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We “rethink the week” with Stephen Pimpare, professor of public policy at UNH Manchester and Fellow at the Carsey Institute of Public Policy; Valerie Endress, Professor of Political Communication at Rhode Island College; and Ron Abramson, immigration lawyer in Manchester, NH.
We begin with a story about the child detention center for migrants in Homestead, FL. It highlights the role of grassroots political activism and the power of getting political leaders to amplify important issues that are under-reported in the mainstream media. The gaggle of press coverage that accompanies those political leaders enables the American public to notice (and focus on) the horrific actions that our government is taking in our names (and with our tax dollars).
Next, we discuss the weakness of democratic institutions and structures in the United States, as well as the influence of dark money on our electoral and political processes. Because of these weaknesses, the U.S. has lagged behind other rich countries around the world in providing our people with health care that is reliable and affordable. The U.S. lags in balancing our working lives with taking care of our families (e.g., family and medical leave; needing to hold two jobs per parent in order to subsist economically; and fearing that, even then, our situation might well get worse before it gets better: our jobs are not stable and we are one unanticipated car repair or medical bill away from bankruptcy and homelessness). We lag in educating and caring for our children (instead we whine about a decay in “family values”). And we lag in meeting our obligations to future generations, including but not limited to climate change.
Our panel looks for the causes of America’s weaknesses. The U.S. economy was built on the institution of slavery, and we have never come to terms with that. We continue in many ways to organize our political system and our culture around these racial divisions.
Another cause of our current dilemma is the power — both economic and political — of large corporations. Corporate behemoths (and the 1%) control our lives and our government. Why don’t the majority fight back and take back control? The corporations promote the myth that they are good for the economy (their profits will somehow trickle down to the rest of us). They also have us believing that the corporations can’t be stopped. Rather than fighting corporate control, many worried voters blame, instead, the poor, the working class, the immigrants for their precarious position in life.
Of course, we also discuss today’s politics, including the Democratic presidential candidates’ debates last week. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have spoken much about the foregoing problems and their causes. They promise to challenge corporate power and dominance if elected. Many other democrats argue that the party should not move too far to the left, or else we might help bring about the reelection of Pres. Trump. Some candidates took positions in between, especially on particular issues: Kamala Harris and Cory Booker on healing the racial divide and stopping white hate groups, and Julian Castro and Beto O’Rourke on immigration issues.
Finally, we talked about the Supreme Court’s final decisions of the Term, and what they might portend for our country’s future.
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We “rethink the week” with Stephen Pimpare, professor of public policy at UNH Manchester and Fellow at the Carsey Institute of Public Policy; Valerie Endress, Professor of Political Communication at Rhode Island College; and Ron Abramson, immigration lawyer in Manchester, NH.
We begin with a story about the child detention center for migrants in Homestead, FL. It highlights the role of grassroots political activism and the power of getting political leaders to amplify important issues that are under-reported in the mainstream media. The gaggle of press coverage that accompanies those political leaders enables the American public to notice (and focus on) the horrific actions that our government is taking in our names (and with our tax dollars).
Next, we discuss the weakness of democratic institutions and structures in the United States, as well as the influence of dark money on our electoral and political processes. Because of these weaknesses, the U.S. has lagged behind other rich countries around in the world in providing our people with health care that is reliable and affordable. The U.S. lags in balancing our working lives with taking care of our families (e.g., family and medical leave; needing to hold two jobs per parent in order to subsist economically; and fearing that, even then, our situation might well get worse before it gets better: our jobs are not stable and we are one unanticipated car repair or medical bill away from bankruptcy and homelessness). We lag in educating and caring for our children (instead we whine about a decay in “family values”). And we lag in meeting our obligations to future generations, including but not limited to climate change.
Our panel looks for the causes of America’s weaknesses. The U.S. economy was built on the institution of slavery, and we have never come to terms with that. We continue in many ways to organize our political system and our culture around these racial divisions.
Another cause of our current dilemma is the power — both economic and political — of large corporations. Corporate behemoths (and the 1%) control our lives and our government. Why don’t the majority fight back and take back control? The corporations promote the myth that they are good for the economy (their profits will somehow trickle down to the rest of us). They also have us believing that the corporations can’t be stopped. Rather than fighting corporate control, many worried voters blame, instead, the poor, the working class, the immigrants for their precarious position in life.
Of course, we also discuss today’s politics, including the Democratic presidential candidates’ debates last week. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have spoken much about the foregoing problems and their causes. They promise to challenge corporate power and dominance if elected. Many other democrats argue that the party should not move too far to the left, or else we might help bring about the reelection of Pres. Trump. Some candidates took positions in between, especially on particular issues: Kamala Harris and Cory Booker on healing the racial divide and stopping white hate groups, and Julian Castro and Beto O’Rourke on immigration issues.
Finally, we talked about the Supreme Court’s final decision of the Term, and what they might portend for our country’s future.
