The coronavirus pandemic is highlighting two primary American values—volunteerism and individualism. In the 1830’s French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville toured the United States and wrote the famous book, Democracy in America. One of his observations was the tendency of Americans to form volunteer associations to accomplish community and societal goals, a practice he thought … [Read more…]
The COVID-19 pandemic is raising renewed interest in the relationship between race and disease. Specifically, African Americans have poorer health than white Americans, and they die more readily. There are over 80,000 excess deaths of African Americans each year, meaning that many African Americans died who would not have died had they died at the … [Read more…]
This is about people who think God will give them a special favor over other people when it comes to the Coronavirus. By Leonard Pitts So one day, the skies crack open and a deluge falls upon this small town. Soon, the waters rise, and the streets become impassable. And this preacher kneels on the … [Read more…]
I had planned to write something about what I saw as some of the objectives of Bernie Sanders, but I decided to defer to the economist, Thomas Piketty, who said and demonstrated it quite simply, “Bernie Sanders is Trying to Rescue America’s Frail Democracy,” his article in the March 19, 2020, issue of Jacobin magazine. … [Read more…]
The current crisis with the coronavirus pandemic producing disproportionately high black death tolls is just highlighting black life in America. When white America sneezes blacks get the flu,” is an old but meaningful saying in Black America. I have proclaimed for many years that race determines how well and how long you live in this … [Read more…]
The Coronavirus pandemic is revealing at least two sets of problems in the United States. One set is the almost unbelievable level of President Trump’s ignorance and incompetence, along with his colossal disregard for human lives. The other is the non-existence of an American public health system. I agree with Ralph Nader and 27 prominent … [Read more…]
Bill Withers has died. His monster hit, “Lean on Me,” was the closing anthem of our Kwanzaa celebrations through the years. And the song is now in the service of a new cause—cheering up health care workers and many everyday people caught up in this Coronavirus epidemic. The song lives on.
Addressing a campaign rally in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Saturday, January 23, 2016, Donald Trump bragged that his “people” are the most loyal. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? It’s, like, incredible,” Trump said. Well, Trump’s wild and unprecedented prediction is playing … [Read more…]