Roundup

The Planet Isn't Doomed. That's Why We Can and Must Act

by Dagomar Degroot

Climate "doomism" is a dangerous fatalism about our planet that justifies our political failure to take the necessary actions to slow climate change. 

Free Britney Comes at a Time of Crisis for Reproductive Freedom

by Nicole Hemmer

The fight to end Britney Spears's conservatorship highlights the links between reproductive and sexual freedom and women's autonomy. 

Misappropriating MLK in the Critical Race Theory Debate

by Tyler D. Parry

Selective readings of Martin Luther King's writing and speeches swap his radical critiques of capitalism, militarism and inequality for bland colorblindness. The fact is that "CRT" is deeply rooted in King's work, which was unpopular among white Americans in his own time. 

Mint the Coin: The Debt Ceiling is an Absurd Problem. It's Time for an Absurd Solution

by Zachary D. Carter

Silly as it sounds, minting a trillion dollar coin is the solution to the recurrent ordeal of the debt ceiling. It's legal, it's sensible, and it's not more ridiculous than using the prospect of default as a political club. 

The Disturbing Precedent for McConnell’s Debt-Ceiling Brinksmanship

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky

Mitch McConnell's use of Senate rules and the body's disproportionate representation to ensure that Democrats who represent 41.5 million more people than Republicans are unable to govern. His tactics echo those of the antebellum Slavocracy. 

The Lesson of Venice's 17th Century Plague? Tax the Rich

by Yong Kwon

By making only a temporary commitment to public works funded by taxing the city's merchant elite, Venice emerged from the plague with an overburdened workforce, less ability to attract labor, and a declining economy. 

Frustration, Anger, and Deaths Won't Convince the Unvaccinated

by Matthew Newsom Kerr

"Vaccine resisters in the 19th century significantly stymied public health efforts, and the anger felt by health officials shaped their responses — not always for the best."

The "Eds and Meds" Sector Needs a New Deal

by Ian Gavigan and Jennifer Mittelstadt

COVID has given university administrators license to escalate their war on unionized labor in all facets of operations, from instruction to food services. All university workers need to recognize their common interest and organize to make universities pay living wages, offer fair benefits, and support equitable community development.

Abandoning Afghans From the Start

by Christian G. Appy

The Washington Post's Afganistan Papers present an opportunity to avoid the mistake of blaming military defeat on bad judgment and focus on the inherent problem of America's imperial ambitions, says historian Christian Appy.

The Roundup Top Ten for October 1, 2021

The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week. 

Extinct

by Barbara Penner and Adrian Forty

"The history of objects becomes far richer when we also consider the underside of progress: the conflicts, obsolescence, accidents, destruction, and failures that have been such an integral part of modernization and its modes of operation."

Droning On: America's Assassins-in-Chief

by Tom Engelhardt

Since the Bush administration, every President has used drone technology to be the nation's assassin-in-chief. In a nation increasingly tolerant of mass COVID death at home, does this even have the power to shock?

A Parable of All-American Violence

by Kelly Denton-Borhaug

The United States cannot truly end the Afghan war without reckoning with the effects of normalizing violence as a means of politics. 

The Real Foucault

by Michael C. Behrent

"Why does Foucault now feel like our contemporary, almost forty years after his death? Why are leftists turning against him? And why are some conservatives adopting him?"

Traumatic Monologues: The Therapeutic Turn in Indigenous Politics

by Melanie K. Yazzie

American and Canadian politicians are happy to promote initiatives based in psychological understandings that "trauma" is the principal source of Native disadvantage, while ignoring the ongoing colonial exploitation of indigenous lands by the oil and gas industries.

Observe "Banned Book Week" by Standing Up for Academic Freedom

by David Wippman and Glenn Altschuler

"When school boards or legislators with little or no subject matter or pedagogical expertise ban books or direct how certain subjects should be taught, education is impoverished, and everyone loses."

The Legal Standard Encouraging Religious Exemptions to Vaccination is Baffling

by Charles McCrary

American courts have established sincerity of individual belief as the standard for recognizing a religious accommodation or exemption. Even though no major religions ban vaccination, this standard could still sustain widespread refusal of coronavirus vaccines. 

Autonomous Robot Weapons Could be More Destabilizing than Nukes

by James Dawes

"Imagine a world in which militaries, insurgent groups and international and domestic terrorists can deploy theoretically unlimited lethal force at theoretically zero risk at times and places of their choosing, with no resulting legal accountability."

"A Horrible Mistake": Time to Ditch CENTCOM

by Andrew Bacevich

Created by military reorganization undertaken by the Reagan administration, CENTCOM assumes control of potential military operations in 20 nations, where a half-billion people live. In the decades of its existence, it has overseen the decline and imminent collapse of American empire. 

Violence Over Schools is Nothing New

by Sherman Dorn

"The history of education teaches us that violence surrounding democratic schooling is part of a recurring pattern and that we have a choice to passively accept or assertively confront violent impulses."