialists, progressives, liberals and just plain democracy lovers. The Trump regime was soundly defeated in important elections all across the country. The people made history! But I woke up this morning wanting to reflect on the issue of elections, not so much from the standpoint […]
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No Kings, Fascism, and Democracy
The disease gets worse and worse every year, and the only remedy that will have permanent effect is to abolish private ownership of industry and production for profit, and substitute public ownership with production for use. — Upton Sinclair, “Production For Use” in New Deal Thought, 1933, edited by Howard Zinn Donald Trump, after talking […]
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No Kings?
No Kings! YES! Of course! That’s what inspired American independence in the first place. But autocracy takes many shapes. How about No Oligarchs? Or No Deep State? No Police State? No Mass Surveillance? No Compromised Politicians? No Corrupt Judiciary? There was much enthusiasm and excitement. And talk of channeling that energy into constructive action. There […]
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How Gratuitous Talk About Values and Identity Become Canada’s Raison d’État
Draw the Line action, Ottawa, September 20, 2025, part of a country-wide day of action against the Carney government’s anti-social pro-war agenda. The measures taken by the Carney government since it took over power after the last election confirm this government’s adherence to the methods Carney and several of his ministers and point men of […]
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Who’s to Blame? Political Action, Personal Accountability, and Human Nature
[A version of this essay was presented at the Taos Community of Love service on October 19, 2025.] I know this isn’t a conventional church service, but I would like to start with scripture: “The moral high ground is a dangerous place to stand, even when it’s warranted.” That’s not really scripture but rather a sentence […]
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October 18, November 4: World Changing?
Many millions on the streets this Saturday all over the country loudly proclaiming: No Kings! Yes to Democracy!–followed on November 4th by victories for Mamdani in NYC, Sherrill in NJ, Spanberger in Virginia, redistricting in California, and more–could this be truly “world changing?” On one level, no. This is not a Presidential election year or […]
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The Convenient Lie
Newspaper: Democracy. The case of death is not at all the cause of the dead, it’s the cause of the living. — Ghassan Kanafani, from the novel Men Under the Sun My people are fearless and the gallows to each person among us is the instance that precedes the dawn of a new day for […]
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