The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question: How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question: How do we make democracy work for the poor?
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Are guns there to stop tyranny? Is tyranny already here? Are there other ways of stopping it than stocking up on munitions?
Political humour group, The Juice Media take a few minutes to explore one of the great debates taking place in the United States of America. It seems that no matter how high the civilian body count, this perennial debate shows no sign of abating, having morphed into a vigorous exegesis of the 2nd Amendment, as Americans seek to make sense of the original intentions of...
Within cities and countries around the world the gap between the rich and the poor is widening in a global trend that some economists have warned will have detrimental effects on society. In the US which has one of the highest levels of inequality in the West, the richest 10% of Americans receive about half of the nation's income.
In a time when economic growth in many countries is slowing and governments are advocating fiscal austerity, is the question of inequality being factored into...
What we're seeing now in the media is the justification of torture and a rehabilitation of the CIA in four new films, argues Michael Ratner, President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York and Chair of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in Berlin, as he talks about Zero Dark Thirty, Manhunt, Fargo and Green Zone. Ratner was at the recently held Sundance film festival where, Manhunt, the movie about the killing of Obama Bin Laden, received a standing...
From Live Aid to Make Poverty History, celebrities have become activists against poverty. Bob Geldof and Bono have been the most prominent voices advocating on behalf of the poor. Their concerts have raised millions on behalf of the poor. But have their concerts and campaigns really lifted millions out of poverty? Geldof, Bono and Bill Gates speak candidly about how to lobby effectively and how to play to politicians' weaknesses for glitz and popularity.
© Why Poverty
Rüschlikon is a village in Switzerland with a very low tax rate and very wealthy residents. But it receives more tax revenue than it can use. This is largely thanks to one resident - Ivan Glasenberg, CEO of Glencore, whose copper mines in Zambia are not generating a large tax bounty for the Zambians -- but feeding a life of luxury for the villagers of Rüschlikon.
Zambia has the 3rd largest copper reserves in the world, but 60% of the population live on less than $1 a day and 80%...
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Al Jazeera spoke to President Jacob Zuma who argued that South Africa's economy cannot grow while linked to Europe and the US. Pressed on the question of mining companies, Zuma argued that mining is one of the anchor sectors of the South African economy and must make a contribution to it -- "and the manner in which you contribute to the economy is how you pay your workers," he continued.
© Al Jazeera
