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Lao Tzu's Four Rules for Living
How to Live an Inspired and Peaceful Life
Why I've Started to Fear My Fellow Social Justice Activists
We are alienating each other with unrestrained callouts and unchecked self-righteousness. Heres how that can stop.
Sent to Haiti to keep the peace, departing UN troops leave a damaged nation in their wake
On Oct. 15, 2017, the United Nations will withdraw its peacekeeping troops from Haiti, ending its 13-year mission there.
How American Oligarchs Created the Concept of Race to Divide and Conquer the Poor
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.
Why Natural Disasters Aren’t All That Natural
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.
Defend the Sacred Manifesto
A group of global visionaries and leaders gathered in Portugal this summer. They're publishing a manifestolaying outthepossible foundation for a global alliance to defend the sacred everywhere.
The Real Problem With Trump Is He's a Great American.
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...
The NFL Has Always Been Political
Those who decry the politicization of sports are only mad that its black athletes now.
Changing How We Think About Change
The way we are trying to change the world is not going to work, and its never going towork 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...
The Wisdom of Insecurity
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 thedesirefor...
Deliver Us From Venus and Mars: Why Aren’t We Free From Gender Stereotypes Yet?
Newspapers love to dish up stories of inherent differences between the sexes, because we lap them up.Gavin Evansreflects on why we are still so susceptible.
Don’t Be Scared About the End of Capitalism—Be Excited to Build What Comes Next
Instead of fixating on a fight between capitalism and socialism, imagine innovating a future economy that transcends old binaries.
Show Up, Stand up and Step Up: Bold Action in the Wake of Storms
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.
Nature Isn't On a Rampage. That Would Be Us.
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.
The Great Flood
How many times will we rebuild Floridas 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...
Religion Is Not the Only Reason Rohingyas Are Being Forced Out of Myanmar
Recent weeks have seen anescalation of violence against the Rohingyain 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 isthe latest su
Thinking Strategically About Free Speech and Violence
We should be careful before embracing ideas that might lead to catastrophe
The Coming Great Transition
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...
We Can't Transform American Politics Till We Understand the Psychodynamics at Play
Im 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...
Why We Should Teach About the FBI’s War on the Civil Rights Movement
March 2017 marks the 46th anniversary of a dramatic moment in U.S. history. On March 8, 1971while Muhammad Ali was fighting Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden, and as millions sat glued to their TVs watching the bout unfolda group of peace activistsbroke into an FBI office...
For More Resilient Cities, Stop Trying to Conquer Nature
Had we designed cities with nature in mind, we'd see fewer issues around flooding, pollution and excessive heat.
Taking the Fight Against White Supremacy Into Schools
"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."
The Staying Power of Racism After Charlottesville
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 After Charlottesville: Where To Go From Here
The Left can't allow itself to be consumed by debates about antifa. We need a proactive program and patient organizing.
Cultural Appropriation: Whose Culture Is It Anyway, and What About Hybridity?
Before I start, Im going to lay my cards on the table: I dont 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 British...
How to Smash Neo-Nazi Events
Organize a fundraiser for a peacebuilding non-profit across the street from their event, or somewhere close by.
Why Nazis Are so Afraid of These Clowns
Trolls chanted in the streets the day of a planned neo-Nazi rally in the small ski town of Whitefish, Montana earlier this year. But they were not the trolls that residents had been expecting namely, white supremacists from around the country, who had been harassing the...
Don't Feed the Trolls — How to Combat the Alt-Right
Nazism and white supremacy are forms of violence. Lets start there.
The Subversive Power of Joy
The unexpected, spontaneous and pleasantly disruptive nature of collective celebration is one of the great equalisers of social and political struggle.
I Wrote the Anarchist Cookbook in 1969. Now I See Its Premise as Flawed
When I penned the book, I was angry and alienated. Today I realize that violence can't be used to prevent violence
Comedian Frankie Boyle Responds to Criticism of Tevor Noah's Characterization of Antifa
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...
Tips for Building Coalitions
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?
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 criticizingthe ideas ofwhite 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 partys 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 ofSon 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 thanat least oneU.S. citizen? Thats right. Just one. Right now, the answer is a clear and resounding No! because Exxon Mobil...
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 were 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 secondZen Pencilsbook collection (available from all good retailers!) in 2015. I really enjoy writing
Pro Anti
Antifas 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 Algeriahas 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."