Europe Points the Way to a Better World
Thu Mar 29, 2007 at 06:28:37 AM PDT
Joseph Stiglitz argues that, despite all the flaws, the European Union represents a tremendous success story that could serve as a model of democracy, human rights, sustainable prosperity with social justice, and peaceful conflict resolution for other societies to follow:
Project Syndicate: Europe's Success Points the Way to Better World
. . . the European project has been an enormous success, not only for Europe, but also for the world. . . .
. . . the driving motivation of the EU's founders was long-lasting peace. Economic integration, it was hoped, would lead to greater understanding, underpinned by the myriad interactions that inevitably flow from commerce. Increased interdependence would make conflict unthinkable.
The EU has realized that dream. Nowhere in the world do neighbors live together more peacefully, and people move more freely and with greater security, than in Europe, owing in part to a new European identity that is not bound to national citizenship.
This stands as an example that the world should emulate - one of shared rights and responsibilities, including the obligation to help the less fortunate. . . .
The Problem is Conservatism
Tue Oct 18, 2005 at 06:33:51 PM PDT
Cross-posted at MyDD and Booman Tribune
Right-wing theorists have a strategy for dealing with the impending conservative crack-up, from Iraq to the economy - blame it all on the Bush administration:
The neocons develop an exit strategy -- a political one
President George W. Bush may have no military exit strategy for Iraq, but the "neocons" who convinced him to go to war there have developed one of their own -- a political one: Blame the Administration.
Their neo-Wilsonian theory is correct, they insist, but the execution was botched by a Bush team that has turned out to be incompetent, crony-filled, corrupt, unimaginative and weak over a wide range of issues.
We cannot let them get away with this.
With Friends Like These . . .
Sat May 28, 2005 at 10:40:05 PM PDT
Just another installment in that long-running series "The Mystery of the Self-Loathing Liberal."
Ruy Teixeira has a new post up on Donkey Rising where he takes liberals to task for being boring on education:
Democrats have not benefitted more from education issues because they have had little new and exciting to say to voters about these issues. Instead, they have repeated the same old tired refrain ("more money!"), which has just reinforced voter stereotypes about Democrats and certainly hasn't made make them look like the party of reform and change.
America: No Longer the Land of Opportunity?
Tue Apr 26, 2005 at 02:46:56 AM PDT
It is a well-known fact that the United States has the highest level of economic inequality of any developed country.
When faced with this reality, Conservatives will typically argue that in a country like the United States, economic inequality doesn't matter, because economic mobility is high here. People in the United States can more easily move upward in the income distribution compared to other advanced countries.
Well, a report just put out by Britain's Sutton Trust and the London School of Economics effectively punctures this myth of American economic mobility.
What Kind of Foreign Policy Do Americans Want?
Tue Jan 25, 2005 at 11:42:45 PM PDT
