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Mass Political Withdrawal
In regular high-school rituals, teachers berate students for their disinterest in, mockery of, and/or failure to focus on “the important issues” in elections for student government. Students are forced to hear about cherishing their right to vote, taking the issues seriously, and participating fully. Most never do. Some notice that teachers likewise take little interest […]
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Today’s Haunting Specter (or What Needs Doing)
An attractive social democrat, Ségolène Royal, just lost the French presidential race to a neoliberal candidate, leaving French leftists debating the causes of their failures and what to do about them. The center-left in Italy recently defeated the staunch neo-liberal, Sylvio Berlusconi. Yet its incapacities to define a new and different social program or mobilize […]