Library
Filter
View
1,301-1,400 of 4,548
The twentieth century saw four basic visions of hell on earth, or dystopia. These were:
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.
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
Tim Goulet reviews the third installment of the radical working-class history documentary Plutocracy by filmmaker Scott Noble.
Our organizing can't just speak to the everyday crises of people's lives under capitalism. It has to intervene in them.
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 lo
James Baldwin was a writer and political activist from Harlem, New York. He explored issues that challenged U.S. empire, racism and homophobia.
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.
Our political and social systems don't support fundamental human needs, says Gabor Mate—which affects our ability to deal with traumatic events.
The U.S. Congress does not suffer from endless gridlock as some of the banal liberal pundits and commentators moan about.
“Suffragette” tells a gripping story drawn from the direct action wing of Britain’s woman suffrage movement. Because it spotlights one tactic – property destruction – the film raises the question of effectiveness. Leader Emmeline Pankhurst’s argument for escalating with arson...
Movement manuals can be useful. Marty Oppenheimer and I found that out in 1964 when civil rights leaders were too busy to write a manual but wanted one. We wrote “A Manual for Direct Action” just in time for Mississippi Freedom Summer. Bayard Rustin wrote the forward. Some...
We're not all ready to have the same conversation, but perhaps that's a good place to start
A new UN report has found that two billion people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water. However, the report covers just a small part of the global population and fails to address the impact that war and corporate profiteering have had on drinking water...
Seattle further cemented its reputation as one of the most progressive cities in the U.S. last week, when its City Council passed a law to tax the rich, sponsored by socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant along with Councilmember Lisa Herbold. The law places a 2.25% tax...
Report demands massive expansion of military-industrial complex to maintain global ‘access to resources’
The screen froze as yet another announcement crept into the cabin from the overhead speakers and through my headphones. I swore beneath my breath. For the umpteenth time, the captain spoke with that strange in-flight inaudibility and cadence: with muffled, static-beleaguered...
Only a global confederation of rebel cities can lead us out of the death-spiral of neoliberalism towards a new rational society that delivers on the promise of humankind.
“Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy rotten system.” — Dorothy Day Strong words from a brave woman unknown to most Americans because her bravery and boldness didn’t just concern a minority group but all of humanity. She demanded radical change in a system...
Now that there are thousands of films on Films For Action, we realized the very best gems have really become buried all across our library, and for people new to this information, we needed a more guided way to dive in. Spread across 15 core themes, this collection aims to be...
New study, led by James Hansen, is meant to bolster climate kids' case against the federal government
The freedom of these corporations to pollute – and the fixation on a feeble lifestyle response – is no accident. It is the result of an ideological war, waged over the last forty years, against the possibility of collective action. Devastatingly successful, it is not too late...
Countries like Yemen, Chad and South Sudan have been devastated by famine and starvation in recent years, with millions of people suffering despite a global surplus of food. But the problem is not a lack of resources - they are starving due to the effects of unending Western...
Jiddu Krishnamurti knew a thing or two about fame. As a 13 year-old boy in India, he was not ‘discovered’ by a record producer or casting agent, but by one of the leaders of the Theosophical Society. The young b
In a wide-ranging interview about Britain’s relationship with Europe and the ongoing migration crisis, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said that people who raise questions about the level of immigration into the UK should not be seen as racist. He said that to be...
Over the past week the Proud Boys, a self-described "Western chauvinist" organization whose members are tired of apologizing for "creating the modern world", have garnered media attention. Along with the disruption of an Aboriginal ceremony in Halifax by Proud Boy servicemen...
Fox News tried to intimidate Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor from speaking. Now we're printing her words in full.
While many of us work to create a better world, it’s worthwhile to consider other countries where masses of people succeeded in nonviolently bringing about a high degree of democracy and economic justice. Sweden and Norway, for example, both experienced a major power shift in...
There’s an ever-percolating fight happening in left-of-center spaces about the tactics of the “call out” and shaming culture. This fight is rarely productive. Critics of those tactics argue they are counterproductive; defenders counter that these critics are really just...
Over the Fourth of July weekend, thousands of protesters in dozens of cities across the country turned out to call for the impeachment of President Donald Trump. While I certainly sympathize with the sentiment, if we want to make real change for the better than we need to...
Thousands of people around the world have excitedly made a forceful political point with a well-honed and witty tweet. All it takes is 140 characters to make a pithy argument, and man it feels good to get a few retweets.
There is good reason for people on the left to have divisiveness on their minds. In the news and on social media, the leftists that are shown most often are those that are ranting and raging at each other, calling each other out over this badly-phrased thought or that...
Most students are told to be seen and not heard. “Democratic schools” offer a refreshing alternative.
Before you say no, take a moment to really ask yourself whether it’s the system that’s best suited to build our future society.
Surely the United States and Britain are democracies. After all, they have free and fair elections and representative governments; freedom of speech and association means that dissent and demonstrations are tolerated; all citizens are deemed equal before the law; and...
Fighting capitalism remains the only path toward women’s full liberation.
There always another $27 billion or lying around, it seems, when Lockheed Martin needs more money for expensive weapons system
The modern 'throwaway culture' was born in response to the needs of industrial capital. To move beyond it, we must rediscover the beauty of repair.
Danny Dorling presents evidence that greater equality benefits everyone, rich and poor – and argues that it can offer us all political hope.
Tens of thousands descend on Hamburg, challenging policies put forth by Trump-type nationalists and Europe's neoliberals elites
Curing unemployment is a growth market for psychologists. Job Centres are becoming medical centres, claimants are becoming patients, and unemployment is being redefined as a psychological disorder.
Achieving comprehensive social change requires radical alteration of everything, including education. But most of the attempts to reform the educational system are limited. What is needed is a democratization of education through the introduction of alternative egalitarian...
Among other things, whiteness is a kind of solipsism. From right to left, whites consistently and successfully reroute every political discussion to their identity. The content of this identity, unsurprisingly, is left unexamined and undefined. It is the false foundation of...
For the past few months we have published a series of posts on New Compass introducing social ecology, discussing possible future environmental scenarios, studying the crisis of capitalis
A Q&A with Asad Haider, founding editor of Viewpoint Magazine, on an ideology fracturing the left.
By directly challenging white supremacy, racism and imperialism, Colin Kaepernick is making himself a household name for all the right reasons. And the NFL, its billionaire owners and the corporate errand boys of sports journalism simply cannot stand it.
Contesting power isn’t a hobby or a subculture—it’s a collective project pervading all facets of our lives.
US military intelligence agencies have influenced over 1,800 movies and TV shows
Today America celebrates its liberation from the shackles of the British Crown and the beginning of its transition into corporatist oligarchy, which is a lot like celebrating your lateral promotion from housekeeping to laundry staff. Fireworks will be set off, hot dogs will...
'Is not nationalism—that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary so fierce it engenders mass murder—one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hatred?'
“It was almost as if the earth was opening up and swallowing Black farmers.”
When Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris climate deal, the world reacted with outrage. And rightly so: the agreement represents a remarkable achievement in international diplomacy – a breakthrough after 20 years of failed climate negotiations. But as we...
There's been a lot of talk about where the Baby Boomer generation will live as they age. Several interesting, sharing-based housing alternatives such cohousing and senior villages have emerged as potential options. But what about all the businesses that Baby Boomers own? What...
Presently, most of the people in our culture believe that competition, possessiveness, and jealousy are all acceptable responses when we love someone. But is this really true, independent of culture or custom?
Pierre Fulton was black. He was poor. He had struggled his entire life. He had been in trouble with the law as a youth. Armed robbery, drug distribution, and gun possession were all on his record. It was now 2015 and Pierre was thirty. He had turned his life around. He got a...
Think invisible men, time travel, flying machines and journeys to other planets are the product of the European or ‘Western’ imagination? Open One Thousand and One Nights – a collection of folk tales compiled during the Islamic Golden Age, from the 8th to the 13th centuries...
"We'll be ready," said the ACLU in response to the announcement
Out of the ashes of burning Cheetos, the new season offers lessons in democracy, compassion, and humanity.
Introducing a Global Network of Municipalist Cities
On March 8, a crowd of over 50 protesters in Geneva, New York, (population 13,261) occupied the office of Republican Congressman Tom Reed. The occupation was part of a women’s strike organized in connection with International Women’s Day by the Geneva Women’s Assembly.
The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become. —Goethe
This sermon was given at the ECM in Lawrence, KS in April 2015.
Happy father’s day to the fathers, and to our fathers’ fathers, and their fathers’ fathers, and all the way back to Grandfather Sky. Past there to before there were fathers, because all was just ONE.
In austerity Britain, can justice and accountability be served for the victims of the Grenfell fire? Or are our laws already too much shaped to the needs of the business class?
New York City’s Fresh Air Fund has sent city kids, most of them low-income, to suburban and rural neighborhoods for two-week summer vacations for the past 140 years. Originally intended to restore malnourished, sickly and white immigrant children to health, the fund expanded...
It’s routine for right-wing outlets like Fox to smear progressive activists under the guise of “news” coverage. But why the New York Times? And why the special venom for Bernie Sanders?
The full horror of the Grenfell Tower fire in west London is still to emerge. Like millions of others, I watched live as TV breakfast reports showed the blaze in its intensity and eyewitnesses told of their devastating experiences and fury at those who allowed this to happen...
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." This quote, which has often been misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, is wise in recognizing the authoritarian potential of both nationalism and organized religion. In slight contrast, Professor...
Colin Kaepernick took a courageous and principled stand last season by kneeling during the national anthem before NFL games. This was done in response to a society that continues to systematically, culturally, and institutionally devalue black lives. This devaluation is...
This Government Must Be Held Responsible
Liza Bramlett was a slave. She lived on a cotton plantation in the Mississippi Delta, during the 19th century. White men raped her repeatedly throughout her life. They traded her body amongst themselves in exchange for calves and piglets. In the end, Liza gave birth to 23...
Does your phone, the TV and advertising demand your attention everywhere you look? All this stimulation is triggering a social crisis, says writer Matthew Crawford. He talks to Ed Cumming about how to reconnect with reality
It’s time to ensure that no American has to worry about where they and their families will sleep tonight, says housing consultant James Stockard.
No one is naturally or genetically oppressive; no human being is born as an oppressor. No one is naturally or genetically destined to be oppressed; no one is born to be oppressed.
The latest entry in panics over social justice comes from my hometown, where some folks have created a list shaming restaurants and foodcarts that were owned by white people but sold “non-European international cuisine.” One of the more annoying restaurants on that list...
A common objection against participatory democracy is that, yes, it is a beautiful idea, but it can only work at the local level, like the neighborhood, the small town or the village. Our modern world is too complex, too global and interconnected – and we are simply too many...
I just can't believe what happened in the British elections.
I see you, Rupert Murdoch. I see your whispery head, your hangdog expression, the malevolent balls of obsidian that function as your eyes. I see you shaking your head as you watch the exit polls come in, your flaccid jowls dangling, flapping about like the labia on a jogging...
It became clear on June 9 that Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to call a snap election was ill judged. This election has highlighted the disregard for the “many” that government should serve, and after an election in which the youth turnout was around 72%...
Binge-watchers of the new season will find it’s hard to be shocked by the usual Underwood White House treachery and corruption.
There are two dates ingrained in the memory of the Palestinian people. The first is May 15, 1948, the date which marks the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinians and the destruction of their towns and villages by Zionist Jewish militias. A day before, the state of Israel was...
We are living through the collapse of the first truly global civilization in Earth’s history. This is bigger than the fall of Rome. Much more dramatic than the end for the Mayans. Greater in magnitude than the fall of the ancient Egyptians. And yet there is still hope for...
Anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Loving v. Virginia
The Tories may still be in power at the end of the night, but Jeremy Corbyn won today. Yes, I know this is shameless spin, but hear me out: the last few weeks have vindicated the approach of the Labour left and its international cothinkers under Corbyn. This is the first...
The Commons is maturing politically, its methods and principles becoming more visible and its participants winning municipal elections in a variety of European cities. How did this happen, and what happens next? First, a look at our present political context, and then some...
A complex network of local organizations helps neighbors support one another as they rebound from a dying industry.
The 94-year-old campaigner fought in the Second World War and says he still wants to defend his country
The world needs an actual popular elected response to US aggression against the world’s poor and the earth’s climate.
Anarchists have traditionally opposed voting for a variety of ideological reasons. For many, not voting is held as a badge of honor - a way of signaling one's commitment to anarchist theory. I've often thought that this belief in not voting almost represents a sort of relig
Political journalists, especially during elections, should provide balanced news coverage of parties and scrutinise each parties’ political agendas to help properly inform the public. Sadly this is an ideal that is all-too-rarely realised. The 2015 election was reported as a...
Inside the Juvenile Justice Center in Nashville, Tennessee is a steel door fitted with a high-security system. Push a button and the door unlocks, revealing another steel door with a slot for IDs. When that door buzzes, I walk through with video gear. I’m searched, as is the...
The numbers do not lie: women have long been underrepresented on the United States Supreme Court. In the court’s 228-year history, only four of the 112 justices have been female. Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female justice in 1981, almost two centuries after the...
House prices are through the roof. The banks are swimming in mortgage profits. Rents are sky high. Is it any wonder there are more people on the street?
Purdue researchers have developed a flow battery that would allow electric cars to be recharged instantly at stations like conventional cars are. The technology is clean, safe, and cheap.
Trump called "Opportunist-in-Chief" for using latest violence in the UK to justify travel ban from Muslim countries
Wonder Woman is an unsettling superhero. More so than her male counterparts, she resists easy classification: she’s neither an alien or a billionaire – nor has she been exposed to some chemical to obtain her powers. The comic books cast her as a mystery to be unravelled and...
Films For Action is a library for all the best social change films on the internet, cataloged in one place. But because there is so much to cover, and films can’t cover it all — we also curate a ton of articles too. So this is our invitation to all of the social change...
Returning power — and profit — to the people.
For calling-in to work, it must be rooted deeply in kind speech
'We move on and we move forward, together'
Share this: