Radical Labor Education, Part I
We are on our way to Amherst, Massachusetts, where I will be teaching a two-week course in labor economics to labor union brothers and sisters. I have been a labor educator for thirty years. I have taught working people, mostly union leaders and members, a wide variety of courses in all kinds of settings. I… | more |
The Obtuseness of the "Left Establishment"
Recently a group of U.S. left-wingers, myself included, signed an open letter to certain members of the “left establishment,” urging them to come into open opposition to the Obama administration. Among those to whom the message is directed are Michael Moore, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Bill Fletcher, Tom Hayden, and Jesse Jackson, Jr., all of whom… | more |
I applaud the release of the first of hundreds of thousands of confidential U.S. diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks. Hopefully, they will be an eye-opener for those who believe that their government officials are the world’s good guys. What they show is that no country is too small to escape U.S. meddling in its affairs,… | more |
"That Which is Full of Wonder"
There is something astonishing about rock arches, and every time we see one, we marvel that nature could produce such works of art. How can there be such a thing as Landscape Arch, the longest in the world, an impossibly thin span of 290 feet, stretching like a rainbow between its sandstone moorings and made… | more |
Change We (Were Foolish to) Believe In
The U.S. 2010 midterm elections are over, and the postmortems have begun. Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the influential liberal magazine the Nation and a frequent guest on television talk shows, said in a recent fund appeal, Dear Nation Reader, There’s no disguising it, the results of the midterm elections were, with few exceptions, grim,… | more |
We were in Las Vegas, a cheap stopover on our way to a month or so in southern Utah. Our hotel, South Point, is on Las Vegas Boulevard but far south of the Strip. It’s a good place to stay. The staff is friendly, and our room, which was larger than our old New York… | more |
These Homes Were Made (and Paid for) by You and Me
When we lived in Pittsburgh in the 1990s, my mother came to visit for a few days. She always wanted to see the Henry Clay Frick mansion, so we drove to Wilkinsburg, just outside the Pittsburgh city limits, to see it. Frick was the chief lieutenant of Andrew Carnegie and the architect of Carnegie Steel’s efforts… | more |
Elko, Nevada: Ranches, Mines, and Mountains
We first heard about Elko, Nevada from a couple we met on a trail in Zion National Park. While trading travel stories, they said that the Ruby Mountains outside Elko were spectacular. We were at the beginning of a long road trip and had no particular itinerary, so we kept Elko and the Rubies in… | more |
Fear and Loathing at Saint Vincent College, An Update
Last December, I wrote an essay about my alma mater, Saint Vincent College, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. In it, I describe some troubling events. Ever since the ascendancy of the current archabbot, Douglas Nowicki, in 1991, the college has moved steadily to the right, culminating in the appointment in 2006 of James Towey, formerly head of… | more |
A Nation in Decline?: Part 4: Mother Earth, What Have We Done to You?
When we are on the road, Karen usually drives. I plot out the directions before we leave and write them down on the notepad most motels provide next to the telephone. Even though the route might be straightforward, I get nervous that we will miss a turn, and within a short time I reach… | more |