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Reparations From Historical Slavery Could Be Used to End Modern Slavery
One of the most emotional and difficult topics in contemporary discourse is the history of slavery and its lingering legacy. A common proposal for addressing slavery is reparations, compensatory payments to the descendants of Africans who had been enslaved as part of the...
Debunking the White Ethno-State
This is the first part in a series criticizing the ideas of white supremacy.
Airbnb and the Power of Anti-Fascist Markets
Anti-fascism comes in all shapes and forms. Whether it be the ultra-patriotic types harking back to the legacy of WWII, the III% who put that Identity Evropa kid in a chokehold in Texas, the black bloc protester who punched out Richard Spencer, the antifa rioters who trashed...
Houston, Hurricane Harvey and Capitalism's 'Unnatural Disaster'
The Party for Socialism and Liberation expresses our condolences and solidarity to those who have suffered the loss of loved ones, been injured, or lost their homes and other vital possessions due to the ravages of Hurricane Harvey.
Freedom Can’t Be Contained by a Wall
In an explosive interview to New Internationalist, the Kurdish female leader Bese Hozat opens up about peace, the party’s view on the region and the independence referendum in South Kurdistan, and accuses Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the West to have incubated Isis.
In Vietnam Poverty and Poor Development, Not Just Floods, Kill the Most Marginalised
Flooding and landslides in northwest Vietnam have caused widespread devastation since the start of August. The disaster crippled the provinces of Son La, Dien Bien, Yen Bai and Lai Chau, situated within one of the most disadvantaged regions of the country.
You Pay More Taxes Than Exxon Mobil
Want a simple way to tell if humanity is taking the threat of global warming seriously? Ask yourself this question: Does Exxon Mobil pay more taxes than at least one U.S. citizen? That’s right. Just one. Right now, the answer is a clear and resounding “No!” because Exxon...
Don't Always Trust Your Perceptions
Breathing in, I see myself as still water. Breathing out, I reflect things as they are. Near the mountain, there is a lake with clear, still water reflecting the mountain and the sky with pristine clarity. You can do the same. If you are calm and still enough, you can...
Is There Any Point to Protesting?
We turn out in the streets and nothing seems to happen. Maybe we’re doing it wrong.
How the Left Can Stop Arguing and Beat Trump
Progressives need to fight for their values in a smarter, more inclusive way
How (Not) to Challenge Racist Violence
"Protesters are eager to expend extraordinary energy denouncing small-scale racist actors. But what about the large-scale racist actors?"
Ten Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide
Hate in America has become commonplace. What can we do to stop the hate?
A Critique of Ally Politics
Dear Beloved Ones in Struggle,
With Allies Like These: Reflections on Privilege Reductionism
Over the course of the last several decades, anti-oppression politics have risen to a position of immense influence on activist discourse in North America. Anti-oppression workshops and reading groups, privilege and oppression checklists and guidelines, and countless books...
In 'Open Effort to Escalate Racial Tensions' Trump to Fully Militarize Police
Trump's plan to reverse ban on transfer of military equipment to police denounced by civil rights groups as "exceptionally dangerous and irresponsible"
Top 5 Ways Man-Made Climate Change Made Hurricane Harvey Much Worse
The images from Houston and its environs are heart-breaking and we at Informed Comment wish all those affected a speedy and safe return to normality.
How Should We Protest Neo-Nazis? Lessons From German History
After the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, many people are asking themselves what they should do if Nazis rally in their city. Should they put their bodies on the line in counter demonstrations? Some say yes.
Towards a Tranformative Anti-Fascism
The Relevance of Radicalized Peacebuilding to Antifa Praxis
When Petitions Actually Matter: West Papuans Risk Their Lives to End Indonesia's Occupation
Just another clicktivist petition pushed by corporate NGOs with no connection to grassroots struggle? Not this time – West Papuans are risking beatings, arrest, and even death to sign a petition for their right to self-determination, coordinated with international support...
Violence, Authoritarianism, and the Future of America: Using Science to Progress Past Tribalism
Will progressives accept the empirical data behind the efficacy of nonviolence?
This Comic Shows The Importance of Overcoming Your Fears to Achieve Your Dreams
This comic originally appeared exclusively in my second Zen Pencils book collection (available from all good retailers!) in 2015. I really enjoy writing
Pro Anti
Antifa’s horizon is in toppling the legitimacy of extraction and ownership anchored in presumably natural foundations
Inside the New Economic Science of Capitalism's Slow-Burn Energy Collapse
And why the struggle for a new economic paradigm is about to get real
Beyond Violence and Nonviolence
The rise of fascism has injected new venom into an old debate, preventing activists from seeing movement strategy clearly.
Everything Explained With One Simple Analogy
Musician and poet Joshua Idehen took to Twitter and helped us all make sense of the many terms by our society using analogies based around your mum washing your clothes. Genius.
This Cool Desert House Made from Plastic Bottles Tackles Two Problems in One
An engineer in Algeria has developed an ingenious new house building technique on a desert refugee camp. He wanted to build a home for his grandmother that would beat the heat and sandstorms, and plastic bottles were readily available. Filled with sand and straw and encased...
Bowing to Endless War Advocates, Trump Vows More Bloodshed in Afghanistan
Trump's "plan" for America's longest war will almost certainly increase terrorism and cause civilian deaths to skyrocket, analysts argued
As Alt-Right Gathers in Boston, Thousands Counter With Rally to Fight Supremacy
"The Boston counter-protest is now perhaps the largest anti-racist protest this year."
Anti-Fracking Activists Celebrate Ruling Against Major Pipeline
Court ruling "gives hope across the country for people facing the onslaught of oil and gas infrastructure."
Homo Icarus: the Depreciating Value of Whiteness and the Place of Healing
In the wake of the Charlottesville incident, we must understand that the kind of work that needs to happen now, in order for racial healing to take place, will not be held by the combative punditry of CNN or be championed by the White House and the mass culture of occlusion...
Beyond Beautiful: Can't a Woman Be Both Ugly and Valuable?
How far can body positivity take us in the fight for women’s liberation?
This Impassioned Post by a Charlottesville Resident Sets The Record Straight
I would like to make what I hope is my last post on this before I try to go forward with my life after this weekend.
A Reformed White Nationalist Speaks Out on Charlottesville
Christian Picciolini, former White Nationalist and founder of Life After Hate, talks to NPRs All Things Considered about his reaction to what unfolded in Charlottesville over the weekend, and about the divisiveness that's been growing in the country over the past several months.
The Sex Workers Who Are Stopping HIV
Sex workers in Mozambique are providing health support to those at the margins of society. They face political and financial challenges, but against the odds they are helping thousands. Jules Montague reports.
Drawing Equivalencies Between Fascists and Anti-Fascists Is Not Just Wrong, It's Dangerous
We must be very wary of any attempts to excuse or normalize white supremacy.
Charlottesville Was Not a “Protest Turned Violent,” It Was a Planned Race Riot
Isn’t it time for the media to be honest and call white supremacists the domestic terrorists that they are?
If You Think Antifa is 'Just as Bad' You Probably Aren't Aware of This Long List of Attacks by The Alt-Right
An annoymous poster to Antifa International writes: you antifa guys are actually more hateful and violent than any neo nazi group in the 21st century. its fucking disgusting and you should be branded as terrorists just as much as the KKK Antifa International responds: We’d
Stokes Croft: The Saga of One British Neighbourhood Reveals the Perverse Injustices of Gentrification
Nowhere is the sharp injustice of gentrification so grossly demonstrated as in Stokes Croft. With its world renowned street art and buzzing local scene, this area is the main fount of culture and creativity, which has propelled the city of Bristol to international fame. For...
White Supremacists Get Schooled in This Incredible Viral Twitter Thread
Twitter user @JuliusGoat posted this incredible thread in response to the Unite The Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, and quickly got hundreds of thousands of retweets and likes. Read it and share widely, it's epic!
Proud Mother Says Charlottesville Victim Heather Heyer 'Was About Stopping Hatred'
"I want her death to be a rallying cry for justice and equality and fairness and compassion," says mother of Heather Heyer. "No mother wants to lose a child, but I'm proud of her."
The Future of Activism
The times certainly are a-changing.
Reporting on Climate Change Is Harmful if You're Not Offering Solutions
Once-celebrated author and thinker Daniel Pinchbeck can't find an audience for his new book. He has a few ideas why.
Why Use Creative Commons Licenses?
Even though Creative Commons licenses have been around for more than a decade, I am always surprised to learn that many progressive-minded activists, artists and academics – the people who should be most enthusiastic about the licenses – know nothing about them or at least...
A 'No Nukes' Nation to Trump: Resign!
In the shadow of Santa Monica’s legendary “Chain Reaction” monument, a clear message was sent to the unelected interloper in the White House: RESIGN!!!
Dismantling Power: the Zapatista Indigenous Presidential Candidate's Vision to Transform Mexico From Below
"Patricio's candidacy and radical vision for Mexico challenges conventional politics and marks a new phase for the Zapatista and indigenous struggle in the country."
14 Reflections on the 2017 DSA Convention
In order for the Democratic Socialists of America’s 2017 Convention to be successful, three major tasks needed to be accomplished this past weekend. 1. Members needed to develop meaningful relationships with comrades from around the country. 2. Members had to participate in...
Letter From a Birmingham Jail (1963)
My Dear Fellow Clergymen:
How Bosses Are (Literally) Like Dictators
Americans think they live in a democracy. But their workplaces are small tyrannies.
Why Does Our Culture Focus So Much on Childbirth and So Little on The Time After?
Kathleen Kendall-Tackett examines how other cultures protect new mothers’ well-being.
Globalization's Blowback
Before casting the blame for our environmental ills on countries like China, we would do well to reflect on who is truly responsible.
A Turning Point on the Left? Libertarian Socialist Caucus Debuts at Democratic Socialist Conference
The Democratic Socialists of America, a traditionally progressive socialist organization founded in 1982, has seen its membership increase from roughly 5,000 to 25,000 members in the past year following the Bernie Sanders campaign and the subsequent election of Trump. Now...
Four Kinds of Dystopia
The twentieth century saw four basic visions of hell on earth, or dystopia. These were:
Trump-Turnbull Call: Trading People Like Pawns Undermines the Goals of International Co-Operation
What is the point of international co-operation in matters of shared concern? According to the UN Charter, its founding member nations were determined to achieve overarching societal progress based on human rights.
Capitalism's Excesses Belong in the Dustbin of History. What's Next Is up to Us
It’s time to dethrone capitalism’s single-minded directive and replace it with a more balanced logic, laying the foundations for a better, more equitable world
Struggling Against All Odds: A Review of Plutocracy III: Class War
Tim Goulet reviews the third installment of the radical working-class history documentary Plutocracy by filmmaker Scott Noble.
Our Activism Must Be Focused on Serving the People
Our organizing can't just speak to the everyday crises of people's lives under capitalism. It has to intervene in them.
But What about the Psychopath?
If something bites you, it is inside of your clothes. —Swahili proverb I have argued that change will come not from overcoming the powers-that-be, but through their transformation. I have stated that we are fundamentally the same being l
On Pain, Love and Evil: 3 Profound Insights That Will Open Your Mind Wide
“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.” ~Isaac Asimov There are certain moments in life that can transform us in a tremendously positive way. Those are moments when an insight dawns in our minds...
James Baldwin, Remembered on His 93rd Birthday
James Baldwin was a writer and political activist from Harlem, New York. He explored issues that challenged U.S. empire, racism and homophobia.
How to Not Be Offended
There is an ancient and well-kept secret to happiness which the Great Ones have known for centuries. They rarely talk about it, but they use it all the time, and it is fundamental to good mental health. This secret is called The Fine Art of Not Being Offended.