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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Eduardo Galeano -
The Shoe
(January 15)
In 1919 Rosa Luxemburg, the revolutionary, was murdered in Berlin.
Her killers bludgeoned her with rifle blows and tossed her into the waters of a canal.
Along the way, she lost a shoe.
Some hand picked it up, that shoe dropped in the mud.
Rosa longed for a world where justice would not be sacrificed in the name of freedom, nor freedom sacrificed in the name of justice.
Every day, some hand picks up that banner.
Dropped in the mud, like the shoe....
A video has emerged showing Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers raiding Palestinian homes, forcing parents to wake up their children before questioning and photographing the youngsters. Children as young as four have been questioned during the night raids. The list of mistreatment of children doesn't end there. IDF soldiers regularly harass, manhandle and set attack dogs on young Palestinian children in public spaces. The IDF arrests up to 700 children each year. Human Rights Watch contends...
Shawn Hattingh -
Various columnists and opposition politicians, whether from the Democratic Alliance or the Economic Freedom Fighters, have repeatedly called for President Jacob Zuma’s head. They want him out and it is often insinuated that if he were gone, things would be better in South Africa. The latest round in this saga has been the vote of no confidence recently tabled by the opposition in parliament.
Certainly Zuma’s Presidency has been defined by nonstop scandal. There have been clear...
Speaking in the context of American politics, Chris Hedges, former New York Times columnist (who sued the Obama administration for indefinitely detaining people and won) argues, "All of the openings in American democracy were driven by populist and radical movements that never achieved formal positions of power."
According to Hedges, "The question is not, 'How do you get good people to rule?' Most people who are attracted to power are at best mediocre, which is Obama or...
Scientists in the U.S. say that rising sea levels now threaten a third of Florida's beaches, but state employees allege that they are prohibited from talking about climate change. Frustrated, Florida state employee, Kristina Trotta, left her job because dealing with the crisis of rising sea levels became too difficult, as no one was allowed to talk about climate change.
Christopher Berg, formerly an attorney for the state of Florida working to protect its waterways, reports, "They...
Jason Hickel -
International development is in serious crisis. Charities are worried about the fact that public support for development is waning – that people just don’t seem to ‘buy it’ any more. According to a recent report by the development umbrella group Bond, ‘Efforts to eradicate poverty appear to many members of the public to have failed, and scepticism about the effectiveness of aid and global development initiatives has risen.’ People are less and less likely...
