Social Reform

George Washington’s nightmare has been realized. Despite his warning about the negative effects of party loyalties, the US government has become paralyzed by partisanship, allowing national challenges to go unaddressed. As an independent candidate for US Senate in 2018, Neal Simon witnessed the destructive nature of modern American politics. He experienced firsthand the perverse incentives that push candidates and lawmakers to ideological extremes. He watched as party leaders resisted pragmatic solutions to our nation’s problems.

Our status quo - the pyramid of wealth and power dominated by the few at the top - has failed and is beyond reform. This failure is not rooted in superficial issues such as politics or governmental regulations; the failure is structural. The very foundation of the status quo has rotted away, and brushing on another coat of reformist paint will not save our societal house from collapse.

Demokratie und Rechtsstaat sind bedroht: durch Autokraten wie Putin von außen, die fürchten, auch für sie könnte das Streben der Bevölkerung nach politischer Selbstbestimmung gefährlich werden; durch Autokraten im Inneren, die auf einer Welle populistischer Erregung ins Amt kommen und den Rechtsstaat aushöhlen; durch eine lethargische und politisch gleichgültige Bürgerschaft, die zwar seit längerem in einer Demokratie angelangt ist, sich nun aber an dieser langweilt und nicht mehr engagiert. Die Welle der Demokratisierung, die 1989 losgebrochen ist, ist verebbt. Inzwischen gibt es weltweit wieder mehr autokratische Regime als Demokratien.

Times are changing at Fairy Tale Reform School. At least that's what Gilly's heard. Rumor is that notorious trickster Rumpelstiltskin has taken over management from Headmistress Flora, and he's locked down the school tighter than the Pied Piper's pants. Not that this news concerns Gilly - she's been released from FTRS and is now suffering through attending Jack of All Trades School, where she gets to learn about different kinds of shoe leather and ways to measure feet (truly riveting stuff!).

Do you have a nagging feeling that something’s missing from your church experience? You’re not alone. And it’s time to discover a better way. Church-reform advocate and Bible scholar Peter DeHaan, PhD, is a strong proponent of meaningful Christian community. In Jesus’s Broken Church, he uses Scripture to guide us into right practices and away from the off-track customs that most every church adheres to. The problem is that today’s church follows an Old Testament model.

In diesem Monat dreht sich bei ECOS Spanisch lernen Audio fast alles um die Wohnung: Wortschatz zu den einzelnen Räumlichkeiten sowie Vokabeln und Dialoge zu Umbaumaßnahmen bilden den Schwerpunkt. Außerdem befassen wir uns mit der Basisgrammatik: Es geht um Adjektive, direkte und indirekte Objekte, das Gerundium sowie die Verwendung von ser, estar und hay.

I went into teaching to change the world. Instead, my students changed me. These are some of my stories. I tell them at a time when education's gone from being a noble pursuit to the epicenter of a national storm. Good teachers are leaving the field at staggering rates. Politicians and pundits are out in full force. Everyone has something to say about education - everyone except the students and teachers in the classroom.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, required equal access to public places and employment, and enforced desegregation of schools and the right to vote. Today, the Black community faces an alarming education gap, a higher rate of unemployment/underemployment, and inequalities in the criminal justice system. A Black agenda or strategy is necessary to reverse these critical issues on a national level through public policy such as major reform in education, employment, and criminal justice.

In the aftermath of the 2010 election, George Megalogenis considers what has happened to politics in Australia. Have we entered a new phase with minority government and the rise of the Greens and independents? Hawke, Keating and Howard years were ones of bold reform; recently we have seen an era of power without purpose. But why? Is it down to powerful lobbies, or the media, or a failure of leadership, or all of the above?

Will China be the leading global power of this century? Otto Tien-Pok Xing argues that China is set to be the dominant superpower in 10 years.

There was a time in this country when people who were well-off had two homes, and the super-rich may have had three residences. In 2008 a prominent politician was asked how many homes he had. He didn’t know. The number was eight...and in the ensuing years the income gap has only widened. Billionaires now have so much money and power that the very fabric of our nation is coming unraveled. Tax policy is fundamental to a nation’s stability. We need to return to the system that brought us a large, dynamic, educated middle class.