With political polarisations running deep after a divisive Trump presidency, the new administration will need to rid the country of crises on several fronts
United States
Posted inNews/Politics
Chickens come home to roost: Anti-democracy and American politics
Part of the crisis of America is rooted in its myth of exceptionalism — which does not account for racial slavery and indigenous dispossession, war and conquest as part of its history
Posted inNews/Politics
An African perspective on the US elections chaos
Africans are much more familiar with post-election problems than are Americans. The difference is Donald Trump pulled every trick in the book to remain president, but failed
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
China’s long, unfinished 20th century and its global implications
By 2050, China is predicted to have an economy twice the size of the US economy. What will this shift in power mean for trade and international relations?
Posted inNews/Politics
Dear liberals: Elites, not fascists, threaten democracy, part 2
You are quick to be repulsed at the EFF’s antics yet you rarely show outrage or demand collective action against the systemic violence which sustains our political order
Posted inNews/Politics
Dear Liberals: Not everything you dislike is fascist (Part 1)
THOUGHTLEADER: The EFF deserve severe criticism on many grounds but discrediting its politics as fascist doesn’t allow for a thorough critique of the party, and the upheavals in our politics it represents
Posted inNews/Politics
Vote, if you want to save the US from the one-man wrecking crew
It’s worth surmounting the voter suppression obstacles — but on the other side litigation and postal votes will probably delay the results of the presidential poll
Posted inEquality
A lesson on equality for the US from post-apartheid South Africa
If the protests in the United States and elsewhere are about systemic racial oppression, then South Africa’s experience is that unless toxic concentrations of political power are addressed, deep structural changes are unlikely to occur
Posted inEquality
Gasping for hope
Despite overwhelming support for Black Lives Matter, we feel hopeless — racial equality is more dream than reality and racism has never been enough for people to take to the streets
Posted inEquality, General, Health, News/Politics
The decline of the American Empire
It is no exaggeration to say that America ain’t what it used to be. Several articles I have read recently indicate this, whether they focus on Trump’s disastrous presidency, on social or educational matters. One in particular caught my attention yesterday (see here), and another this morning (see here), both of which draw one’s attention […]
Posted inGeneral
Trump’s America: No country for old women
I have managed a monosyllabic email and two cups of tea this morning. Typing this is agony. Now I know that the sun comes up and shines even on the day of the apocalypse. I didn’t know that yesterday. So this is a learning experience. Welcome to America’s 1948, where the sun is shining. With […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
The Donald adds an Obama-like spark to 2016 race
By Perry Munzwembiri After years of “Obama-mania”, following President Barack Obama’s brilliance on the campaign trail, the 2016 White House race just needed something that would add the “X-factor” to the campaign. At first, it seemed Donald Trump brought the “Y-factor” — as in — why is he even running for president? Every day, however, […]