I ran as an independent candidate for Congress in Massachusetts against a visibly tired and increasingly unpopular but entrenched liberal Democratic incumbent, and a Tea Party Republican.  My message was, “The old system is broken — let’s start building a new one!”  I stated that I wanted to fight what I described as the trend […]

It started in an interview with Chris Wallace during the presidential campaign. According to John McCain, Barack Obama was planning “redistribution of the wealth . . . [and] that’s one of the tenets of socialism.” Although McCain backed off his accusation shortly afterwards, Republicans have since revived it.  Rep. John Boehner, Republican leader in the […]

The left does not address public education often enough.  When it does, the focus is on financial inequities, racial segregation, or the testing fetish.  These are critical issues, but there is another of even greater significance.  If tomorrow we were to abolish the tests, remove the inequities, and integrate the schools, the educational system itself […]

Some social analysts argue that those who live in ghettoes may be unable to effectively organize for change because a self-destructive “ghetto mentality” obstructs such efforts. I live in a ghetto, with all its attendant social pathologies:  isolation from the outside world; customs, language, and behavior alien to the larger society; inability to act collectively […]