The Roundup Top Ten for January 28, 2022
Don't Make Dorothy Day a Saintby Garry WillsAs an admirer of the left-wing activist Dorothy Day, Garry Wills argues that the process of canonization would "miniaturize" her work and associations to fit within the narrow confines of sainthood, making her an object of prayer instead of a model for action. |
Abortion isn't a "Choice" without Racial Justiceby Sara MatthiesenThe recent failure of the broad social spending initiatives of Build Back Better and the impending judicial overthrow of Roe are connected, and signal the need for a movement for reproductive freedom that goes beyond "choice" to address systemic inequalities. |
The Threat of the US Becoming an "Anocracy" Again? Civil Warby Barbara F. WalterAnocracies combine the superficial trappings of democracy, like elections, with the suppression of civil liberties and the press and the hardening of factions in place of a common civic culture. By some measures, the US is now an anocracy, like Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. |
A Very Long War: From Vietnam to Afghanistanby Andrew BacevichThe interpretive frameworks – from the "domino theory" to the war on terror – guiding the political decision to wage war are usually rendered incoherent by facts on the ground in combat. This cluelessness survived the end of the cold war intact and suggests a longer campaign of American empire. |
Manchin's Self-Proclaimed "Principled" Acts Mean Shunning His Constituentsby Ashley SteensonJoe Manchin's torpedoing of the Build Back Better legislation reflects a historically prominent principle, though maybe not one the Senator would like to acknowledge: contempt for most of his constituents. |
Yizker Bikher Books Commemorate Holocaust Deaths – but also Celebrate Jewish Communities’ Lifeby Jennifer RichThere is another way to honor those 6 million murdered: remembering the ways they lived, not only the ways they died. |
Legislators: Come See How I Use 1619 Project in My Classroom Before You Ban Itby Woody HoltonSouth Carolina's H. 4343 bill would impoverish the history education legislators claim to value. Could an invitation to observe how the demonized 1619 Project is used as a teaching tool change any minds? |
The Senate is a Long-Term Threat to Democracyby Thomas ZimmerThe idea that the Senate is "the world's greatest deliberative body" is American exceptionalism that hides the undemocratic nature of the institution. |
Salt and Deep History in the Ohio Countryby Annabel LaBrecqueAmerican expansion into the Ohio Valley was built upon a long natural and indigenous history of salt resources that formed the geography of the territory in obvious and surprising ways. |
School Vandalism Is a Test We Need to Passby Campbell F. ScribnerStudent vandalism in schools is nothing new. Effective responses must reject surveillance and punishment and put student growth above the simple protection of property. |