America as a Developing Country
To fight Covid, there's no alternative.
As vaccinations bring the first flicker of light at the end of the Covid tunnel, the emergence of more transmissible and somewhat vaccine-resistant variants seem to stand in the way.
But there’s a path forward. In fact, as a matter of both principle and self-preservation, it’s the only path: Go global. Get the whole world vaccinated much more quickly than currently planned.
[Continue Reading]Scattered thoughts, hopes and dreams, on a most memorable and emotional day.
Lots of folks are sharing similar sentiments about inauguration day. A college friend emailed: “I can’t tell you how many people said to me today that it felt like the tension level just went down everywhere around them. I think we’ve all been living with the nerve endings on the outside of our bodies for four years I look forward to better, healthier, more generous times.” Amen.
[Continue Reading]I’ll say a few things. An incredible video says it all.
Bruce Springsteen wrote “The Rising” in response to 9/11. Like many of his songs, its beauty lies in the ears of the beholder, its intent subject to interpretation.
While “The Rising” is clearly about 9/11, it’s also about so much more. Released in 2002, it’s timeless in the intense feelings it conveys. Yet it’s also rooted in each of the tense times and turning points it’s addressed in the years since then.
As we arise from the nightmare of the last four years, this is one of those times.
[Continue Reading]A better term has applied here at home.
In a Zoom chat today, friends and I briefly discussed Donald Trump’s infamously and callously dismissing El Salvador, Haiti and African nations as “sh*thole countries” two years ago.
That is not a term ordinarily employed in international development discourse.
As Trump’s presidency finally circles the drain and we consider his legacy, though, I’d suggest that “sh*thole government,” rather than “sh*thole country,” can apply to certain places. Here are some features of such a government’s leadership:
[Continue Reading]The video is from January 6. How the world has changed, even since then.
As part of my occasional commentary on U.S. and international affairs for a major Indian broadcaster, WION (World is One News), the channel interviewed me on January 6 as part of its report on that day’s D.C. insurrection. To my mind, it did a fine job (linked below) in its coverage of the exploding events.
[Continue Reading]