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Political Violence in America: A Troubling Trend
Brief #167 – Social Justice Policy Brief
by: Morgan Davidson
Much has been made about political violence in America, with the most recent event being the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Was the attempted assassination simply due to recent campaign rhetoric, or is it indicative of a larger issue?
Slowing Down Fast Fashion
Brief #171 – Environment Policy Brief
by : Allie Amato
While most industries are highly regulated, the fashion industry goes almost entirely unregulated.
What Should the Democrats Do?
JULY OP ED
by: U.S. Resist News Staff
Although some Democrats would like someone else to be their candidate it does not look like Joe Biden wants to step aside. Maybe this is foolish narcissism on his part, but also maybe he has a good case to make for himself. This is what that case looks like.
Global Election Watch
Brief #149 – Foreign Policy Brief
by: Ibrahim Castro
Recent elections across several countries have brought significant political shifts. In France, no party gained a majority, causing political uncertainty. The UK’s Labour Party won decisively, contrasting with Europe’s right-wing trends. In Iran, reformist Masoud Pezeshkian won amid low voter turnout. India saw Modi’s party lose seats but retain power through coalitions. Mexico elected Claudia Sheinbaum as its first female president, maintaining her party’s control of Congress amidst security challenges.
The Week That Was: Global News In Review
Brief #148 – Foreign Policy Brief
by: Ibrahim Castro
Global tensions rose as the SCO summit strengthened ties among member nations. Kenya faced domestic unrest over proposed taxes, while Israel’s expansion of West Bank settlements ignited further conflict. Climate change concerns deepened with Hurricane Beryl’s destructive path across the Caribbean and Mexico.
Takeaways From the Presidential Immunity Decision
Brief #227 – Civil Rights Policy Brief
by: Rodney A. Maggay
The presidential immunity case was expected to be a blockbuster case and when it finally was handed down it did not disappoint. The case was always going to be controversial. While there are notable points to highlight, a closer examination of the decision reveals…
Guarding Young Minds: The Call for Social Media Warning Labels and Its Implications
Brief #93 – Education Policy Brief
by: Inijah Quadri
In an era dominated by digital platforms, social media has become a central part of daily life, not just for adults but significantly for children and youth.
The Swing States Series: #2 Michigan
Brief #132 – Elections & Politics Policy Brief
by: Abigail Hunt
Michigan, a pivotal swing state, boasts the highest youth voter turnout in the nation and a thriving manufacturing sector crucial to its economy. As the state gears up for the upcoming election, its diverse demographic and rich history make it a battleground to watch.
Impact of Remote Work on Urban Development
Brief #62 – Economic Policy Brief
by: Inijah Quadri
The rise of remote work, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, is reshaping urban landscapes and challenging traditional city planning. As cities adapt to this new reality, the shift presents both opportunities for sustainable development and significant hurdles for local economies reliant on office workers.
Autocracy Now! Examining the Global Surge in Authoritarianism
Autocracy Now!
Examining the Global Surge in Authoritarianism
U.S. Resist News OP ED | By: Ibrahim Castro | June 04, 2024
Featured Photo: www.carnegieendowment.org
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To be frank with the reader right out of the gate, free and fair democratic governance is in trouble, and unfortunately, there’s no sign it will get any better anytime soon. This article won’t present a take on why democracy is important or even how to combat growing authoritarianism (subjects for another time) but rather why authoritarianism has taken hold in the first place and continues to do so. The past two decades have presented us with an unfortunate series of events wherein countries around the world have experienced continuous democratic backsliding. From the rise of the far-right in Europe to military coups in various African states, and the solidifying of authoritarian rule in Asian countries, the election of fascist-leaning strongmen in America, authoritarianism and autocracy are on the rise. There are, unfortunately, too many contemporary examples to draw from, so this article will make use of only a few countries, mostly current democracies, and their shift towards authoritarian rule.
What’s the current situation?
According to the democracy and human rights research organization Freedom House, a greater number of countries became more authoritarian in 2022 than in any year since 1990, the year before the fall of the Soviet Union. If the decline of democracy continues at the present pace, less than 5% of the world’s population will live in a fully free democracy by 2026.
This topic could be, and perhaps needs, an entire book to fully and appropriately explain the renewed rise of authoritarianism. Each region and each country has its own specific reasons, and yet, as this is a global trend, there are common reasons that can be examined at a macro level to help us understand this shift. This article will use four main factors to provide us with our examples: economics and inequality, globalization, and technology.
Economics and Inequality
Inequality is perhaps the most cited and apparent reason for the rise of authoritarian leaders around the world. People living in poverty experience social exclusion and devaluation, which can be reflected in feelings of shame and abandonment. This shame and abandonment, in turn, are likely to increase support for authoritarianism, mainly due to the promise of social re-inclusion and often take the form of pushing that shame onto an outsider group.
Take a look at Argentina. At the end of 2023, the country had an annual inflation rate of 211%, people were unable to afford basic necessities like food and housing. Then came the newly elected President, Javier Milei, a political outsider who rode to power on the back of voter anger at the worsening economic situation. Along with his economic populism came antagonism to deals and relations with neighboring countries such as Brazil, Chile, and Colombia, anti-abortion rhetoric, the gutting of state services, and the denial of climate change, to name just a few.
In the US, about 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, an issue that impacts both low-wage and high-income families alike, according to new research from LendingClub. While low-wage earners are more likely to live paycheck to paycheck, even 4 in 10 high-income Americans, or those earning more than $100,000, say they’re in the same position. The typical American also, perhaps unsurprisingly, cannot afford to buy a home in a growing number of communities across the country. According to ATTOM researchers, home prices are beyond the reach of 99% of average income earners.
Conditions like these allow politicians like Donald Trump to run on the promise of solving these grievances, bringing the security and peace of mind families across the country desire, while also shifting the blame for the current situation to immigrants and ethnic minorities. Trump recently made statements similar to Nazi Germany’s pure Aryan blood rhetoric, stating that “migrants crossing the southern border are poisoning the blood of America”. He also published a video with words saying the US would be a new “Unified Reich” under his presidency. While some of Trump’s support might be purely due to far-right views, much of his support also rests on the economic uncertainty facing the majority of the population. Whether it’s one or the other reason for the public casting their votes for him, his authoritarian style of governing and policies will follow.
On the other side of the authoritarian spectrum, already governed by authoritarian rule, China has been doing quite well economically for the last few decades. It is now the second-largest economy and plays a larger role in global affairs than ever before. When it was once expected that authoritarian regimes would ultimately collapse under their own repression, its success instead has led to it solidifying authoritarian rule under Xi Jinping. In 2018, China approved the removal of the two-term limit on the presidency, effectively allowing Xi Jinping to remain in power for life. During Xi’s rule, China has clamped down on many freedoms, interned over one million Uighur Muslims in re-education camps, increased its state surveillance and censorship programs, and cracked down on democracy in Hong Kong.
There are numerous examples to draw from; many countries around the world today are facing economic uncertainty, which has pushed them towards strongman leaders promising to provide adequate living conditions for them and their families.
Globalization and Migration
There is compelling evidence that globalization, often working through culture and identity, has played an important role in driving up support for populist movements. International integration, once thought to be an engine for change and unification of the globe, has, at the same time, produced domestic disintegration in many countries, deepening the perception between the winners and the losers of global interconnectedness and competition. A change in migration patterns, which historically went between countries in what is now the global north, Europe, and the US, to the global south has now shifted, to where more irregular immigration occurs from poorer to richer countries. This trend has seen increased numbers of asylum seekers showing up on shores in various countries, whether fleeing war, climate disaster, or economic insecurity, causing huge spikes in support for authoritarian parties in countries across the global north.
Take the example of the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU). The UK’s current far-right conservative party came into power through the promise of Brexit. The Brexit referendum of 2016 represented the worst-case scenario for the European Union in terms of the impact of Euroscepticism and dissatisfaction with global and regional integration. Britain often found the EU’s organization and policies incompatible with its interests. The question of European and non-European immigration in the country became the cornerstone of the right-wings political strategy to push the UK to leave the EU.
The UK may have been the first, but there has been a wave of Eurosceptic parties headed by authoritarian leaders making gains in European elections. They are already in power in places like Victor Orban’s Hungary or Georgia Meloni’s Italy. As regional blocs like the EU were meant to provide unity and ensure that another war did not break out on the continent, dissatisfaction with the EU has continued to rise and has allowed far-right parties to strike up a narrative about returning countries’ sovereignty to themselves and away from centralized unified bodies like the EU headquarters in Brussels. This up until now has not caused a disintegration of the EU but rather helped uplift far-right nationalist leaders across the bloc.
Another factor in aiding authoritarian figures in Europe has been the increase in migrants arriving at the borders of wealthier nations. This issue has become a central theme for much of the 21st century; it has had a sizable impact on the election of far-right-wing parties in Europe and the US. In 2022, Giorgia Meloni won the Italian general election and went on to form Italy’s most right-wing government since Benito Mussolini’s fall during World War II. Italy is the second most indebted state in the Eurozone, and the number of people arriving by boat after crossing the Mediterranean has put pressure on Italian society and created anti-immigrant sentiment in the country that Meloni ran on during her campaign. For example, the number of migrants arriving doubled in 2023, to 106,000, compared to 53,000 over the same period in 2022, according to government data.Italy had been largely left to deal with the issue on its own while facing economic insecurity, sparking the public to shift sharply to the right.
The election of authoritarian leaders in Europe has also legitimized and enabled the funding of other authoritarian leaders in non-European countries. In 2023, Meloni joined European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to strike a controversial pact with Tunisia, exchanging aid funding for stricter efforts to prevent migrants from making the crossing.
Through these pacts, Italy and the EU break international humanitarian law and have helped promote anti-democratic leaders in North African countries Tunisia and Libya (which is currently in a state of civil war and governed by rivaling warlord factions). In 2022, Tunisia’s President Saied transformed Tunisia from a hybrid presidential-parliamentary lead country to a supra-presidential system with nearly unchecked executive authority. A move that mirrored strongman Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s attempts to consolidate power. Turkey under Erdogan also put in place an EU anti-immigration deal that seeks to have Turkey forcibly block migrants and refugees from reaching Europe in exchange for EU funding.
Technology
Propaganda methods and media have always been used to spread ideas, thoughts, and doctrines. Today, the digital sphere, in addition to all the benefits it provides us, also works as a modern space to disseminate all kinds of extremist propaganda both nationally and internationally. The primary characteristic of all fascist modernizing movements is conformity of thinking and behavior. Online platforms create various echo chambers where fascistic ideas can reverberate, and you can see how individuals, often charismatic individuals, can use these chambers to reflect and enhance a sense that was already there. One recent often-cited example is the 2016 US Presidential election, where Donald Trump used the digital sphere as no one running for office previously had, pushing out populist and extremist messages that uplifted Trump, giving him his cult-like following.
A new and perhaps most problematic factor to technological threats to free and fair democratic rule is the arrival of AI. Something that can also be used to target and manipulate individual voters, based on their individual psychology. This technology is able to produce misinformation that hides in plain sight, producing enormous volumes of content that can flood the media landscape, the internet, and political communication. Instantly producing fake pictures, video, and audio of officials, to news stories.
AI algorithms can be used to surveil and repress dissenting voices. In Israel, to help maintain an apartheid system against Palestinians, Israeli authorities use AI facial recognition to track and impose harsh restrictions on their freedom of movement. Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem and Hebron describe how the omnipresent surveillance system has invaded their privacy, repressed activism, eroded social life, and left them feeling constantly exposed.
A similar technology is used in China’s expansive networks of surveillance cameras in Xinjiang province to monitor the Uighur ethnic minority, profiling them based on their appearance and keeping records of their comings and goings for search and review. These practices prevent them from challenging the status quo, and already are in many instances used upon their own citizenry. Technology has always and will continue to be used in the authoritarian playbook.
Concluding Thought
Once authoritarian leaders come into power, it is difficult to remove them. This article presented examples as to why authoritarian leaders come into power through factors such as economics, globalization and migration, technology, and the normalization of authoritarian policies and leaders. Of course, there are perceived short-term benefits to authoritarian rule. Authoritarian leaders are capable of delivering specific or certain positive programs to their populations in the short term. However, as we have seen throughout history, authoritarian rulers never have the true issues of their citizenry at heart. Normalization of authoritarian rule has and will continue to enable autocratic leaders to continue to expand their reach and power beyond the constraints placed on them, and they will continue to make gains so long as we, proponents of free, fair, and egalitarian societies, let them.
Stay informed with the latest insights from our dedicated reporters by subscribing to the U.S. Resist Democracy Weekly Newsletter. Your support is crucial in safeguarding fearless, independent journalism. If you appreciate our content, please consider donating today to continue in helping to protect democracy and empower citizenship.
Ocean Coral’s White Skeletons Send a Stark Message
Ocean Coral’s White Skeletons Send a Stark Message
Environment Policy Brief #168 | By: Todd J. Broadman | May 30, 2024
Featured Photo: www.carbonbrief.org
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Coral worldwide is in the midst of a fourth mass bleaching event according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Huge stretches of coral reef have turned white or are losing color , primarily due to warm ocean temperatures. These bleaching events do not necessarily kill off the corals, yet mortality usually follows such events. Current average ocean temperatures, say most scientists, exceed the threshold for coral reef survival and their prognosis is that between 70% and 90% of reefs will die off within the next decade if they do not make a recovery.
In arriving at this conclusion the NOAA gathers satellite data which records ocean temperatures over a long period of time. Scientists also gather data directly through on the ground observation. The accumulated heat stress indicates an intensity of bleaching not seen before. So somber are their reports that there is jubilation when they find stretches of reef that have not been bleached.
“We have crossed the tipping point for coral reefs,” according to ecologist David Obura, with Coastal Oceans Research and Development. “They’re going into a decline that we cannot stop, unless we really stop carbon dioxide emissions.” The beautiful coloration seen in coral is due to algae. Algae lives inside coral and has a symbiotic relationship with coral tissue. The bleaching or whiteness happens when algae leave coral due to stress. If the algae loss persists over a long period of time, the coral will then die.
While this process is unfolding, there is a U.S. federal agency focused on coral reefs: the United States Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF). The USCRTF was established in 1998 by Executive Order with a mission to preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems. Historically, the USCRTF has helped build partnerships and strategies, yet has carried out minimal on-the-ground action to conserve coral reefs. Other federal agencies that partner with the USCRTF include: the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). The USCRTF has gone so far as to have “approved a resolution recognizing coral reefs of U.S. states and territories as national, natural infrastructure.” This resolution “encourages” the use of federal funding to help conserve and restore coral reefs. They aim to “fortify the nation’s commitment” to coral reefs. These faint intentions fall short of effective policy-making.
While coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor, they deliver vital benefits for marine ecosystems and economies. A full quarter of marine life depends upon coral reefs for shelter, food, and spawning. The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network estimates that every year coral reefs provide about $2.7 trillion in goods and services, from tourism to coastal protection. Recreation generates about $36 billion from snorkeling and scuba diving tourism. Coral reefs are a natural protective barrier against storm surges and large waves.
ANALYSIS
In March of this year, global average sea surface temperature (SST) reached a record monthly high of 21.07C (69.93F), according to the EU Copernicus Climate Change Service. Neal Cantin, a coral biologist with the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, outlines the stakes: “We’re certainly in a new regime. Corals clearly aren’t keeping up.” As a consequence, 75 percent of the Great Barrier Reef, an area the size of Italy, has experienced bleaching this year, the fifth bleaching event in the last 8 years. Since 1950 nearly 90 percent of the live corals in the Florida Keys have been lost. A 2005 bleaching event in the Caribbean around Antilles and Puerto Rico saw a loss of 50 percent. This alters the entire ecosystem of the surrounding oceans; like having “a rain forest without the rain forest trees.”
What we know is that the time gap between one bleaching event and the next is getting shorter. And those gaps are critical because they are a time window for the corals to recover. Corals need time – nine to twelve years – for the waters to cool so that the life-giving algae returns. More and more of them will not recover and left as “graveyards of calcium carbonate skeletons” which will erode and break apart.
Interventions such as breeding corals in labs will do little to stay the mass death of this species. Anticipating possible extinction, scientists are placing coral larvae into cryopreservation banks, as well as breeding corals with more resilient traits. As David Obura underscores, “When a 50- or 100-year-old coral dies, it takes at least that length of time to replace it. And we just don’t have that kind of time anymore.” As with other species, what has taken millennia of biology to develop is undone in a few generations of human environmental disregard. The spectacular beauty and place of coral is no match for an anthropocentric worldview with oil at its center.
Engagement Resources:
- https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/ The National Ocean Service provides data, tools, and services that protect our ecosystems and enhance climate and economic resilience.
- https://www.barrierreef.org/ collaborates and invests in innovative ideas and designs real-world, scalable conservation programs in Australia and the Pacific.
- https://insideclimatenews.org/ provides essential reporting and analysis on climate change, energy and the environment, for the public and for decision makers.
Don’t miss out on the latest insights from our dedicated reporters – subscribe to the U.S. Resist Democracy Weekly Newsletter. Your support is vital in safeguarding fearless, independent journalism. If you value our content, please consider donating today to help protect democracy and empower citizenship.
Story of Pulitzer winner Vladimir Kara-Murza, an oppositionist imprisoned in Russia: Part 1
“Others will come to take our place.”
Story of Pulitzer winner Vladimir Kara-Murza, an oppositionist imprisoned in Russia: Part 1
Foreign Policy Brief #143 | By: Yelena Korshunov| May 30, 2024
Featured Photo: www.independent.co.uk
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Russian publicist, politician, and historian Vladimir Kara-Murza was awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for comments in his articles published in The Washington Post. In its statement on May 6th the Pulitzer Committee said that Kara-Murza “won for passionate columns written at great personal risk from his prison cell, warning of the consequences of dissent in Vladimir Putin’s Russia and insisting on a democratic future for his country.”
The death of Alexei Navalny, a major figure of Russian political opposition, right before the president’s election in Russia, strengthened voices demanding to free the other political imprisoners. One of them is Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has been languishing in jail in Russia since April 2022 for treason after he spoke out against the war on Ukraine. Kara-Murza survived two poisonings in 2015 and 2017, and in 2023 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, the longest term an oppositionist had been sentenced to in Russia. Despite the fact that Kara-Murza was diagnosed with polyneuropathy of the legs, which may be a consequence of assassination attempts. In September 2023the court sent him to a correctional colony in Omsk (city in Siberia) as they did to Aleksei Navalny. And exactly the same way they led Navalny to his death, at the beginning of 2024 officials placed Kara-Murza in a single cell, isolating him from any communication with other prisoners.
In April, 2023 a number of charges were brought against Kara-Murza. He stood accused of treason for public speeches in the US and Europe. He spoke about “state terror” for political reasons, election fraud, and human rights violations in Russia. He also called Russia an aggressor country in the war with Ukraine. By these actions, according to Russia’s investigation, he “created threats to the external security and territorial integrity” of the Russian Federation. Investigators insisted that one of the events at which Kara-Murza harmed Russia “out of selfish motives” was the ceremony of presenting the Helsinki Committee award to political prisoner Yuri Dmitriev
Treason is the most severe, but not the only charge. Kara-Murza was also accused in spreading “fakes” about the army and for collaborating with the undesirable organization Free Russia Foundation. The foundation was declared undesirable in 2019. In 2021, according to investigators, Kara-Murza organized an annual conference on political prisoners at the Sakharov Center — with money from Free Russia.
On March 15, 2022, Vladimir Kara-Murza spoke about what was going on in Russia at the Arizona House of Representatives. Russia investigated his speech and then announced that Kara-Murza “deliberately spread false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces to bomb residential areas, maternity hospitals, hospitals and schools” in Ukraine.
Later, a second criminal case was opened for work in a “foreign or international NGO [Non-Government Organization], in respect of which a decision was made to recognize it as undesirable.” Kara-Murza was accused of collaborating with the undesirable organization Free Russia Foundation. Treason was the third and most serious charge, the sanction of which provides for up to 20 years in prison. Kara-Murza is charged with three episodes of treason: speeches at the NATO Assembly, at the Helsinki Committee in Oslo and in the USA.
During the announcement of the verdict, it was noted that Kara-Murza has dual citizenship: in addition to Russia, he is a British citizen and has a residence permit in the United States. The announcement was attended by 40 diplomats from 25 countries, including the US, Great Britain, France, Canada, and Germany. The imprisoned politician’s wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza told the BBC she is sure that “sooner or later Volodya [Vladimir Kara-Murza] would be accused of high treason.”
Engagement Resources
- The Pulitzer Prizes: Vladimir Kara-Murza, contributor, The Washington Post, https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/vladimir-kara-murza-contributor-washington-post
- Letter to Secretary Blinken. Vladimir Kara-Murza, https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_blinken_vladimir_kara_murza_2024.pdf
- AP: Russia Critic Kara-Murza Wins Pulitzer for Passionate Columns Written from Prison Cell, https://apnews.com/article/vladimir-kara-murza-pulitzer-commentary-column-writing-db7f9cf85d5843c99f287bb240d52389
Stay informed with the latest insights from our dedicated reporters by subscribing to the U.S. Resist Democracy Weekly Newsletter. Your support is crucial in safeguarding fearless, independent journalism. If you appreciate our content, please consider donating today to continue in helping to protect democracy and empower citizenship.
Checking in on 14 Years of Obamacare: Part 3
Checking in on 14 Years of Obamacare: Part 3
Health and Gender Policy Brief #174 | By: Geoffrey Small | May 22, 2024
Featured Photo: www.npr.org
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March 2024 highlighted fourteen years since The ACA (Affordable Care Act) has been enacted. When it was passed more than a decade ago, there were three primary goals of the ACA, or more popularly referred to as Obamacare. According to HealthCare.gov, the first was to make affordable health insurance more available for the American public. The second goal was to encourage states to expand their Medicaid coverage to all individuals whose income is significantly below the federal poverty level. Finally, the ACA would provide federal support to “innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally.” This part in the series will analyze the ACA’s impact on innovative medical care, and the delivery methods designed to save the American public money.
Policy Analysis
When the Affordable Care Act was first administered, a conference held by the Board on Health Sciences Policy, Board on Health Care Services, and the Institute of Medicine published a presentation Leveraging the Affordable Care Act and Information Technology to Innovate. The presentation’s primary focus was using the ACA to enable a better disaster response. The consensus from expert speakers concluded a “Social-Health” information exchange must include community-based service organizations, where health care providers focus on the person as a whole. This includes housing, shelter, and other social needs, along with acute medical care. Using data analytics to engage in preventative health care can help reduce costly medical disasters. Also, hospitals could meet the ACA community benefit requirement by engaging in a health information exchange with their local community. Telemedicine was another big factor on sharing expertise remotely and extending medical care workforce capacity. Finally, educating the community on new healthcare technologies must be administered in a user-friendly capacity, so it’s easier to learn and use.
Despite expert opinions on creating a road map for innovative affordable healthcare, a recent Washington Post article concluded that the ACA efforts still haven’t found “the magic pot of money.” Pilot projects in preventative care run by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, after the ACA was administered, were projected to save 2.8 billion according to the Congressional Budget Office. However, it ended up costing the government 5.4 billion within the first decade. This was due to the fact that medical care providers needed to treat a lot of minor issues to prevent a serious health crisis.
Estimating cost projections in the healthcare industry is extremely complicated. Especially in the U.S. where healthcare is not universal. Strictly mandating lower medication costs can lead to companies abandoning accessible medicines for Americans. Average U.S. physician salaries are approximately twice as much compared to their European colleagues. However, enforcing lower salaries can create a political quagmire for a healthcare system that is already overwhelmed with staffing issues. Telemedicine has thrived in post-pandemic society, but the impact of COVID-19 has reduced the cost-saving-projections that we’re initially estimated.
Overall, the ACA has helped the American public navigate the costly healthcare system. The United States is the only post-industrial country that does not have universal healthcare. The evidence presented in this three-part series makes it abundantly clear that the ACA, although helpful, should be a stepping stone to affordable universal healthcare.
This is the third part in a series. For Part 2 of the Obamacare series, click here. For the rest of the series, click here.
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Clean Skies: The Potential of Electric Aviation
Clean Skies: The Potential of Electric Aviation
Environment Policy Brief #167 | By: Inijah Quadri | May 23, 2024
Featured Photo: www.abcnews.go.com
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The electric aviation industry is poised to redefine air travel, ushering in an era of sustainability and innovation. As the world grapples with the escalating threats of climate change, the aviation sector, traditionally a major source of carbon emissions, is under increasing scrutiny. Electric aircraft, leveraging advancements in battery technology and electric motors, offer a promising solution by significantly reducing both greenhouse gases and noise pollution. This burgeoning sector not only aims to revolutionize the way we fly but also promises to reshape regional economies, influence global trade patterns, and accelerate the transition towards renewable energy sources.
Analysis
The shift towards electric aviation is expected to have profound environmental and economic impacts worldwide. Electric planes emit zero operational greenhouse gases, which could drastically lower the aviation industry’s carbon footprint. For instance, the aviation industry contributes about 2-3% of global CO2 emissions annually, and transitioning to electric aircraft for short to medium-range flights could potentially cut these emissions by over 50% in the next few decades.
Moreover, electric planes are significantly quieter than conventional aircraft, reducing noise pollution and potentially allowing for more flexible flight operation hours without disturbing surrounding communities. This noise reduction could enhance property values and quality of life for residents near airports, potentially transforming airport vicinities into more desirable areas.
The economic impact of electric aviation extends beyond environmental benefits. The development of electric planes is driving substantial investment in new technologies and infrastructure, such as high-capacity battery systems and electric charging stations at airports. Companies like Airbus and Boeing are heavily investing in electric propulsion technologies, indicating a significant shift in
Current projections suggest that electric-powered commercial aircraft could enter service as early as 2035, with prototypes and limited operations starting even sooner. Major advancements in battery technology and regulatory approvals over the next decade will be crucial to meet these timelines and ensure that these planes can operate over increasingly longer routes.
Despite its potential, the electric aviation industry faces significant hurdles. Current battery technology offers limited energy density, restricting the range and payload of electric aircraft primarily to shorter routes. This limitation underscores the need for continued research and development. Governments and private sectors must collaborate to fund initiatives aimed at enhancing battery technology, similar to the European Union’s Clean Sky initiative, which aims to develop sustainable and innovative aeronautical technologies.
Infrastructure adaptation is another critical area. Airports will require new charging stations and maintenance facilities specifically designed for electric aircraft. Policy frameworks must support the establishment of these facilities through subsidies and tax incentives, encouraging airports to invest in the necessary infrastructure.
Regulatory support is also crucial to facilitate the transition to electric aviation. Policies need to be adapted to ensure safety standards and operational regulations are in line with the technological specifics of electric aircraft. Additionally, international cooperation on regulatory standards can help streamline the deployment of electric aircraft globally.
As the electric aviation industry ascends, it is imperative that stakeholders across the globe — governments, businesses, and civil societies — collaborate to overcome the technological and infrastructural challenges. Only through a concerted effort can we fully realize the potential of electric aviation and ensure a sustainable future for global air travel.
Engagement Resources
- International Air Transport Association (IATA) (https://www.iata.org/): Provides resources on the latest developments in aviation technology and sustainability practices, including electric aviation.
- Electric Aviation Group (https://www.electricaviationgroup.com/): A consortium focused on accelerating the adoption of electric aircraft by providing technical and regulatory guidance.
- Clean Sky (https://www.cleansky.eu/): A European initiative dedicated to developing innovative, cutting-edge technology to reduce aircraft emissions and noise levels.
- The Aerospace Technology Institute (https://www.ati.org.uk/): Offers information on advancements in aerospace technology, including projects related to electric propulsion and sustainable aviation.
- The Environmental Defense Fund (https://www.edf.org/): Advocates for environmental policies that include sustainable aviation solutions, focusing on reducing aviation’s impact on climate change.
Don’t miss out on the latest insights from our dedicated reporters – subscribe to the U.S. Resist Democracy Weekly Newsletter. Your support is vital in safeguarding fearless, independent journalism. If you value our content, please consider donating today to help protect democracy and empower citizenship.
Harvey Weinstein’s Cornerstone Conviction Overturned
Harvey Weinstein’s Cornerstone Conviction Overturned
Social Justice Policy Brief #165 | By: Devyne Byrd | May 22, 2024
Featured Photo: www.telegraph.co.uk
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The New York Court of Appeals overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction in a 4-3 decision. The Court found that the trial judge improperly allowed testimony against Weinstein from other women that contained uncharged alleged prior sexual acts against people other than the complainants in the case. The Court stated that the testimony “served no material non-propensity purpose” and that the trial court’s decision to allow the defendant to be cross-examined about the allegations chilled the defendant’s right to testify. They ordered a new trial.
The initial trial of Weinstein was a cornerstone victory of the #MeToo movement. Weinstein was accused by over 80 women of sexual assault and sexual harassment spanning decades throughout his career. The trial drew intense media attention and crowds with protesters gathering to chant “rapist” outside the courthouse. His case being remanded comes after Bill Cosby, another cornerstone conviction of the #MeToo movement,had his case overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Judge Singas touches on the blows to the movement in her notable dissent to the New York Court of Appeals decision, calling out a “disturbing trend of overturning jury’s guilty verdicts in cases involving sexual violence.” She went on to state that by excluding evidence of past acts the majority’s decision excludes important context. “This conclusion deprives juries of the context necessary to do their work, forecloses the prosecution from using an essential tool to prove intent, ignores the nuances of how sexual violence is perpetrated and perceived, and demonstrates the majority’s utter lack of understanding of the dynamics of sexual assault.”
Although the conviction was overturned, Weinstein remains in prison on subsequent convictions of rape and sexual misconduct for which he was sentenced to 16 years. His legal team has stated their intentions to appeal these convictions as well. However, the Manhattan District Attorney has intentions to retry Weinstein and his accusers have stated through their attorneys their intentions to testify again. In the interim, the New York Senate is set to pass a bill that will update the rules of evidence in trials to clarify that judges can admit testimony about a defendant’s alleged prior sexual offenses.
Engagement Resources
- Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 Rape Conviction Overturned. Here’s What Happens Next – An article explaining the background of the Weinstein trial and the potential paths moving forward.
- Albany’s push to close legal loophole that let Harvey Weinstein off the hook appears to be in limbo – An extended discussion on the New York Senates bill to address witness testimony in sexual assault cases.
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A Journey Through Words: An Interview with Palestinian Writer Rula Arafat
A Journey Through Words
An Interview with Palestinian Writer Rula Arafat
Foreign Policy Brief #142 | By: Aziza Taslaq| May 10, 2024
Featured Photo: www.electricliterature.com
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“But I have the heart of a child… I cannot easily get used to absence. You will find me crying, sobbing, and drenched in my tears. I defy my pride and continue to wait.” – Rula Arafat.
Rula Arafat, 32, is a Palestinian writer from Nablus, often referred to as “Little Damascus.” Her love for writing is so profound that she couldn’t be content with a single text. Instead, she emerges from between the letters with novels. What started as short stories no more than 10 pages long evolved into large books and series. Her curiosity and ambition drove her to become a writer whose works are read just as she reads the works of others.
Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Rula Arafat, a distinguished writer and novelist.
Aziza Taslaq (US Renew): Thank you for joining us, Rula. To start, can you tell us about the nature of your literary works and the themes you explore?
Rula Arafat: I write about love and peace, hope and war, injustice and corruption, homeland and exile. I write with every emotion and for every feeling we live, whether by desire or force. Writing is a message, an expression, a quiet scream in the face of the emotions we experience, whether in joy or sorrow.
What inspired you to enter the world of writing?
Rula Arafat: Writing is a response to all the pains that torment us inside. It listens to us and allows us to release that black energy that may have lived inside us for years, unable to be expressed simply because we didn’t find the right person to listen. We write to heal from the pain.
What does writing do for you personally? What do you gain from it?
Rula Arafat: The reward I receive is the feeling of satisfaction that I have a voice that can be heard, even if it’s through phone screens or laptops. I have a voice reaching all corners of the earth, telling me I am human. I have the right to speak, express, be angry, and advocate for myself, those I love, and my homeland.
Have you written anything about the current war on Gaza?
Rula Arafat: Yes, I have written many texts and recorded some of them. My novel, which I have been working on for years, covered the events of the Gaza War in 2020. I made further adjustments to it to keep up with what has been happening to us since October 7th, up to our current moment of the harsh war on Gaza.
Have you written anything about peace?
Rula Arafat: I have written a lot about peace and for peace. It is the awaited hope we spent our childhood, adolescence, and youth waiting to achieve. I am terrified that I will spend my old age and elder years waiting for peace as well.
Which writers do you look up to and why?
Rula Arafat: There are many writers, especially when the focus is on Palestine and the Palestinian cause. The great ones include Ghassan Kanafani, Radwa Ashour, Mourid Barghouthi, Ibrahim Nasrallah, Hussein Barghouthi, Sahar Khalifeh, and Bassem Khandakji.
Is there a particular tradition or style of writing that is recognized among Palestinian writers?
Rula Arafat: The beauty of Palestinian writers who write and sing for Palestine lies in how they mention its streets, alleys, memories, dreams, and hopes. A Syrian friend once told me after reading a Palestinian novel, and he always reads my writings and admires them, that for the first time, he felt that every Arab has a Palestinian part within them. He felt that his Palestinian identity did not differ or contradict his Syrian identity. He felt as if he had walked the streets of Palestine, peeked out from its windows, prayed in Jerusalem, eaten Jaffa oranges, visited our churches and mosques, and tasted our food and sweets. This is the significant role of the Palestinian writer, making you feel that you are one of us, touching with your feelings and hands everything they write and convey to us as if we live inside the novel as if we are its heroes.
Thank you so much for your time, Rula. Your words resonate deeply, and we look forward to more of your impactful writing.
Rula Arafat: Thank you. It was a pleasure speaking with you.
Exclusive Text by Rula Arafat:
“This is Gaza… where humans and stones have grown accustomed to crying. Its trees shed leaves not just for one season but for many long seasons. Gaza has lived through five seasons! A harsh winter, a dry autumn, a spring without flowers, and now a scorching summer. And in between all of them, an unending season of devastating rockets that tirelessly destroy whatever they see, be it humans, trees, or stones.
This is Gaza, where children are now without parents, and parents are without children. Every family has lost a part or all of its members. Gaza, the patient and resilient, continues to offer its souls in heaps for the homeland, in vast quantities and with incredible generosity. It is the epitome of all kinds of generosity. Oh, Arabs of miserliness, shame, and darkness!”
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The Swing States Series: #1 Pennsylvania
The Swing States: #1 Pennsylvania
A new, pre-election series.
Elections & Politics Policy Brief #130 | By: Abigail Hunt | May 23, 2024
Featured Photo: www.state.gov/states/pennsylvania
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In March 1861, British King Charles II of England granted William Penn a parcel of land in the new kingdom across the ocean in order to settle a posthumous debt his father owed to Penn’s. That twist of luck is today the state of Pennsylvania, the site of the 1774 and 1775 Constitutional Congresses, where Americans signed the Declaration of Independence, and where traitors to the Crown formulated their plan to revolt. As such, Pennsylvania was a flagship colony of the emerging nation that became a keystone state in the formation of our United States of America. Appropriate then that the colony which helped launch a nation be a key battleground state in the current presidential election.
In 2020, winning the votes of Pennsylvania’s electors cinched Biden the Oval Office. Likewise, it was a mark thaxt helped Trump win the Presidency when in 2016 the state went red for the first time in decades. Today Biden has an edge in the state – he’s a Scranton boy, born and bred. If voters prefer to vote for someone like themselves, Biden might well carry the state again in part by virtue of being a former neighbor.
Pennsylvania has the sixth highest youth voter turnout rate – 32 percent. Since his Inauguration Day, Biden has held good on his word to eliminate student debt, chipping away at it consistently despite resistance from the grand ol’ party. Millennials are the largest population group in the U.S. The oldest Gen Z kids are finally old enough to vote. Boomers are dying at a rate of 2,000/day, more than 2.5 million/a year. It may be that the reality of mortality is the single most significant determining factor in this year’s election and those yet to come.
Most Pennsylvania voters live in urban areas. Just 22 percent of citizens make their homes in rural communities. As this is the case, Trump and Biden must consider the weight such issues as homelessness and access to affordable housing must carry in the state. Per the 2020 U.S. Census, Pennsylvania’s citizen breakdown is 78 percent urban and also about 78 percent white.
Pennsylvania is a closed party system, meaning only Democrats and Republicans vote in the primaries, and about 1.3 million people were not allowed to vote in the last election. This year’s elections in the state leave both the state House and Senate up for grabs. Currently, the state’s 48th governor, former state Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D), is backed by a Democratic House and hindered by a Republican Senate. The House has the edge by just two votes, and there sits an empty seat to be filled which is, historically, concretely Republican. The Democrats have only had the majority since 2022, when Pennsylvania redistricted, and 16 seats flipped from Republican to Democrat.
Gender is an important factor in today’s elections – 51.1 percent of the state is female, and 48.9 percent male. Approximately 4.1 percent of the population identifies as queer or LGBT. Data from the Center for American Women and Politics shows that, overwhelmingly, women of all colors lean Democratic, with Biden’s support being strongest among black women – tracking at more than 90 percent approval no matter what entity is providing the statistics.
According to a 2023 Pew Research report, voter turnout in the past three elections has been higher than previous years, and the 2020 election voter turnout had the highest rate since 1900, approximately 2/3rds of the eligible voters, or approximately 66 percent of registered voters. Eight million more members of the Gen Z generation have aged into the voting population in just the past couple of years, a not-at-all insignificant number. By 2029, it is estimated there will be approximately 61.3 million still living Baby Boomers of the original 76.4 million born after World War II. By that time, the elderly will comprise about 20 percent of the nation’s population.
On the state and national levels, key issues of the past persist – abortion access, cannabis legalization, student debt forgiveness, health care access, the humanitarian crisis at our southern border. New and prevalent issues for this election cycle and the coming presidency particularly include the war between Israel and Palestine and how to handle issues with AI and personal and intellectual property. However, the most important issues for citizens are those that most directly affect them – namely, the daily cost of living and how inflation factors into that statistic, access to affordable housing, employment opportunities, health care access – things that directly affect them and their quality of life.
Engagement Resources
- Tufts University. The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. State-by-State Youth Voter Turnout Data and the Impact of Election Laws in 2022. https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/state-state-youth-voter-turnout-data-and-impact-election-laws-2022
- Ballotpedia. Party control of Pennsylvania state government. https://ballotpedia.org/Party_control_of_Pennsylvania_state_government
- Kate Huangpu. Spotlight PA, National Public Radio. Public Broadcasting System (PBS). April 18, 2024. https://whyy.org/articles/pennsylvania-election-2024-competitive-legislative-districts/
- UCLA School of Law. Williams Institute. LGBT Proportion of Population: Pennsylvania. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/visualization/lgbt-stats/?topic=LGBT&area=42&sortBy=percentage&sortDirection=descending#ranking
- Rutgers-New Brunswick Eagleton Institute of Politics. Center for American Women and Politics. Gender Gap: Voting Choices in Presidential Elections. https://cawp.rutgers.edu/gender-gap-voting-choices-presidential-elections
- Hartig, et al. Pew Research Center. Voter Turnout: 2018 – 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/07/12/voter-turnout-2018-2022/
This is the first article in a series of articles about U.S Swing States, for the rest of the series please click here.
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A Better Path to Repaying Student Loan Debt
A Better Path to Repaying Student Loan Debt
Recapturing Lost Momentum
Education Policy Brief #91 | By: Rudolph Lurz | May 25, 2024
Featured Photo: www.tucsonsentinel.com
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In March 2020, President Trump signed the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security). This froze student loan interest, suspended collection efforts for defaulted loans, and paused student loan payment requirements for millions of Americans. The pause was originally designed to end in September 2020.
The repayment pause would be extended twice more by President Trump and another four times by President Biden. Both President Trump and President Biden knew that restarting student loan payments would throw a wet blanket on the sluggish economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. For almost three years, Americans with student loan debt lived in a state of limbo.
Progressives on Biden’s left advocated for broad student loan forgiveness during the 2020 presidential campaign. Senator Elizabeth Warren urged President Biden to cancel $50,000 of student loan debt for each borrower via executive action. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez advocated for higher amounts. For students with six figures of student loan debt, $10,000-$50,000 would not make much of an impact once student loan payments were restarted.
In August 2022, President Biden announced that he was canceling $10,000 of federal student loan debt for households with combined incomes of $250,000 or less, and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Biden announced this measure to coincide with what was to be a final extension of the repayment pause through December 2022. This action was announced under the same authority that granted the Department of Education to alter student loan repayment plans due to the emergency declared as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
There was general bipartisan support for using emergency authorization to pause student loan repayments. Both President Trump and President Biden did that multiple times. However, outright forgiveness was a different story, especially in the summer of 2022. By that point, the country was weary of restrictions such as mask mandates and social distancing. With unemployment surging above 10% in many regions, and businesses closing their doors, pausing student loan repayments in 2020 and 2021 made sense. More than two years after the first repayment pause, with the economy recovering, it was harder to justify.
Conservatives seized on Biden’s move and roundly condemned the measure as elitist and extravagant. Why should plumbers and farmers with high school diplomas be asked to pay the bills of wealthy liberals with art history degrees? Moderate Democrats also spoke out against the measure. Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator from West Virginia, called the plan reckless and noted that it was projected to add $400 billion to the U.S. federal debt.
President Biden and his allies in Congress tried to paint Republicans as hypocrites for accepting federal debt relief for their businesses due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while simultaneously criticizing students for accepting much lower amounts of loan forgiveness. $10,000 was a drop in the bucket next to the hundreds of thousands of relief that Republicans such as Marjorie Taylor-Greene and Mike Kelly received.
While this allowed Biden to score some political points, his legal arguments were much weaker. Biden declared an end to the Covid-19 public health emergency in April 2023. Shortly thereafter, in a 6-3 ruling in the Biden v Nebraska case, the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s student loan forgiveness proposal. Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, noted that President Biden overstepped his authority in using emergency powers to permanently cancel student loan debt. This was especially evident after President Biden declared an end to the public health emergency he was using as justification for the proposal.
Analysis
I am the head coach of a high school debate team. Through a random draw, we received the assignment of arguing against federal student loan forgiveness. We won that round handily.
The opposition argument is the better argument. As Senator Manchin noted, there are numerous existing pathways to federal student loan forgiveness. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program forgives student loans after ten years of working for a federal, state, or local non-profit organization. Graduates with advanced degrees can often earn high salaries in the private sector. The PSLF program provides incentive for these graduates to pledge a decade of their lives in service to their communities. The country needs high-quality teachers, police officers, and nurses. The PSLF program, combined with income-based repayment plans that cap payments at a low percentage of take-home pay, provides affordable pathways for graduates to escape crippling debt.
President Biden and Senator Warren are absolutely right to note that student loan debt places a heavy burden on millions of Americans. I am one of them. I had $138,000 in student loan debt when I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with my doctorate.
I am well on my way to student loan forgiveness through the PSLF program and have knocked over $50,000 off of my loan totals. My ten years will be up before my loans are repaid. I believe a decade of public service is a much more convincing rationale for loan forgiveness than the mass loan cancellation plan originally proposed by President Biden.
It seems that President Biden has also come to this realization. A month ago, the Biden Administration issued a press release detailing plans for expanding student loan forgiveness through PSLF and keeping monthly payments low through income-based repayment plans. The Biden Administration has also been active in canceling or reducing the debt of graduates from predatory for-profit institutions which took students’ money and then either closed outright or issued degrees which were not worth the paper they were printed on.
These arguments are much more potent than blanket student loan forgiveness. The Democratic Party built its brand as a defender of working Americans in the face of corporate greed. President Clinton forged a coalition of nurses and teachers that helped him achieve victory in the 1992 and 1996 elections. Giving wealthy college graduates loan forgiveness and asking all taxpayers to pay for it goes against every principle that built the modern Democratic Party. It provides free fuel to the silly argument of the MAGA movement which aims to portray Democrats as elitists and President Trump, with his golden toilets and multiple bankruptcies, as a champion of the working man.
Proposing broad student loan forgiveness was a political blunder. President Biden should continue to hammer Republicans for accepting loan relief from the federal government while refusing graduates the right to accept similar debt forgiveness. However, public servants present a much better contrast to those Republicans than wealthy college graduates getting a free $10,000 check.
President Biden’s 2024 campaign should look to President Clinton’s 1992 campaign for inspiration. American voters have much more respect for nurses, teachers, firefighters, and police officers than the entitled students who demanded food delivery after vandalizing and occupying campus buildings.
PSLF is good for the country and for graduates seeking relief. The path to victory runs through the political center. If President Biden attempts to appease the political left at the expense of the traditional Clinton coalition of nurses and teachers, he will soon join President Carter as a one-term President.
Engagement Resources
- Further details about the PSLF program and eligibility: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#qualify
- Detailed information of the Biden v Nebraska SCOTUS case: https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/biden-v-nebraska-2/
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A Primer on The Electoral College
A Primer on The Electoral College
The first in a series on the 2024 Presidential Election
Elections & Politics Policy Brief #129 | By: Abigail Hunt | May 14, 2024
Featured Photo by Indy Silva / U.S. Resist News, 2024
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To discuss the divvying up of votes in a U.S. Presidential election, one must consider the effects of the Electoral College. As this is the first in a series, it will discuss the Electoral College system more in-depth.
The Electoral College allocates a state’s electoral votes based on how its citizens vote. Twice in the past 30 years, this system has resulted in the loser of the popular vote getting the White House, giving us George W. Bush, and the Iraq War, Trump, and January 6th, among other things. If the United States had a straight popular vote for President, the way every other election in the U.S. is determined, and every leader of every nation across the globe except our own, we would instead have the Presidents elected by the people – Al Gore and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Electoral College Analysis
From the Constitution Center online, Article II, Section I, Clauses 2 and 3 of the U.S. Constitution state, in part, as follows:
Clause 2: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
Clause 3: The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot…. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President.”
There was a lot of other language in this provision resulting in less-than-ideal situations later – such as when, in 1800, Thomas Jefferson tied his own Vice President running mate (both bested the opposing candidate), Aaron Burr, who upon learning of the tie refused to back down. The House of Representatives chose President Jefferson. In today’s world the chances of a tie in a presidential race are astronomically low.
The strange rules governing the Electoral College system have racist origin. At the time of its conception, the South had a large slave population. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Constitutional delegates decided on the 3/5ths compromise – only three out of every five slaves would be counted. At the time, no one but white men had a political voice, and they were designing the system. It was almost a century later that the 15th Amendment granted all men the right to vote regardless of ethnicity. About a century after that, laws were still being passed to enforce the 1870 ratification.
Why do we have to live with a 137-year-old system invented by a bunch of dead racists? No other country in the history of humanity has ever elected a leader using such a system. No other nation in today’s world uses this system. For the past 50 years, a majority of Americans are consistently in favor of replacing the electoral college system with a popular vote. There have been more than 200 legislative attempts to change the electoral college system. Early on, several Amendments and Clauses added to the Constitution further delineated the electoral college process. If we could change it then with an amendment, we can amend it now. It would stand to reason those congressional politicians, if truly representing the will of the people, would have abolished the electoral college system long ago. That we have not done so is quite telling.
Engagement Resources
- National Archives. Distribution of Electoral Votes; https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/allocation
- Codrington III. Brennan Center for Justice. The Electoral College’s Racist Origins; https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/electoral-colleges-racist-origins
- Constitution Annotated. Analysis and Interpretation of the U.S Constitution. Article II, Section I; https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-2/section-1/#:~:text=Before%20he%20enter%20on%20the,Constitution%20of%20the%20United%20States
Stay in-the-know! Always get the latest updates from our reporters by subscribing to the U.S. Resist Democracy Weekly Newsletter. Your support is crucial in safeguarding fearless independent journalism. If you appreciate our content, please consider donating today to help protect democracy and empower citizenship.