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Why infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible, and why the alternative can actually be beautiful.
Behaving according to one’s moral principles can make others feel implicitly judged.
Notwithstanding its many flaws and centuries of criticisms, capitalism is still the dominant economic system globally. What made it so resilient?
Recognizing the design flaws in our default programming is the first step to envisioning the world we know is possible.
Futurists warning about the threats of AI are looking in the wrong place. Humanity is already facing an existential threat from an artificial intelligence we created hundreds of years ago. It’s called the Corporation.
I first understood the power of the documentary during the editing of my first film, The Quiet Mutiny.
For many, the holidays are indeed the most wonderful time of the year. Families and friends come together and enjoy food, good cheer – and, often, alcohol.
Donald Trump is the commander-in-chief of the biggest military force on Earth. There's no societal power above him, that's why he can do whatever he wants. What does he want? Or does he, perhaps, not have any own will, and is steered by other powers?
It was the last day of a week-long holiday and although it was mid-morning we had already been to the beach. The beach had been beautiful.
Any accounting of the commons without acknowledging the presence and interests of others will lead to their continued destruction, to our human detriment as well.
The surprising effects of a man's experiment with eliminating pornography from his life.
The other day I dreamed of a catfish being hooked in one of our lines during the 180 days I lived in the boreal forest. One of the reasons why I don't like living in civilization and eating food from the supermarket is that it is extremely easy to forget where food is coming...
Reflections on Global Grace Day 2017
The black revolution is much more than a struggle for the rights of Negroes. It is forcing America to face all its interrelated flaws—racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism. It is exposing evils that are rooted deeply in the whole structure of our society. It reveals...
We The People, in general, are a divided people. Pick any topic or issue, and there is bound to be some heated version of "Us and Them"- if not outright conflict over it. We seem to excel at creating staunch support bases for even the most unlikely of viewpoints: White...
"To those who have been used to privilege all their lives, equality may feel like oppression."
It's time for a global movement working for the healing of love at the core of a humane revolution.
How to Live an Inspired and Peaceful Life
We are alienating each other with unrestrained callouts and unchecked self-righteousness. Here’s how that can stop.
On Oct. 15, 2017, the United Nations will withdraw its peacekeeping troops from Haiti, ending its 13-year mission there.
While teaching U.S. history at a public charter high school in the District, Julian Hipkins III noticed that students tended to assume that “race” was as old as mankind. “Almost like it was natural, a given,” as he put it.
Disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes result from a combination of natural hazards and social and human vulnerability. Calling them 'natural disasters' artificially naturalises the harms they cause.
A group of global visionaries and leaders gathered in Portugal this summer. They're publishing a manifesto laying out the possible foundation for a global alliance to defend the sacred everywhere.
What does it mean to be American? Citizenship, one may think, but the media and court of public opinion would disagree. True patriotism gets interpreted by some as angrily defending (with a religious fervor) statist symbolism and indoctrinated rites of "showing respect". They...
Those who decry the “politicization of sports” are only mad that it’s black athletes now.
“The way we are trying to change the world is not going to work, and it’s never going to work” This is the bold statement Deborah Frieze offers as she opens her TEDx talk. In this wonderful video, Deborah offers us a new map for navigating the potential for transformative...
There is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity. Wisdom is the direct understanding of the fluidity of life. But the contradiction lies a little deeper than the mere conflict between the desire for...
Newspapers love to dish up stories of inherent differences between the sexes, because we lap them up. Gavin Evans reflects on why we are still so susceptible.
Instead of fixating on a fight between capitalism and socialism, imagine innovating a future economy that transcends old binaries.
It is unusual for disasters to garner as much sustained coverage in the media as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have. Authors have been able to explore complex aspects of disasters in more nuanced ways than fleeting public interest generally allows.
By putting the evil eye on nature, we take it off the humans who have science in their hands, but hold it behind their backs.
How many times will we rebuild Florida’s cities, Houston, coastal New Jersey, New Orleans and other population centers ravaged by storms lethally intensified by global warming? At what point, surveying the devastation and knowing more is inevitable, will we walk away, leaving...
Recent weeks have seen an escalation of violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine, the poorest state of Myanmar. A tide of displaced people are seeking refuge from atrocities – they are fleeing both on foot and by boat to Bangladesh. It is the latest sur
We should be careful before embracing ideas that might lead to catastrophe…
Our global civilization is currently undergoing a tremendous set of transitions that will ultimately result in the dismantling of much of the way that we currently live and the construction of a new “civilization model”. Over the next several months, I will be laying out many...
I’m republishing this article I wrote a few months before the 2016 election because it contains an analysis which is absolutely essential for anyone who wishes to participate in transforming American political, economic, social, cultural and intellectual reality. Some of it...
Mainstream textbooks almost entirely ignore COINTELPRO. Though COINTELPRO offers teachers a trove of opportunities to illustrate key concepts, including the rule of law, civil liberties, social protest, and due process, it is completely absent from my school’s government book.
Had we designed cities with nature in mind, we'd see fewer issues around flooding, pollution and excessive heat.
"Eventually, we need to move beyond discussions about tearing down symbols of white supremacy, and begin to strategize about how to tear down the systems that still prop it up."
Many of us spiritual progressives have been in deep grief for the loss of life of Heather Heyer, the woman killed by a Nazi fanatic who also wounded 19 other anti-racist activists. We are also in grief about the ways racism continues to flourish on so many levels in the U.S....
The Left can't allow itself to be consumed by debates about antifa. We need a proactive program and patient organizing.
Before I start, I’m going to lay my cards on the table: I don’t fit race and ethnicity boxes very well. Whenever I have to fill in one of those diversity questionnaires, I always tick ‘other’ because none of the options really describe me. My dad was born in Tanzania of...
Organize a fundraiser for a peacebuilding non-profit across the street from their event, or somewhere close by.
Using humor and irony to undermine white supremacy dates back to the days of the Third Reich, from jokes and cartoons employed by Norwegians against the Nazi occupation to “The Great Dictator” speech by Charlie Chaplin.
Nazism and white supremacy are forms of violence. Let’s start there.
The unexpected, spontaneous and pleasantly disruptive nature of collective celebration is one of the great equalisers of social and political struggle.
When I penned the book, I was angry and alienated. Today I realize that violence can't be used to prevent violence
Today I saw a few people I respect enough not to have muted taking a tilt at Trevor Noah for some bit where he called out antifa, and called them “Vegan Isis”. This will sound snobbish, but I often cringe when well meaning types on the left address comedy. They sometimes have...
How do we build alliances across our varied agendas so as to have the greatest impact? And how do we involve what I call TWANYAS (Those Who Are Not Yet Activists) -- those who care, but have-not yet come forward?
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...
This is the first part in a series criticizing the ideas of white supremacy.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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...
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...
We turn out in the streets and nothing seems to happen. Maybe we’re doing it wrong.
Progressives need to fight for their values in a smarter, more inclusive way
"Protesters are eager to expend extraordinary energy denouncing small-scale racist actors. But what about the large-scale racist actors?"
Hate in America has become commonplace. What can we do to stop the hate?
Dear Beloved Ones in Struggle,
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...
Trump's plan to reverse ban on transfer of military equipment to police denounced by civil rights groups as "exceptionally dangerous and irresponsible"
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.
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.
The Relevance of Radicalized Peacebuilding to Antifa Praxis
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...
Will progressives accept the empirical data behind the efficacy of nonviolence?
This comic originally appeared exclusively in my second Zen Pencils book collection (available from all good retailers!) in 2015. I really enjoy writing t
Antifa’s horizon is in toppling the legitimacy of extraction and ownership anchored in presumably natural foundations
And why the struggle for a new economic paradigm is about to get real
The rise of fascism has injected new venom into an old debate, preventing activists from seeing movement strategy clearly.
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.
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...
Trump's "plan" for America's longest war will almost certainly increase terrorism and cause civilian deaths to skyrocket, analysts argued
"The Boston counter-protest is now perhaps the largest anti-racist protest this year."
Court ruling "gives hope across the country for people facing the onslaught of oil and gas infrastructure."
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...
How far can body positivity take us in the fight for women’s liberation?
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.
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.
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.
We must be very wary of any attempts to excuse or normalize white supremacy.
Isn’t it time for the media to be honest and call white supremacists the domestic terrorists that they are?
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...
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...
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!
"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 times certainly are a-changing.
Once-celebrated author and thinker Daniel Pinchbeck can't find an audience for his new book. He has a few ideas why.
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...
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!!!
"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."
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...
My Dear Fellow Clergymen:
Americans think they live in a democracy. But their workplaces are small tyrannies.
Kathleen Kendall-Tackett examines how other cultures protect new mothers’ well-being.
Before casting the blame for our environmental ills on countries like China, we would do well to reflect on who is truly responsible.
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...
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