America as a Developing Country
Health officials bear the hateful brunt of Covid lies. But finally the real enemy is on his way out.
In Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play, An Enemy of the People, a Norwegian doctor finds himself excoriated by his fellow citizens for informing them that the town spa’s waters are contaminated and put people’s lives at risk. Because revealing this information beyond the community could crush the local economy, he suffers scorn and abuse.
He and his daughter lose their jobs. His house is vandalized. His family faces eviction. He’s advised to leave town.
[Continue Reading]Grief, giving, ambivalence and blessings, all at once.
For many Americans, this Thanksgiving arrives with pain, loss, isolation and hardship. Covid cases and deaths are skyrocketing. One in eight adults report not having enough to eat in the past week; the figure is one in six for households with children in them. The situation in numerous other nations is yet worse.
For folks much more fortunate, Covid and Trump’s legacy (even in defeat) still make this a time of grief and ambivalence. In view of the unprecedented plight of so many in 2020, it might be particularly appropriate for the more fortunate to mark Thanksgiving with giving to worthy causes this year. So, for those able and interested…
[Continue Reading]What really forced Trump to agree to the transition.
You’ve probably heard that Donald Trump has finally allowed the presidential transition to go ahead. He’s effectively conceding the election, though he will never admit it and will doubtless fill his time until January 20 with an extended temper tantrum.
What you may not realize is how this decision came about. The shift came in a heated meeting with Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s top aides, over the president’s strenuous objections.
This video shows what transpired.
We've been warned.
I first witnessed a coup attempt in the Philippines on the morning of August 28, 1987, a couple of months after I arrived in Manila to work for the democracy-promoting, San Francisco-based Asia Foundation. On that day, a well-armed group of military dissidents nearly toppled the duly elected government of President Corazon Aquino. As tanks and armed personnel carriers rumbled by our office, my colleagues and I had no idea whose side they were on.
Just weeks earlier, a Filipino co-worker had proudly told me about joining the massive “People Power” demonstration that helped depose the country’s dictator in February of 1986. Now he and his fellow Filipinos began to look broken. How had so much turned so bad so fast for their democracy?
[Continue Reading]The pandemic and about 45,000 votes saved U.S. democracy.
The 1997-98 Asian financial crisis caused economic havoc across much of the globe, with Indonesia one of the hardest hit nations. But it triggered a chain of events that discredited the country’s corrupt, repressive ruler, Suharto, and led to his 1998 resignation after over 31 years as president. His downfall signifies a lesson America learned this month: how even a disastrous development can rescue a nation from dictatorship.
Suharto oversaw significant economic reforms and growth while in power. In other regards, his record was repugnant.
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