A Message in Support of Gay Marriage from Our Friends in New Zealand

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When You Play the Plutocrats’ Game, They Win: On Civility and Half Measures

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Like many Wisconsinites, I am feeling rather dejected after the disappointing August 9 th recall elections. But unlike most of my brothers and sisters, my disappointment stems not so much from the outcome, but from the adherence to propriety and to a faith in inherently corrupt and unjust systems. I was inspired and awed by the spontaneous and sustained uprisings in February and March and solidarity of the people of Wisconsin. Having lived numerous places throughout this country, there is no other place I would have wanted to call home at that moment. I was so proud to be among the protesters and my tendency toward negativity was suspended for a brief period. And then it ended. People went back to work (or unemployment) and though small demonstrations continued, the massive manpower and money was instead redirected toward recalling six Republican state senators and attempting to replace them with Democrats. Though I was surprisingly impressed by the bold stand that the fourteen Demo...
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Our Way of Life is the Public Health Crisis

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Years ago, when I taught science to junior high school students, I would sometimes make an offhand remark to the effect of “Animals like us….”   One or more students would respond, “Miss, we’re not animals!”   I doubt my adolescent students were alone in misunderstanding their place in the biological kingdom. The disconnect between humanity and the natural world, to which every living thing belongs, characterizes all industrialized nations. Our Western prioritization of artificial systems (economy) over natural systems (ecology) laid the groundwork for our perilous conditions. We were in crisis before this novel coronavirus pandemic, and we will continue to be in crisis after. It’s a classic tragedy, with our hubris and ignorance leading to the near-term extinction of our species, because our values and paradigms remain rooted in fantasy instead of reality. Ecological degradation for economic growth We should all find it ironic that the economic condition wh...
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Delusion and Denial Part 1: Work, Jobs, Careerism, Charity

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