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The Hidden History of Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali’s resistance to racism and war belongs not only to the 1960s, but the common future of humanity.
Zen and the Art of Living Deeply
Cultivating a Beginner's Mind With traditional arts in Asia much emphasis is put on long-term practice and effort, so as to reach continuously higher levels of skill development. There is a deeper character training happening as well, to reduce the ego’s voice, let go of...
What Is Biomimicry, Anyway?
Let’s play a game. It’s called “Who made it?” and it goes like this: I’ll describe a series of objects, and you guess who made them. If you guess all of them correctly, there will be a special prize waiting for you at the end of this article. Ready? Let’s begin.
We Are All Related: Working Together to Fight Fossil Fuels
As I write this, I’ve just returned from seeing my niece’s newborn baby girl. As I gazed into her eyes, I said a silent prayer hoping we can find a way to shift the systems of government and business that have allowed the sacred system of life to become so out of balance that...
How Many of These Outlaw Legends Do You Know?
There's a lot of mythology around outlaws, with some viewed as heroes and some as villains. Here are 6 legendary outlaws who you might not have head of.
The Great Lie of Living on a Dead Planet
The modern era is built on a theory of the Universe as a giant mechanical clock — dead matter with gears and springs.
We Should Look Beyond Economics and Open Our Eyes to Beauty
We seem to have forgotten that the human spirit is not satisfied by material progress alone. It’s time for us to reconnect with nature
Why Trump Voters Are Not "Complete Idiots"
A common trope when trying to understand voters who vote differently from you is to simply call them idiots. This is particularly true this year, when discussing Trump voters. The most aggressive (and IMO offensive example of this) is by Jo
How Other Primates Self-Medicate - and What They Could Teach Us
Despite our advances in technology and medicine, we seem to be fighting a never-ending battle against a number of diseases and ailments. As viruses become more complex and bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, it seems that the lab-made drugs we have become so dependent...
Beyond the Zero-Empathy Matrix
To be, or not to be: that is the question.” —Hamlet “Psychopaths are capable of taking the perspective of somebody else, but only to take better advantage of you. They’re able to play the empathy game, but without the feelings involved. It’s like an empty shell. The core of...
"The Divide" Shows Inequality on the Big Screen
Inequality represents simultaneously a cornerstone and a weak link in today's capitalism. The idea that wealth creation for the few benefits the many is a core myth of the system. But the expanding inequality divide shreds this theory. In practical terms, the super-rich buy...
93 Documentaries to Expand Your Consciousness
This is the crash-course in 'what the hell is going on here' that we surely all wish we got from our education growing up but probably never did.
How to Find Your Power (Your Ability to Make a Difference in the World) - And Avoid Abusing It
For the past twenty years, I have been carrying out experiments to find out how power is distributed in groups. I have infiltrated college dorms and children’s summer camps to document who rises in power. I have brought entire sororities and fraternities into the lab...
The Looting Stage of Capitalism: Germany's Assault on the IMF
Having successfully used the EU to conquer the Greek people by turning the Greek “leftwing” government into a pawn of Germany’s banks, Germany now finds the IMF in the way of its plan to loot Greece into oblivion.
Rewilding Human Nature
Lucy Purdy explores how the concept of ‘rewilding’ could be applied not just to the natural world, but to ourselves
A Definitive Guide to Exactly What Is Going on in the US Elections! Sort Of.
How Do Bourgeois Democratic Elections in the US Work? A decade and a half into the 21st century, the answer is that they work badly. Very badly. The basic function of the government—what Marx called the general staff of the capitalist class--in bourgeois democracies is to...
A Brief History of Happiness: How America Lost Track of the Good Life-And Where to Find It Now
For decades, we've been taught that economic growth and buying more stuff will make us happy—while trashing the planet. The good news is, there’s a better kind of happy: It starts with meaningful work, loving relationships, and a thriving natural world.
Will There Still Be Ivory Towers in a World Without Elephants?
Universities have become detached places for the pursuit of career advancement — a fantasy world in these turbulent times.
The Boiling Pot of 2016
On the surface, things appear normal. The status quo of life in America circa 2016 isn’t to everyone’s liking, but at least the system is still working after a fashion. The price of oil is going up a bit: that means the cost of driving is also creeping higher, but steeper...
Jessica Valenti: My Life as a 'Sex Object'
In her teens, strangers flashed her on the subway, teachers asked for hugs and boys joked about her breasts. Should she laugh off a lifetime of objectification – or get angry?
After Empowering the 1% and Impoverishing Millions, IMF Admits Neoliberalism a Failure
Last week a research wing of the International Monetary Fund came out with a report admitting that neoliberalism has been a failure. The report, entitled, “Neoliberalism: Oversold?” is hopefully a sign of the ideology's death. They were only about 40 years late. As Naomi...
World's Low-Cost Economy Built on the Backs of 46 Million Modern Day Slaves
'Business leaders who refuse to look into the realities of their own supply chains are misguided and irresponsible.'
The Faux Insurgency of the Climate Change Deniers and the Need for Closure
Climate change deniers like to style themselves as latter-day Copernicuses and Galileos, lone visionaries bucking the established wisdom of the ages embodied back then in the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Will You Vote to Leave or Remain in the European Union?
Hear arguments from both sides and then vote in our poll
Commoning as a Transformative Social Paradigm
In facing up to the many profound crises of our time, we face a conundrum that has no easy resolution: how are we to imagine and build a radically different system while living within the constraints of an incumbent system that aggressively resists transformational change?...
Why I Live the Life of a Modern Hunter-Gatherer
A friend recently said to me, “Kyer, if I were in your financial situation, I’d be freaking out.”
How to Bootstrap a Bossless Organization in 3 Easy Steps
My first impression at OuiShare Fest was a weird utopian blockchain mania: a poorly understood but massively hyped technology that will somehow fix all our social, political, and economic inequities. As I got to know some of the people here though, I started to see through...
Beyond Trump: Disrupt, Defuse, Compete
To defeat the current upsurge in right-wing populism, progressives will need to disrupt, defuse, and – critically – compete for portions of its constituency.
8 Ways to Defend Against Terror Nonviolently
One of my most popular courses at Swarthmore College focused on the challenge of how to defend against terrorism, nonviolently. Events now unfolding in France make our course more relevant than ever. (The syllabus was published in “Peace, Justice, and Security Studies: A...
Infographic: The Heart of the Amazon Faces a Serious Threat. Here's What You Need to Know
The Tapajós River is one of the last free-flowing rivers in the entire Brazilian Amazon. But this river in the heart of the rainforest and the people and ecosystems that depend on it face a serious threat.
Establishment Democrats Courting Disaster
In the 1964 film classic, Dr. Strangelove, Slim Pickens is seen riding a nuclear bomb down to his certain death – and perhaps to the end of us all – while he calmly inventories his survival equipment. 
Remembering All the Deaths From All of Our Wars
We fail our duties as citizens if we remain silent about the realities of war
Basic Income Gathers Steam Across Europe
In the last few months basic income—an unconditional cash payment to every member of the population—has been getting more and more attention in the media and social networks. Three items are especially interesting.
The Little Man Who Lives in My Head
“It finally clicked. I have bad self esteem when it comes to men.” — Journal Entry, October 27, 2015
Scientists Puzzled by Slowing of Atlantic Conveyor Belt, Warn of Abrupt Climate Change
Scientists are increasingly warning of the potential that a shutdown, or even significant slowdown, of the Atlantic conveyor belt could lead to abrupt climate change, a shift in Earth’s climate that can occur within as short a timeframe as a decade but persist for decades or...
Memorializing the Horrors of War With 10 Must-See War Films
“The horror... the horror...”—Apocalypse Now (1979) “You can’t show war as it really is on the screen, with all the blood and gore. Perhaps it would be better if you could fire real shots over the audience’s head every night, you know, and have actual casualties in the...
Silencing America as It Prepares for War
Returning to the United States in an election year, I am struck by the silence. I have covered four presidential campaigns, starting with 1968; I was with Robert Kennedy when he was shot and I saw his assassin, preparing to kill him. It was a baptism in the American way...
Trump Turned Down the Debate for Fear of a Sanders Nomination
Trump recently waffled about debating Sanders; he said he would for $10M to charity. He must not have expected the money to materialize. It did; and he bailed. But why? It would only weaken Clinton – which, as the presumptive nominee, Trump theoretically would want.
By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them
I’m dealing with massive cognitive dissonance right now. Multiple, contradictory beliefs and perceptions inhabit my mind, each compelling on its own terms. How do I choose?
10 Reasons to Embrace Wildness
Henry David Thoreau once wrote the words, "In wildness is the preservation of the world." Though Thoreau lived in his cabin on the shores of Walden Pond many years ago, those words hold a deep truth. Wildness can mean so many different things to so many different people, but...
We Sold Feminism to the Masses, and Now It Means Nothing
These days, feminism is on fleek. Touted by everyone from Dove to Barbie to Taylor Swift, consumer capitalism has made feminism sexy, fun, cool—and remarkably easy to claim as your own. But the price tag has been the meaning of the movement itself.
Hope and Burnout in the Anthropocene
To build a lasting movement for climate justice, activists must decouple hope from victory and confront their fatigue head-on
Joanna Macy on How to Prepare Internally for WHATEVER Comes Next
“Yes, it looks bleak. But you are still alive now. You are alive with all the others, in this present moment. And because the truth is speaking in the work, it unlocks the heart. And there’s such a feeling and experience of adventure. It’s like a trumpet call to a great...
Why Lane Kenworthy Thinks The Next System Should Be... Social Democracy
As part of our “New Systems: Possibilities and Proposals” series, Lane Kenworthy delves into a model for Social Democracy that he believes would be beneficial for a next system. Kenworthy claims that higher government involvement – as exemplified by Denmark, Finland, Norway...
How to Stay Human
Neoliberalism encourages us to treat every aspect of our lives as if it were on sale in a marketplace: is it an anti-spiritual project?
Why Spirituality Is the Key to a More Visionary Politics
Progressive renewal lies in a deep recognition that we are not choosing our current lives.
5 Reasons the Fight for Energy Democracy Starts in Communities
It is a sunny April Saturday and I’m running late to an event. This itself is not remarkable – but this time it is because the street I’m looking for in Lambeth is not marked on my map. When I find the launch for Switched On London, I discover I’m not the only one puzzled by...
Be an Island Crystal of Hope In These Times of Profound Global Turbulence
We can all feel it — the mental disease of late-stage capitalism is causing widespread depression, an epidemic of suicides, chronic feelings of guilt and shame, and a general malaise of powerlessness.
Positive Parenting: How to Raise Your Children With Unconditional Love
Parenthood lies deep within us. We are wired to help our little ones survive and prosper. Modern life, however, has removed us from our natural environment. It can be hard to raise a child in world of fear and distractions. Science and psychology bring back a big dose of...
Solving a Problem That Has Not Been Named
Many changes happening around us remain unclear. We need better names and stories for them.
From Floating Food Forests to Vacant Lot Crops, Urban Farming Is Taking Root Across America
More than 1,500 community gardens have been started on vacant land in Detroit alone in recent years.
Judge a System by the Health of Its Children
On Globalization and The Costs of Exporting the American Dream
Changing Everything Except What Needs Changing: What's Missing From The Renewable Energy Debate
Among climate change activists, solutions usually center on a transition to renewable energy. There may be differences over whether this would be best accomplished by a carbon tax, bigger subsidies for wind and solar power, divestment from fossil fuel companies, massive...
Protests Intensify, Spread Across France as Workers Refuse Submission
'What we want today is for this movement to spread,' says unionist.
Obama Plays a Dove in NPR's Historical Fiction
The second thing NPR wants you to know about Hillary Clinton and foreign policy—after “she’s experienced”—is “she’s more hawkish than President Obama.” White House correspondent Scott Horsley (All Things Considered, 5/17/16) says:
Amid Election Chaos, Communities Show Where the Real Power Is
In every community I visited, I found people working hard to lay a different foundation for our society.
Letting Go - Life Lessons on Dealing with Pain and Loss
1 I’m eleven years old. I’m in the deep end of a swimming pool, small wet hands fastened on to the pool ladder. My instructor bends over. “Let go,” she says. “I will,” I tell her. “Let go now.”
Ikigai - Finding Your Reason for Being
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
World Wildlife Fund Partners with Logging Company
French logging company and official partner of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is deforesting a huge area of rainforest in southeast Cameroon without the consent of local Baka who have lived there and managed the land for generations
Comic: If Bart Simpson and Chris Griffin Went to Couples Therapy
"My dad was an abusive alcoholic, or whatever. He'd go to the bar, come home drunk, find out I'd f-cked up at school, and he'd choke me out."