Political Ideas

Talk Nation Radio: Manuel Perez-Rocha: 20 Years of NAFTA Is Enough

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https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-manuel-perez

Manuel Perez-Rocha is an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and the coordinator of the Network for Justice in Global Investment. He discusses the damage done by NAFTA and DR-CAFTA, and what we should be doing instead.

Total run time: 29:00

Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Music by Duke Ellington.

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Pacifica stations can also download from AudioPort.

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Two Kinds of Countries: Israel's Dangerous Path

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There are two kinds of countries or societies or places to live. In the first kind, decent, fair, kind, and respectful treatment of every person takes precedent over anyone’s preferences for how a culture changes or how much effort is expended trying to slow the change of a culture, or which cultures mix with each other, or which groups intermarry. In this first type of society — admittedly a nonexistent ideal — people identify with humanity and welcome any member of humanity into their read more

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Is the Federal Government a Drug-Induced Hallucination?

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You laugh, but that could be a side-effect.  Consider:

The Capitol Police just murdered an unarmed mother fleeing her car on foot, declared her child “unharmed,” and received the longest standing-ovation in Congress since Osama bin Laden’s Muslim sea burial.  Try holding your breath until Congress takes the standing ovation back, and you’ll wish your were in the “Holy Land” having your house sprayed with “Skunk” artificial sewage by the read more

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Talk Nation Radio: Nathan Schneider on the Occupy Apocalypse

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https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-nathan

Nathan Schneider is an editor of the websites Waging Nonviolence and Killing the Buddah.  He reported on / participated in Occupy Wall Street from before Day 1.  He has now published Thank You, Anarchy: Notes from the Occupy Apocalypse.

Total run time: 29:00

Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Music by Duke Ellington.

Download or get embed code from Archive or LetsTryDemocracy.

Pacifica stations can also download read more

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Solartopia Radio: Dollarocracy with Bob McChesney and Warisacrime with David Swanson Read More »

We Need a Dandelion Insurrection

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I recently recommended a great book about the now deceased Occupy Movement, long may it live.  Just as important, I think, as contemplating the successes and missteps of such past actions is envisioning the next ones.  Rivera Sun has done that in The Dandelion Insurrection.  Imagining the game in such a book can inform our studying of the warm-ups we’ve seen or been part of.

The Dandelion Insurrection is an updated, more accurate, less fantastical Brave New World read more

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Talk Nation Radio: Taking Kent State to the United Nations

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https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-taking-kent

Laurel Krause is the cofounder and director of the Kent State Truth Tribunal. Her sister Allison Krause was killed at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, along with three other peacefully demonstrating students. Laurel and her colleagues are taking new evidence of state-ordered and orchestrated killing to the High Commissioner of the UN Human Rights Committee on October 17 & 18 read more

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Occupy Everything. Did We Ever Give It Back?

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When the Pentagon ends an occupation, crawling home from Vietnam or Iraq or Afghanistan with its Tomahawk missile dragging between its legs, it declares victory every time.  And, depending on how you define victory, it certainly leaves lasting effects.  The cancer and birth defects and poisoned water supplies bear witness: there was an occupation here.

When the Occupy Movement lost its presence on television and therefore in real spaces that are never quite as real as television, it too read more

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A Tale of Two Congress Members

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In 2010 in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District, many people who prioritize peace over war probably voted for Democrat Tom Perriello over Republican Robert Hurt.  I know many who did just that.

Here’s what Congressman Hurt said on Tuesday about Syria:

“I have repeatedly stated … that before the United States should commit any of its precious American lives or military resources to an attack on the Syrian regime, the President must articulate a compelling American read more

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The Bill Congress Should Pass Instead of War

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Here’s a preliminary draft of what the United States Congress could pass this week if it were sincerely interested in human rights, international norms, the rule of law, and peace in Syria.  You are welcome to suggest it to your Congress members, who are more than welcome to tinker with it.  You might also share it with any friends or uncles or neighbors who demand to know: “If you’re against missile strikes then what are you in favor of?” Send me any suggested read more

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Congressional Progressive/Pentagon Caucus

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Back in 2007, the Congressional Progressive Caucus helped organize 90 Congress members to commit to voting against war funding.  Most of them turned around and voted for war funding.  That was a high point for the CPC.  Since then, its commitments — such as to vote against corporate healthcare — have hardly been taken seriously, and so it’s hardly been news when most members have gone back on their commitments.

The CPC has shifted in recent years away from pretending read more

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Cruise Missile Law Enforcement

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The White House is treating the Syrian government like a potential drone strike victim.

President Barack Obama’s preferred method for dealing with targeted individuals is not to throw them into lawless prisons.  But it’s also not to indict and prosecute them.

On June 7th, Yemeni tribal leader Saleh Bin Fareed told Democracy Now that Anwar al Awlaki could have been turned over and put on trial, but “they never asked us.” In numerous other cases it is evident read more

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A Nuclear Free World

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We’ve managed to outgrow or to come within sight of outgrowing cannibalism, slavery, blood feuds, duels, capital punishment, child labor, tar and feathering, the stocks and pillory, wives as chattel, the punishment of homosexuality, and listening to Rush Limbaugh.  To various degrees, these practices — and many others — have been eliminated or reduced and stigmatized. 

While the stupidest practice ever created — the mass killing known as war — remains, we’ve read more

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What Slavery Cost

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As I head off to a rally for Trayvon Martin, I notice a column by Bob Koehler in which he says the unpaid work of slaves in the United States is now estimated at $1.4 trillion.  Oddly, that’s not terribly far from the $1.2 trillion or so, possibly more now, that we spend each year preparing for and fighting wars.  If we abolished war we could perhaps afford read more

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Blowing the Whistle on the TPP in Harrisonburg VA

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Free Trade Pact or Corporate Coup?

Presentation & Discussion with Author & Activist David Swanson

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the most highly secret trade agreement in the history of the United States.   It is massive in scope, and is being pushed by the U.S. government at the behest of transnational corporations.  It is bad for jobs, bad for democracy, and bad for our national sovereignty.  President Obama is expected to try to “fast-track” read more

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Talk Nation Radio: Gar Alperovitz Points to Worker Ownership as Fix for Broken Democracy

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https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-gar

Gar Alperovitz discusses his new book, What Then Must We Do: Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution.  Alperovitz points to long-term trends in wealth and income inequality, environmental destruction, civil liberties loss, incarceration rates, and others, to argue that ordinary political change is not enough, that systemic changes in the distribution of power are badly needed.  See http://www.garalperovitz.com

Total run read more

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Talk Nation Radio: Peter Kuznick Tells the Untold History of the United States

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https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-peter

Peter Kuznick is an associate professor of history at American University.  Together with Oliver Stone he has authored The Untold History of the United States, and the series by the same name airing on Showtime.  read more

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The U.S. Has a Representative Government: The Conference of Mayors

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Congress can’t break 10 percent approval.  Obama’s arms shipments to Syria just crack 10 percent, with 11 percent approval.  Over 80 percent of Americans in more polls than I can count say over and over again that the government is broken and does not represent us.  But when the mayors of the cities of the United States get together nationally one begins to see positions taken, at least rhetorically, that resemble government of, by, or for the people.

On Monday the U.S. read more

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Listen to the Occupy the Media Podcast

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It’s here http://occupythemedia.podomatic.com

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It's the Ownership

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If you’re like me you’ve read several books that list inspiring examples of worker owned businesses and co-ops, suggesting that expanding on such models might begin to right the wrongs of an incredibly unequal society that is growing even more unequal by the day.

The best such collection I’ve found is in a new book by Gar Alperovitz called What Then Must We Do?  This book also offers a powerful argument that radical change is needed, albeit an argument with some read more

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