Recent Bullets
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Vaccine Nationalism? An Incurable Disease Called Hope
The total level of global indebtedness now sits at an astronomical $277-trillion, an increase of $15-trillion since 2019. This amount is equivalent to 365% of the global gross domestic product. The debt burden is highest in the poorest countries, where coronavirus defaults have begun; Zambia’s default is the most recent. The various programmes to suspend … Keep reading »
The Not So Negative Dialectics of Post-Secondary Education
“Well, we busted out of class, had to get away from those fools. We learned more from a three-minute record, baby, than we ever learned in school.” — Bruce Springsteen “Who built Thebes of the seven gates? In the books you will find the names of kings. … Every page a victory. Who cooked the … Keep reading »
COVID Vaccines: Calling the Shots
Before the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the world, the big pharmaceutical companies did little investment in vaccines for global diseases and viruses. It was just not profitable. Of the 18 largest US pharmaceutical companies, 15 had totally abandoned the field. Heart medicines, addictive tranquilizers, and treatments for male impotence were profit leaders, not defences against hospital … Keep reading »
Sick and Tired of Virus Banalities
Everyone has seen those cheesy T-shirts which say, “My grandmother went to Tahiti and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” One of our friends went to Venice and brought us back an attractive mask, one of those with a protruding beak. It hangs on a wall in our hallway. I pass by it many … Keep reading »
If Unions Had Organized the South, Could Trump Have Been Avoided?
At a time when activists and commentators are puzzling over the United States’ enduring conservatism, Michael Goldfield’s new book The Southern Key: Class, Race, and Radicalism in the 1930s and 1940s (Oxford University Press, 2020) provides some perspective. Goldfield argues that the old question “Why no socialism in the US?” reduces to “Why no liberalism … Keep reading »
Women and Students Are Leading Thailand’s Fight for Democracy
A mass movement for democracy has swept Thailand since July. Led by a new generation of students and workers, protests have taken place throughout the country. They are fighting for a profound transformation of Thai society. Thai socialist Giles Ji Ungpakorn is a former associate professor of politics at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. He was forced … Keep reading »
Privatized Medicine in India Is Accelerating COVID-19 Death Toll
Spiraling healthcare expenses in India have been pushing more than 55 million Indians into a state of abject poverty every year. COVID-19 has only worsened the trend for even more families – like Aghan Singh’s. To ensure that his sick mother received the best treatment, Singh, a self-employed motor mechanic in the small town of … Keep reading »