Monthly Archives: September 2014

Protest in America is historic….and patriotic

Not that high school students need additional reasons to be frustrated with the adults who constrain their lives, but: The elected Jefferson County School Board is considering a proposal to revamp its American history curriculum that (according to the AP) … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Scottish referendum: what victory looks like.

In real life assessing social movement victories or defeats is rarely like figuring out which runner breaks the tape in a sprint.  Achievements are virtually never all that activists demand–or want–and apparent defeats are not always what they seem.  Look … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Scottish independence and the payoff of persistence

With global attention now turned to the referendum on Scottish independence, it’s worthwhile to recall that the cause has a much longer history, predating the 1707 Acts of Union; regardless of the outcome of the current vote, it will certainly … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Peace movement anyone?

Strong social movements are hard to start and end all too easily.  It’s just about exactly the opposite of wars. President Obama’s speech last night (September 10) was emphatic about a couple of things: his determination to use American military … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reviving Labor from the bottom

Even organized labor mostly skipped this year’s Labor Day, which has never really been about the American worker.  Later in the week, however, activists made another play at reviving the fortunes of organized labor–and the American worker–from the bottom up. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments