Is Enough Enough?—Farmers’ Dilemma Heading Into 2020
As America heads into another presidential election, trade relations with China continue to be a complicated issue. Just recently, Chinese officials canceled planned visits with US farmers in Montana and Nebraska. This was a surprise, as the White House had announced hours prior that they would temporarily spare more than 400 Chinese products from tariffs. […]
Why Americans Don’t Vote
Though the United States has a slight obsession with installing democratic governments across the globe, American democracy is consistently one of the least active among developed countries. In the 2016 presidential election, only 55.6 percent of citizens in the voting-age population cast a ballot. Turnout has been between fifty-two and sixty-three percent in every presidential […]
Corn (Not Coal) is Destroying the Environment
As the Iowa caucus steadily approaches, Democratic primary candidates are eager to demonstrate their support for rural America, promising to bolster industries that have yet to shift jobs overseas. In Iowa, the largest of these industries is ethanol, a biofuel made from the closest thing Iowa has to gold: corn. Ethanol is a biofuel made […]
Legally Sanctioned Discrimination? The Supreme Court Case and LGBT Employees’ Rights
The Basics On October 8, 2019, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for three cases that will impact the lives of LGBT people across the United States. The cases will determine whether the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans employment discrimination on the basis of sex, also extends to […]
The Looming Danger for Democrats in Selective Enforcement of Rule XIX
Originally published March 2017 As the confirmation hearings for President Trump’s cabinet nominees continue, so does Democratic opposition to his candidates. During the debate on whether to confirm Jeff Sessions as Attorney General on Tuesday, February 7th, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren attempted to read a letter written in 1986 by Coretta Scott King, wife of […]
The Art of Evasion: Republicans in Congress and Their New M.O.
Originally published January 2017 It would seem that American government officials have never been more accessible to the public than they are today. With the invention of Twitter, Facebook, email, and various other avenues of online connection, reaching out to your representatives has never been easier. The convenience of social media constructs the appearance that […]
You Think YOUR Job Interview is Tough?
On November 2, 1972, Monty Python aired their seminal sketch “Argument Clinic,” in which a man enters said clinic seeking, as hard as it may be to believe, an argument. The receptionist directs him to a room where the inexplicably named Mr. Vibrating awaits him. The man asks whether he’s in the right room; Mr. […]
Poverty, Proximity, and Pigs: Environmental Racism in the Food Industry
While the prevailing perception of pigs among most urban white-collar workers may revolve around a cute, fun-loving ball of fur, the same animal represents pollution, environmental harm, and food injustice for many rural communities of color. In North Carolina, for example, the hog population has more than doubled in recent decades—from 2.8 million in 1990 […]
Shifts in the Democratic Party
On January 1, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled plans for the “Select Committee on Climate Crisis.”[1] Chaired by Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida, the committee will research and develop recommendations on strategies and policies to make permanent reductions in pollution and other contributors to the climate crisis. Yet arguably the most vocal politician on climate […]
Why Conservatives Should Conserve the Environment
When the sun comes shining, then I was strolling In the wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting This land was made for you and me -Woody Guthrie In 2017, Congress passed new tax legislation allowing for the leasing of oil rights in the Arctic National […]