Fascism on the Rise Archives - Keeping Democracy Alive: Recent Episodes
Burt Cohen
What do you know about Bolivia? If you’re like me, you knew about Evo Morales, the first indigenous president, known as the Nelson Mandela of the Andes. Well the former landholding elite is back in power. And the IMF dictated
The post From Indigenous Power to Fury in the Streets appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
In a world of smart homes and cities, data is the coin of the realm. Everyone is vulnerable, nothing is too private. We consumers are unintentionally paying for our own surveillance. The fourth amendment is taking a beating in the
The post With Smart Everything, Your Data Will be Used Against You appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
While the hard right has had significant success in rallying young people (mostly males), the anger at ICE and a desire for a sense of belonging is moving more and more kids to the populist left. Look how many high
The post The Kids Are Alright appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
They were not victims of fascism, but characters who survived and eventually thrived. In this new book, The Secret Buttons, for young adults, author Ellen M. Shapiro spins the tale of kids coming to solutions their parents in 1938 did
The post Illustrated Lessons of Kids Cleverly Fighting Fascism appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
From tinny AM pop to stereo underground rock, WBCN was right at the vanguard. According to our guest, the legendary Charles Laquidara, it was part of an exciting wonderfully freeing time. A commercial station, it still managed to be the
The post Laquidara On the Legacy of WBCN appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
He’s only president of the United States, not the European Union, right? Unlike the US, there’s a longstanding bipartisan commitment to social democracy on the continent. Yet Trumpism is having a serious mark on this tradition, with Trump making civilizational
The post Europe Fighting Back Against President Trump appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
At the nearly two hundred fifty year mark, we’ve already lasted longer than most great nations. As with others which declined and fell, a loss of confidence led to anxiety and the impulse for a strong man to protect us
The post Is America on an Irreversible Path to Decline and Fall? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Fear of the other. Fear of woke, of LGBTQ+, of Black liberation, and of course the old big fear: Communism. In the age of the Cold War, right after WWII, Americans believed the Soviet Union was bankrolling worldwide liberation movements,
The post Why is There So Much Fear in the Strongest Country in the World? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Think billionaires have no impact on your life? Think again. We never blame billionaires for our day to day problems even though they deserve it. For example billionaires buy up housing projects then up the rent. And as business owners
The post People and the Planet: Burned By Billionaires appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Under Trump 2.0, we adults are taught to fear The Other, we must become a monolinguistic culture: English over all. But during this week of Jewish high holy days, we ask what is this ancient language of Yiddish? It is
The post Justice and Peace: What Teaching Yiddish Literature to Kids Offers appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
The far right got a major boost with the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk. What used to be the Republican party is no more. The young man’s appeal to other young men is a major hurdle for traditional patriotic Americans. And
The post Gavin Newsom: Democrats Savior ’28? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
When America was indeed great, the federal government brought theater to all people. Free. In a mirror opposite of Trump 2.0, under FDR there was the Federal Theater project in which one quarter of the nation’s population saw free performances
The post Public Theater: A Way to Measure Democracy appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
There is in fact a lush garden of American greatness and it is not MAGA. Though less well known, there is a proud history of successful dissent which does make America great. Military power and straight white male domination is
The post Historian Michael Kazin on America’s Enduring Actual Greatness appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Researchers are beginning to understand why some of us demonstrate what is called “moral courage” and others do not. In fact, most of us actually have a warped sense of our own moral courage. We like to think nothing would
The post The Trump Era and the Psychology of Moral Courage appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
It’s called airbrushing history and all dictators do it to erase the truth. Sometimes it can be petty. One example is that Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon deleted photos that were on their website of the first black military pilots during WWII,
The post The Power of Photographs and the Truth That Threatens Dictators appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Why do they feel a need for violence to prove their manhood? What’s the connection between an angry Germany after the First World War and what many young men are feeling in 2025? Why do they see equality as deprivation?
The post Young Men Are Drawn to Fascism. Why? What Can We Do? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Starting a trade war is just stupid. But maybe Trump simply doesn’t really care about tanking the economy. On this show, Washington Monthly politics editor Bill Scher points out that the current president appears to be trying to steer America
The post Trade Peace Beats Trade War: Where Are the Democrats? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
To normalize the horrific, it takes lots of people going along. From the history of leaders lying, the current regime has learned that spewing new lies many times a day works to make reality conform to the lies. On this
The post Mindless Banality Spreads Quickly. And It’s Evil. appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Locking people up and deporting immigrants is on the rise. The adults face punishment (as if that works) and their children hide from the judgement and stigma of other kids and school administrators. They are of course totally innocent and
The post Addressing the Unique Stigma on Youth Impacted by Incarceration, Detention, and Deportation appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
There are two petrostate oligarchies linking up and gravely threatening what had been a rock solid alliance: Europe and the US. The traditionally shared moral universe of Europe and the rest of the “Free World” is suddenly gone. On this
The post Europe Now Squeezed By Trump and Putin’s Pincer appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
In being careful to avoid a monarchy or dictatorship, America’s founders adamantly insisted on each government agency being independent. The Federal Communications Commission act of 1934 was created to ensure that the public would have access to news without threat
The post Is Freedom of the Press Doomed? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
No question, it’s all about re-connecting with the working class: People without a college degree, lowering the cost of health care, championing the self-employed, addressing the transportation problems of the heartland. Our guest today Paul Glastris Washington Monthly editor in
The post Time for Democrats to Post a Clear Agenda for America appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
When did politics and trash TV become one in the same? According to author Ross Benes, no question: it was the 1990s. As one reviewer said: “this book helps to explain the election of Donald Trump in ways that most
The post The Trashing of Tastes: When Did It Begin? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Democrats seem to always pay attention to the top, the federal races. But what worked for the right wing in 2010 can work for us: Our guest Eric Schmeltzer writes, in The New Republic, that to take power away from
The post Republicans Got It: Bottom Up Works. Wake Up, Democrats! appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Just the threat of prosecution can be a violation of our First Amendment rights. Look for the fascistic right under Trump to try to impose by force what they failed to win in the culture war. On this show, investigative
The post Will There Be A Way to Stop Him? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Playing defense defines the playing field. Shall we just accept a world run by international mega-billionaires? On this show, Sam Pizzigati of Inequality.org argues now is the time to get ready to go on offense against what Trump Musk and
The post To Win, Go on Offense appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Corporations have their own interests at heart. From post-Civil War America through to Germany in 1933 to America today. And knowing public image counts, many try to have it both ways: bragging that they support reproductive and LGBTQ rights as
The post Is Corporatocracy Unstoppable? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It was only discovered in an architectural trade journal: Netanyahu’s “Gaza 2035.” Architects were hired to provide models of a new Gaza , the old one having been flattened. Steel and glass high risers being erected where once a people
The post Architecture as the Ultimate Expression of Power: Gaza 2035 appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
As Trump heads into the 2024 campaign, you might wonder who is behind it, who benefits from destroying our republic. Here is the story. The religious nationalists see him as a fierce leader. They believe God sends such kings to
The post What’s Behind Trumpism: The Open Attack on Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Today, more than ever, politics is theater. On today’s big stage we see Biden as an old weakened man, and then we have Trump with blood on his face, standing strong, defiant, fist in the air. National columnist Jill Lawrence
The post After The Shooting of July 13, Is it Over? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In phase one of French elections, the far right of Marine LePen did very well, winning about a third of the total. The next and crucial vote is July 7. According to on-the-ground reporter, Oliver Haynes, President Macron is likely
The post On the French Election: First Far Right Regime Since WWII? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In phase one of French elections, the far right of Marine LePen did very well, winning about a third of the total. The next and crucial vote is July 7. According to on-the-ground reporter, Oliver Haynes, President Macron is likely
The post On the French Election: First Far Right Regime Since WWII? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The final chapter in our guest’s new book, Liberalism as a Way of Life asks the question: Requiem for a Liberal Way of Life? Well, is it really over? Reached in Sydney Australia where he’s professor of politics and philosophy
The post Under Attack the World Over, What Is Liberalism? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Democracy is itself largely improvisation. Pushing back against the powers that be; the mainstream. Our guest Randy Fertel, author of the new book Winging It; Improv’s Power and Peril in the Age of Trump, says rationality alone is not enough;
The post The Power of What Appears to be Improvisation appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s a systemic problem: what is “reasonable,” what is acting “in good faith” when America’s police violate citizens rights or even kill them? As of now, police are protected, enjoying unique immunity which no one else has. In this show
The post Shielded: How Did Police Become Untouchable? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Progressive Americans have looked to Europe for successful building of a strong economy which addresses climate change effectively. But now there is a new rise of a far right throughout Europe, starting with Trump’s buddy Orban in Hungary. As with
The post The End of Europe? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
India enjoys a romanticized image; you may think of Gandhi or the Beatles visit there. The reality is open repression and violence against the large Muslim minority. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently visited America and the bulldozer is the symbol
The post Not Just America: India’s Exceptionally Harsh Religious Nationalism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
And what is the effect on democracy? Playing to the camera makes advertisers happy. Truth? How one would govern? Fall by the wayside are how one might govern. On this show associate professor of history Kathryn Cramer Brownell sheds light
The post Must Our Politicians Be TV Stars? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Keeping one ethnicity in control: The Israeli state and Modi’s India. Palestinians and India’s Muslim minority. The chumminess of Bibi and Modi. And in both cases, the oppressors ask: who lit the fire? On this show, Stan Cox explains the
The post Parallels: Israel and India; Bibi and Modi appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
No one wants to be labeled “anti-Semitic.” But there’s a massive yet secret Israel-run spy network not only spying on American university protesters but intimidating them, affecting their lives and job prospects. On this show author James Bamford reveals the
The post Israel’s American Objective: Create Fear Among Students appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The unquestioned backing by Jewish Americans for the State of Israel started to fade about ten years ago, well before the current war. This keepingdemocracyalive is from 2016, in which Allan C. Brownfield reveals the relatively short shelf life of
The post From 2016: Israel Conflates Religion with Nationalism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Violence in the West Bank has ramped up markedly in recent days. Jewish settlers there see the barbaric and evil acts of October 7th as a green light. They’re not just vigilantes, they are subsidized by the Israeli government and
The post Rabbi in The West Bank Calls for Torat Tzedek, An End to Settler Brutality appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The corporate powers in the late sixties were seriously freaked out by the powerful momentum of the left. So along came the 1971 Powell Memo, which was a battle plan to retake power. And it worked. On this show, economist
The post The Left Can Win a Moral Revival appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Republicans determined to replace democracy with authoritarian tyranny. No it’s not 2023, it’s 1973 when they succeeded. Duly elected democratic socialist Salvador Allende is overthrown and replaced with dictator Augusto Pinochet. It’s not well known today, but listen in as,
The post The First September 11th: 50 Years Ago appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
He served 20 years in the military. No, he’s not the macho militarists; our guest today retired Lt Col. William Astore says empire is killing the America he served to protect. Our insane war budget, our “full spectrum global dominance”
The post The Term “MAGA” Admits Empire is Over appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Today’s right encourages and seeks to use men’s anger in the culture war, though their policies actually damage working class men. In their fear and rage at the gains for equality, as Washington Monthly editor William Norris notes, Sen. Josh
The post Hawley And the Right: Wrong About Manhood appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
They claim loudly they’re protecting freedom and innocent children, but the truth is the right is oppressing both. On this show psychoanalyst Avgi Saketopoulou, co-author of Gender Without Identity, argues there is not one true immutable authentic identity with which
The post How Do We Form Our Gender Identity & Can It Change Over Time? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
India enjoys a greatly romanticized image; you may think of Gandhi or the Beatles visit there. The reality is open repression and violence against the large Muslim minority. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon visit America and his Hindu
The post It’s Not Just in America: India’s Harsh Religious Nationalism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
There’s a science to the demise of democracy. On this show, Vanderbilt University political historian Eli Merritt talks about the new book he edited: How to Save Democracy; Inspiration and Advice from 95 World Leaders. It’s about the knowledge and
The post Time to Get Serious: How to Save Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Bradley Onishi is himself a “deconverted” Christian nationalist. His new book is titled Preparing for War; The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism–And What Comes Next. On this show, he answers the puzzling question of why so many who consider
The post Christian Nationalism 2023: Power Not Piety appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Why do Americans love royalty so much? For one thing, it’s much less effort than tedious democracy to just accept legitimacy being handed down. On this show, from the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, Suzanne Schneider explains how today’s fascination
The post Legitimacy From Above: Easier than Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Authoritarianism. Anti-Immigrant. White men fearful of losing control. Books banned, free press shut down. Widespread domestic spying. Dissent criminalized and many jailed tortured and killed. In his new book, American Midnight: The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy’s
The post American Midnight: Trumpism Before Trump appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The opposite of conservatism is a police state. Yet public figures who call themselves conservative are crushing many of our traditional civil liberties and our legal rights. This according to Jacob Hornberger founder and president of the Future of Freedom
The post “Conservatives” Are Disastrous to Civil Liberties appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Pre-capitalist indigenous cultures have a lot to offer us today for a better, greener future. And socialism is not how its pictured. Neglected by the Great Men study of history, Rosa Luxemburg, a 4′ 11″ disabled young woman from what’s
The post The Prescience and Vision of Rosa Luxemburg. Who? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Of course all parents want to protect their children from inappropriate material. But when “parental rights” mean teachers are forbidden from mentioning homosexuality or racism because that means teachers are “grooming” kids for pedophilia or Chinese communism, liberty is under
The post The “Moms For Liberty” Nightmare for American Schools appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
They hide under the cover of academia. They claim to be local grassroots. But behind the faces we see on the news, there is an interconnected network of fossil fuel and evangelical interests in a very efficient soup-to-nuts approach to
The post Organized to Destroy Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Since Plato’s allegory of the cave, tyrants have successfully manipulated the projected images the public sees. On January 6th, Trump told the insurrectionists they were being patriots. And they believe him. On this show, philosophy professor Andrew Fiala talks about
The post How We Passively Enable Tyranny appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
What had been a strong established left in France has seen much of its support move to the right. People who feel left out and looked down on see a kindred spirit in the far right candidacy of Marine LePen.
The post Will the French Republic (and the EU) Survive? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Both establishment parties are competing to be toughest on the Ukraine crisis. But the fact is America’s founders were solidly non-interventionist. Our constant search for new monsters to destroy; where has that gotten us? More peace and justice? Our republic
The post Ukraine: A Conservative Take appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In walling out Palestinians, the State of Israel has walled in themselves. Former Zionist Israeli Defense Forces paratrooper Sylvain Cypel speaks to us from Paris about his evolution. As a Jewish Frenchman, he says how that country’s experience with Algeria
The post The State of Israel vs The Jews appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
He voted against one thing that can actually address what he says is the problem. Where once men felt pride in what they contributed to family and community as sole breadwinners, that is gone. The anxiety is real. In her
The post Josh Hawley And The Republican Obsession with Manliness appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
“‘Opposite sex’ is a phantom concept—nobody lives it.” So says our guest author Kathryn Bond Stockton. Her new book Gender(s) argues that what seem like obvious genital distinctions are in reality incomplete. When children are born, it’s like parents “lower
The post Simplistic Binary Genders is Cultural Fortification and Wrong appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Pat Buchanan was ahead of his time. He used the KKK’s David Duke to breed a new nativist religious nationalism, based on fear of liberalization. On this show political science professor Joseph Lowndes sheds light on how the Republican Party
The post Violent Authoritarianism: How Did This Become the GOP? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Great stone monuments to the glory of war serve to silence the pain. Currently four times as many troops and veterans die by suicide as in combat. Our guest on today’s show is religion professor Kelly Denton-Borhaug whose new book is
The post On Veterans Day: Suicide and the Moral Injury We Look Away From appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Claiming the election was stolen, “angry loyalists storming the building while overwhelmed security guards gave way. The slavishly loyal vice-president who would, the president hoped, restore him to power.” Sound familiar? This was 1986 in Manila. Author and history professor
The post He Knows a Coup When He Sees One appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s been normalized. Americans who are neither Christian nor white may not necessarily feel open discrimination, but privilege underlies everyday life. The starting point is not neutral, as we’d prefer to believe. On this show Dr. Kyati Y Joshi talks
The post Pervasive Yet Invisible White Christian Privilege appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s not about education reform; Republicans like Florida’s DeSantis and others are actually out to end public education. On this show, New Republic editor Kathryn Joyce looks behind such appealing phrases as Parents Bill of Rights to reveal a long
The post Republican Goal: End Public Education, End Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The prospect of losing the power of empire brings out fear which can lead to police states. Or it can be seen as an opportunity for significant improvement. On this show, Matt Wehmeier, who spent recent years in the former
The post Are We There? How Empires Fall appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s the ideal fear generator; there’s nothing more awful than child abuse. Intentionally whipping up such fear is a tried and true tool for crushing democracy. Cosmopolitan globalism, the prospect of losing white male hetero dominance has been effectively played
The post The Global Right’s Bizarre Obsession with Pedophilia appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Regime change in Iraq was on Bush’s agenda since 1998, September 11 merely enabled it. On this show is historian Larry Hartenian whose new book is titled George W Bush Administration Propaganda for an Invasion of Iraq, subtitled Absence of
The post 9/11 At 20: So, Why Did We Attack Iraq? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Michael Winship writes: “Despite Joe Biden and Kamala Harris being in the White House, we remain in existential peril.” A big step toward tyranny is Senator Joe Manchin who announced he will not support an end to the filibuster which
The post Manchin: Ego Rules Over Patriotism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Is it the revenge of the “deplorables?” We’ve seen how a culture of resentment affected Germany in the early 30s, and it has brought us dangerous Trumpism today. On this show, professor of history emeritus Walter Moss looks at the
The post The Power of Resentment and The Threat to Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Fossil fueled fascism is not limited to the west. The roots of India’s ruling party go back to Mussolini and Nazis. Repressing minorities as they increase wealth and power of the autocratic rulers. The US is tight with Prime Minister
The post The Rise of Fascism: It’s India’s Turn appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The greedy hyper-wealthy cheer on their Republican advocates as they fight to crush democracy. But a lot of American millionaires are also patriots and recognize that more democracy is needed to build the common good. On this show, Morris Pearl,
The post Patriotic Millionaires Boosting Democracy through HR 1 And More appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The similarities are uncanny and deeply disturbing: Kaiser Wilhelm II and Donald Trump share an amazing number of attributes. Such as fascination with and envy of more powerful people, the need to belittle other heads of state, believing themselves physically
The post Brothers from Another Mother: Trump and Kaiser Wilhelm II appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It didn’t start with Trump and it won’t end when he leaves office. There is an historic pattern to strongmen and he fit the playbook perfectly. In her new book, Strongmen From Mussolini to the Present, historian of authoritarian governments
The post Strongmen: From Mussolini to Trump’s Republicans appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The threat of deeply dedicated religious nationalists is not about to go away when Trump leaves office. An electoral defeat energizes them. The author of the important book “The Power Worshipers,” Katherine Stewart expounds on her recent NYTimes op-ed, titled
The post The Danger of Trumpism After Trump appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The word treason has been thrown around a lot lately. By Trump against his detractors and also leveled at Trump for seeking to stage a coup against America. On this show one of the nations leading authorities on the law
The post Treason: What Is It Really? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Why the need for dominance and control? Why the huge draw of white working class men to Donald Trump? Does the appeal of violent police somehow make up for a sense of loss of male control over everybody else? On
The post What Are Right Wing Men Afraid Of? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
They went from a tiny group at the fringe to the third largest political party in Greece. In the birthplace of democracy, after a five year trial, the most significant anti-fascist trial since Nuremberg, the Golden Dawn has been convicted.
The post Greek Fascist Party Convicted as a Criminal Gang appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Even in a minority, fighting back carries a number of positives. On issues that matter to average Americans, Democrats have been pushed off course. Some thought the way to attract independents was timidity. As our guest Eleanor Eagan of the
The post What A Defiant and Bold Democratic Party Looks Like appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The often successful tactics and techniques of America’s crime syndicate have not gone unnoticed by Trump and his gangs. In his new article: “The Mobster in Chief: Will the November Election be Decided in the Streets?” returning guest John Feffer
The post Trump: Mobster in Chief appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
He called our current history education in our schools “a form of child abuse.” Teaching critical thinking and the real history of America would be shut down in Trump’s “Patriotic Education.” The popular 1619 Project and Zinn’s Education Project which
The post How Trump’s “Patriotic Education” is Anti-American appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Populism is a legitimate form of anger at perceived elites dismissing everyday people. There are indeed real reasons for today’s populist anger. On this show Rutgers Law School professor Dennis M.Patterson explains why we need to take populism seriously. It
The post Can Democrats Address What Fuels Angry Populism? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In normal times, it’s the the military making war elsewhere in the world, allegedly to protect our peace at home. But with armed white gangs afraid their dominance of America may be slipping away, and with a president egging them
The post Could the Military Save Us From Civil War? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We’ve seen it on the nightly news: the police, the tear gas, the fires, and the wall of moms. Our guest today, David Rovics is there in Portland Oregon and he explains that the city’s police protected the far right
The post Unsafe to Protest? Realities Behind the Portland Picture appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
As Trump kicks off his fall campaign, and we wonder who is behind it, who benefits from destroying our republic, here is the story. The religious nationalists see him as a fierce leader. They believe God sends such kings to
The post The Attack on Democracy: What’s Behind Trumpism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Blurring the lines between law enforcement and vigilantism, why are off duty police at the polling stations mainly in black and brown neighborhoods? New Jersey in 1981 is a case study in what has happened and most likely will happen
The post Armed Poll Watchers: To Protect or Intimidate? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Other countries, like those we defeated, use the paramilitary domestically, not America. Or so it was before the Department of Homeland Security was transformed into the ideal authoritarian tool. Former CIA analyst and professor of government at Johns Hopkins University
The post “Homeland Security:” Ideal Authoritarian Tool appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Donald Trump IS the Republican Party of 2020. So what of the future of the party; is there one? According to David Smith, Washington Bureau chief for The Guardian, some party members quietly hope for a Democratic landslide so they
The post What If Trump Loses? A Future for the Republican Party? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Trump’s experiment failed. His TV ads trying to gin up fear of protesters backfired. According to George Lakey, long time activist, retired Swarthmore professor, and author of many books, the center is now even more likely to defend against invasions
The post Lessons from Portland: Notice What Our Power Is appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The Covid 19 crisis is being used to bolster authoritarianism around the world: Trump, Orban, Bolsonaro, the list goes on. John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies explains how the coronavirus is being
The post Covid 19 and Authoritarianism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Chaos and anarchy engulfing America. Won’t that be the result of “defunding the police?” A Trump ad (audio included herein) gins up that fear. But using war-fighting methods and equipment demonstrably feeds and exacerbates violence. Fighting crime after the fact
The post Defund Police? How Dangerous is That?! appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
With the killing of George Floyd and the resulting rage in the streets, this is a year like none other. Old reassuring myths are falling away. Statues are being ripped down. What is still worth preserving? Can we use today’s
The post We’re all Historians Now! appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In 1980, candidate Ronald Reagan had the advisors and discipline to be subtle enough about racist messages. Southern white fundamentalists and the NAACP’s Ralph Abernathy all endorsed him for president. As our guest author Rick Perlstein says, Trump turned a
The post Reagan’s Dog Whistles Worked; Trump Missed That Lesson appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
For nearly 20 years, the goal of America’s perpetual war has been about dominating the world. It has been largely out of sight, but now it’s on our streets. Our president has turned the weapons on us; again the goal
The post Are We The Enemy Now? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Denial is the final stage for a successful genocide. Since Nuremberg, we’ve heard the phrase “Never Again.” But that requires facing real history, hearing the voice of the victims not just the winners. Though the Turkish genocide of a million
The post Never Again? Denying The Crime Is Part of the Crime appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
You’ve seen the pictures: heavily armed angry protesters at state houses demanding an end to stay at home orders. They call such safety measures “medical martial law,” and see it as the start of government tyranny, providing them with a
The post Covid 19 Fuels Far Right Rage appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
On May 4, 1970, Laurel Krause was just 15 years old. That night in a hospital with her parents she identified her 19-year-old sister Allison’s lifeless body. The bullets that killed Kent State University students Allison, Jeff, Sandy and Bill,
The post Kent State Plus 50: Time to Face The Truth appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Both the Great Depression and today’s recession started off in a time of great economic inequality. Both economic calamities brought to the surface systemic inadequacies. Perhaps the most recognized authority on the history of the Great Depression, Stanford history professor
The post Thirties Historian: This is Not Depression 2.0 appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Could the coronavirus-caused sudden disruption of the worldwide economy result in unforeseen exercise of harsh nationalism and extended government emergency powers? The people protesting with AR-15s are of course threatening the rest of us taking appropriate precautions. Meanwhile our guest
The post Danger of Covid 19 Government Over-Reach ? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.