Democratic socialism, which a century ago had considerable popularity in American politics, has been out of favor in more recent decades. Nevertheless, the surprising strength of the candidacy of Bernie Sanders for the Democratic Presidential nomination indicates that it may be undergoing a revival in the United States. At the least, a good showing by Sanders could strengthen the democratic socialist current in American life.
Published Articles by Lawrence Wittner
In 2013, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo initiated Start-Up NY -- a much ballyhooed program granting private businesses tax-free status-- with the promise that it would "supercharge" the state's economy and create thousands of new jobs. Nevertheless, despite many millions of dollars of taxpayers' money spent on the program, it created only 76 jobs during the following year. Using public funds to rehire the thousands of teachers laid off thanks to severe cutbacks in state funding for education would be a much better investment.
Forty years ago, at the end of the Vietnam War, millions had died, many more had been injured, and vast resources had been destroyed. Today, the shift of Vietnam and the United States from warring enemies to cooperative partners raises new questions about the necessity for that terrible conflict.
Let us encourage Iran not to follow the bad example set by the nine nuclear powers, which have flouted the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty for up to 45 years. And let us ask these nuclear-armed nations, with a total of about 16,000 nuclear weapons in their arsenals, when they are going to start practicing what they preach.
New York State -- particularly its largest city -- has played a central role in the long history of the American peace movement.
Can a dedicated socialist have a significant impact upon American life? Lauren Coodley's biography of prominent socialist novelist and agitator Upton Sinclair shows that, with a lot of talent and fortitude, that kind of influence is possible.
Within a matter of months, the U.S. government seems likely to become the only nation in the world still rejecting the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Although the treaty was signed by the U.S. government in 1995, conservative forces have blocked its ratification and will probably continue to do so.
A quarter century after the end of the Cold War and decades after the signing of landmark nuclear arms control and disarmament agreements, are the U.S. and Russian governments once more engaged in a potentially disastrous nuclear arms race with one another? It certainly looks like it.
There are glaring contradictions between the rhetoric and action of modern American conservatives. Can conservatives explain these discrepancies? If not, we have good reason to conclude that their professed principles are no more than a respectable mask behind which lurk less admirable motives.
Betty Medsger's account of the 1971 break-in at the FBI headquarters in Media, Pennsylvania not only provides us with a fascinating history of FBI criminality, but an exciting tale of activist courage and success in defending civil liberties.