Exclusionary zoning, practiced throughout most of the United States, is one of the most damaging forms of class discrimination. There is a racial component to it in many suburbs, but it really falls on a strata of society which is generally less educated and less affluent. Interestingly, liberal communities actually engage in the practice at …
Have you talked to anyone lately who thinks that the system of health care we have now is working just fine? I didn’t think so. You may have coverage but your co-pays and deductibles are going up and up. You may be eligible for government help but you didn’t know you were and, therefore, didn’t …
There are things that still seem unimaginable even in the political chaos of our times as women’s rights are being stripped away and historical content taught in schools is being tightened so as not to ‘offend’ students. One of those to my mind is the push in a number of states to ease restrictions on …
The answer to our title for this podcast episode is no, but…many fewer people identify as Christians today than in the late 20th century and whether it be frustration with scandals in the Catholic Church, the politicizing of many Protestant sects or the pandemic, the pews just are not as full as in the past. …
If there was ever a political leader who understood the moment, American history would point to FDR. Having been elected with America on its economic back from the Great Depression, he was masterful in instilling confidence in the people about their futures and in developing new government programs which, he said, would have been …
Exercise fads are big in America. We love the novelty of hot yoga one minute and Zumba the next. The whole industry has evolved so much over the last 70 years when presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy made physical fitness a spoken priority. In truth, however, only 20 percent of Americans exercise regularly and America seems …
It still has many of us shaking our heads in disbelief that the most sophisticated nation on earth, in so many ways, proved so unprepared, disorganized and unsuccessful at confronting the Covid-19 pandemic. Yes, Operation Warp Speed and the development of Mrna vaccine was a great achievement, as the government incentivized the private sector to …
Despite many in our midst downplaying the role of experts in our society, the truth is that we thrive because people have mastered so many different skills and abilities. We do what we enjoy or do best and we outsource those things we do not want to attempt to them with full confidence that they …
In March 2020, economic and social life across America ground to an abrupt halt as the country attempted to slow the spread of COVID-19. In the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression, twenty-two million people lost their jobs in the first few months of 2020. And yet somehow the finances of most Americans improved …
The January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was at once an end-the culmination of long-simmering strain of violent American extremism–and a beginning. In effect, it’s the origins of a new war on democracy by a fundamentally antidemocratic far-right movement that, cynically and ironically, calls itself a ‘”Patriot” movement. They are anything but, according …