Politics in Context

The future looks pretty bleak right now, doesn't it? I know I'm not the only one who sees it. Follow the current trends of climate change , economic inequality , and right-wing extremism to their logical conclusion and the outcome is clear: we're fucked. Historically, each of these alone always precedes civil unrest at best, calamity at worst, but all three together? We're completely and utterly fucked. Anyone who can't see that is being willfully ignorant at this point. With the Internet, everyone can have a front-row seat to the sixth mass extinction event, the lives of billionaires , and live-streamed acts of terrorism. As a young person, it often feels like I was born just to bear witness to the end. When faced with the realities of today, despair is inevitable. Despair is nothing new, of course, we all feel the cold flutter of the void against our souls, but this is different. This is not a personal fear of my own mortality, this is an unprecedented, peer-...

The Cuyahoga River is approximately 85 miles long, running from Hambden, Ohio, through Cleveland, and emptying into Lake Erie. During the 20th Century, the river was one of the most polluted rivers in the country. The surface was covered with "brown oily film" and "large quantities of black heavy oil floating in slicks" were frequently observed. The color changed from grey-brown to rusty brown as the river proceeded downstream. Sludge accumulated at the bottom and animal life did not exist. The river has caught fire at least 13 times. The largest was in 1952, causing over $1 million in damages. On June 22 , 1969, the river caught fire again, causing around $50,000 in damages. After Time  magazine published an article about the fire, which described the Cuyahoga as a river that "oozes rather than flows" and in which a person "does not drown but decays," a flurry of environmental legislation was passed. This was the start of the modern environme...

This past February, the national debt topped $22 trillion for the first time in history, greater than the nation's GDP. (If you want to see how that number breaks down, check out the  National Debt Clock .) This comes to about $67,000 per American citizen. The simple explanation for this is that, year after year, the federal government has run a deficit and spent more money on federal programs than it took in from taxes, borrowing money to make up the difference. This debt is a serious problem and threatens the economic future of every American. So, how did it get so massive? Back in 1978, the national debt was around $772 billion, about 34% of the nation's GDP. Conservatives at the time were concerned about getting federal spending under control. The Republican Party's economic gurus, such as Alan Greenspan and Herb Stein, were not comfortable with cutting taxes before reducing spending for fear of increasing the deficit too quickly. The problem with cutting spending w...

“For most of us, fidelity is faithfulness to an obligation, trust, or duty. For the men and women of the FBI, fidelity also means fidelity to country. It means fidelity to justice and the law, fidelity to the Constitution, fidelity to equality and liberty.” - Robert S. Mueller III In 1968, Robert Swan Mueller III enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corp. He joined because a friend of his, a year ahead of him at Princeton University, had died fighting in Vietnam. After training, he was shipped to South Vietnam where he served as a rifle platoon leader. On December 11 , Mueller's platoon was ambushed. Under heavy fire, Mueller directed the platoon to set up a defensive perimeter and return counter-fire. Ignoring his own safety, Mueller then supervised the evacuation of injured Marines. Mueller was awarded the Bronze Star with a "V" device for his actions.  In April, 1969, Mueller was shot in the thigh while leading his platoon to rescue American troops pinned down by e...

" The necessary result, then, of the unequal fiscal action of the government is, to divide the community into two great classes; one consisting of those who, in reality, pay the taxes, and, of course, bear exclusively the burthen of supporting the government; and the other, of those who are the recipients of their proceeds, through disbursements, and who are, in fact, supported by the government; or, in fewer words, to divide it into tax-payers and tax-consumers. " - Vice President John C. Calhoun John C. Calhoun was a United States Senator, Vice President, and strong proponent of slavery. A well-educated and wealthy slaveowner himself, Calhoun believed that the ability of the government to tax its citizens through collective action would inevitably lead to the infringement of the liberty of the wealthy class. Calhoun warned that a "government based in the naked principle that the majority ought to govern" was sure to violate the liberty of property owners. Calhou...

“[ An] Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” - U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2 The U.S. Constitution mandates that the federal government must take a census every ten years. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the census in years ending in zero, on April 1, Census Day. The first census was in 1790, led by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson during President Washington's first term. The population of the United States was 3,929,625. In 1964, in the case of  Reynolds v. Sims , the Supreme Court ruled that electoral districts must contain roughly the same number of people (the U.S. Senate is the exception.) Districts must be redrawn to accommodate a constantly changing population in a process called redistricting or reapportionment.  The data gathered during the census is essential for redistricting. M...

“To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” - United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 The Intellectual Property Clause of United States Constitution gives Congress the power to grant copyrights and patents. Copyright law protects original works of authorship in a tangible medium, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual works. Patent law protects new and useful processes, machines, products, designs, and varieties of plants. The first law regarding intellectual property was the Copyright Act of 1790 . The act allowed an author to obtain a copyright for a printed work for 14 years that could be renewed once. Violating a copyright was punishable by a fine of 50 cents per printed page of copyrighted material. Once a copyright expired, the work would enter the public domain , free to be used by all wi...