Steve Hochstadt

Steve Hochstadt is a writer and an emeritus professor of history at Illinois College.

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• 
  Oct 4, 2016
  

  Women as Second-Class Athletes

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Will corporate America only change its bottom-line mindset when the real America buys more tickets to see professional women play? Will that only happen when our public media, from the cable giants to our local papers, pay more attention to professional women?
  

• 
  Sep 30, 2016
  

  Donald Trump Believes in Climate Change

  by Steve Hochstadt

  When he considers his financial interests, Trump is a climate change believer. Trump the businessman was arguing with the Irish authorities about allowing him to make an extraordinary investment to protect his property over the course of this century, because “it could reasonably be expected that the rate of sea level rise might become twice of that presently occurring”. All the while, Trump the politician insisted over and over to the American public that he did not believe in global warming, that the scientists cited in his Irish petition were liars and cheaters, that the whole thing was a hoax.
  

• 
  Sep 13, 2016
  

  The Paralympics: A History of Inclusion and Inspiration

  by Steve Hochstadt

  The athletic performances of the thousands of Paralympic athletes in Rio, far exceeding what most “normal” athletes could accomplish, make the word handicapped seem inappropriate. They have achieved much more: pride in what their bodies can do, rather than shame for what they can’t.

  

• 
  Sep 6, 2016
  

  The Architectural Politics of Rebuilding Berlin

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Discussions about demolition and reconstruction inevitably touched political ideologies of all kinds. Two Berlin sites, one east and one west, show the variety of architectural politics which determined the process of rebuilding.

  

• 
  Aug 30, 2016
  

  The Destruction and Rebuilding of Warsaw

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Warsaw, the capital of Poland since 1596, was completely leveled by the German Army. It is hard to picture what those words mean.

  

• 
  May 24, 2016
  

  What Does Retirement Mean?

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Our most eloquent revolutionary, Thomas Paine, was a “forerunner of modern social insurance”, as the Social Security Administration calls him. In 1796, he advocated a 10% tax on the inheritance of property to create a fund which would pay a yearly pension to everyone over 50, “to enable them to live in Old Age without Wretchedness, and go decently out of the World.”

  

• 
  Apr 26, 2016
  

  Women in the Boston Marathon

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Women were banned from the Boston Marathon. Into the 1960s, athletic authorities claimed women were incapable of running that distance. The longest AAU-sanctioned race for women was 1.5 miles. Women could not compete further than 800 meters in the Olympics.
  

• 
  Apr 13, 2016
  

  To White Men Who Like Trump

  by Steve Hochstadt

  The economic program Republicans have offered to the American middle class has been remarkably consistent: give more money to the richest Americans by radically cutting their taxes. Trump has shown not the slightest sign that he cares about or will do anything for Americans who are struggling.

  

• 
  Apr 5, 2016
  

  Donald Trump Is Done

  by Steve Hochstadt

  I think Trump is done. Or as my mother-in-law would say, “Done is for meat. Trump is finished.” Everyone who said that before was wrong. But now his run is over.

  

• 
  Mar 29, 2016
  

  Can We Be a Better Neighbor?

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Long after the juvenile Republican presidential campaigns and campaigners of 2016 are forgotten, President Barack Obama’s movement toward normalization of relations with Cuba will still be talked about. Ending the Cuban embargo is one necessary step in creating a real “good neighbor policy”.

  

• 
  Mar 15, 2016
  

  Why Are Some Americans So Angry?

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Trump the birther gave birth to Trump the candidate. Outrageous racist attacks on a black President provided a base of support: two-thirds of Trump supporters still believe that Obama is a Muslim born outside of the US.
  

• 
  Mar 8, 2016
  

  Donald Trump, the He-Man

  by Steve Hochstadt

  One could suspect that a man who can’t stop touting his masculinity might be less certain than he proclaims.

  

• 
  Feb 25, 2016
  

  Jews and Blacks in Germany and America

  by Steve Hochstadt

  The early years of Nazi persecution put Jews into a similar position as blacks in America.
  

• 
  Feb 16, 2016
  

  The Republican Assault on Higher Education

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Republican politicians are angry about public higher education in America. The ideas they and their conservative supporters cherish are repeatedly demonstrated by academic experts to be false.

  

• 
  Jan 26, 2016
  

  Western Stand-Off

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Economists might applaud their tactics. If I wave the Bible and the Constitution and my gun and my cowboy hat enough, we won’t have to pay what we owe.
  

• 
  Jan 19, 2016
  

  Watergate was a Big Deal

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Every political scandal gets compared to Watergate. But no political scandal since then can compare with a President authorizing burglaries by White House staff in order to win re-election, then lying about his administration’s cover-up.

  

• 
  Jan 12, 2016
  

  Teaching Hate, Learning Hate

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Hatred and anger are powerful political emotions. Republican candidates believe they can employ the politics of hate to win elections and then later control the hatred they encourage.
  

• 
  Dec 22, 2015
  

  It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's Superman!

  by Steve Hochstadt

  Superman was the great savior during my childhood, along with a few other heros with seemingly superhuman abilities to dodge bullets and fight evil, like Wyatt Earp and Matt Dillon. It’s thrilling to know that a real, live Superman now flies among us, fighting evil and saving America. Of course, I mean Donald Trump.
  

• 
  Nov 24, 2015
  

  Cops Out of Control

  by Steve Hochstadt

  If we can watch a new video every month of groups of police brutalizing unarmed citizens, then we have a police problem.
  

• 
  Nov 11, 2015
  

  Science, Large and Small

  by Steve Hochstadt

  My dogs would make poor scientists, because they can be individual learners at best, unable to profit from the knowledge gained by other members of their species. But they are better scientists than Republican know-nothings, because they learn from the world around them without political filters and ideological blinders.