RICHARD D. WOLFF – Societies survive and grow when they successfully navigate their contradictions. Eventually, however, accumulating contradictions overwhelm existing means of navigating them. Then social problems arise that persist or worsen inside such societies because they are unsuccessfully navigated or go unattended. Sometimes, the dominant conscious reaction to such social problems is denial, a refusal to see them. Denial of internal social problems displaces navigating the contradictions that cause them. The resulting social decline, like the set of internal contradictions it reflects, is denied and ignored. Instead, narratives or rhetorics can arise that position such societies as victims of abuse by foreigners. The United States in 2025 illustrates this process: its rhetorics of refusal aim to end its victimization.
Author: Oregon PeaceWorks
Kamala Harris Paid the Price for Not Breaking With Biden on Gaza, New Poll Shows
RYAN GRIM – Twenty-nine percent of non-voters who supported Biden in 2020 said U.S. support for the genocide was the top reason they sat the 2024 election, according to a survey by YouGov.
43 Lawmakers Back Youth in Climate Case Against US Government
JESSICA CORBETT – A 17-year-old plaintiff commended the federal lawmakers for “using their voices to weigh in on the importance of our rights to access justice and to a livable climate.”
Dr. Martin Luther King’s Prophetic Warning, Denouncing the Merchants of Death
KATHY KELLY – MLK: “This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
Archiving as resistance to genocide denial in Gaza
ELEFTHERIA KOUSTA – Law for Palestine members discuss their database of genocidal statements by leading Israeli figures and how it can help defend human rights.
Guide to Preserving Sacred Land Near You
JIMMY VIDELE – Preserving biodiversity is among the most urgent issues of our time, and it needs to be addressed regionally to succeed.
How a Community Collaborative in Arkansas Is Pioneering Solutions to Long-Standing Social Problems
DAMON ORION – Sankofa Village Arkansas is building an “intentional community centering Black healing, liberation, and regeneration.”
Genocidal President, Genocidal Politics
NORMAN SOLOMON – When news broke over the weekend that President Biden just approved an $8 billion deal for shipping weapons to Israel, a nameless official vowed that “we will continue to provide the capabilities necessary for Israel’s defense.” Following the reports last month from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch concluding that Israeli actions in Gaza are genocide, Biden’s decision was a new low for his presidency.
Killing of the United Healthcare CEO Sparked Long Overdue Conversation About Greed
SARENA NEYMAN – The murder of the United Healthcare CEO, as horrendous as it was, forced us to confront the injustices we’ve been taught to tolerate. This moment must unite us against the true enemies of the American dream: unchecked greed and exploitation of the many for the benefit of the few. We can either remain manipulated by scapegoating and fear or see the truth and demand change. Only then can we build a society where no one feels driven to such desperate measures again.
World Security Likely to Decline Across the Board in 2025
MEL GURTOV – The global citizen agenda for 2025 is very much like that for 2024—and probably for some years afterward. It includes global warming and related environmental crises; US-China tensions; challenges to democracy and peace in Europe and Africa; interstate and intrastate violence in the Middle East; and nuclear weapons upgrading. A new addition to this list is another Trump administration, which creates the potential for exceptional chaos in the US and worldwide.
Nonviolence News Reports 366+ Success Stories in 2024
RIVERA SUN – Upon reflection, 2024 was not just a year of disaster and political upheaval. It was also the year that Julian Assange was finally freed. It was the year Net Neutrality was restored. It was the year that corrupt leaders fell from power in South Korea and Bangladesh. When we remember all of these, we also remember the most important thing of all: nonviolent action achieved all this. What will we use nonviolence to accomplish in 2025?
Enrollment in Nature Schools Soars as Families Rediscover the Benefits of Outdoor Learning
DAMON ORION – Nature schools are taking education outside the box.
A Global Minimum Wage Would Reduce Poverty and Corporate Power
LAWRENCE S. WITTNER – In today’s world of widespread poverty and unprecedented wealth, how about raising the wages of the most poorly-paid workers?
A history of success drives the ongoing struggle to clean up Cancer Alley
SUE INCHES – Despite years of polluter pushback and environmental racism, Cancer Alley communities in Louisiana are still fighting for a healthier environment for everyone.
What’s the best gift for relationships this holiday season? Understanding ourselves
MELINDA BURRELL – If we’re hoping for connection rather than conflict this holiday season, we can start with ourselves. We can learn to pay attention to our bodies, our emotions, our words, and our thinking. Self-awareness might be the best gift we can give our relationships this holiday season.
The LA Times Makes the Case for Shutting the Diablo Canyon Nukes
HARVEY WASSERMAN – A lot is packed into this commentary – addressing in particular the myth of needing “baseload power” from nuclear along with renewables, storage etc., and how ratepayers lose when deciders pursue long range, risky and expensive nuclear over what is available and cost-effective now
Oregon Sanctuary Laws Protect Migrants, with Caveats
ISOBEL CHARLE – As word has spread about President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans, advocates for immigrants in Oregon are working to educate people about their rights.
The Emperor Has No Clothes: COP29
SAVAIDA MA’ANI EWING -t is time to courageously and humbly acknowledge that our COP system does not work and to boldly reimagine a new system for stemming global warming. In this endeavor we would do well to heed the following words of Robert Schuman uttered in 1950: “World peace cannot be safeguarded without creative efforts commensurate with the dangers that threaten it”.
White House Tree-Lighting Vigil Centers Christ in the Rubble
LAURIE GOGNE – While the Biden administration proclaims “a season of Light and Peace” as the theme of its Christmas celebrations this year and thousands gathered in Washington on December 5th to view the lighting of the White House tree, a group of around 50 activists held another kind of commemoration of Jesus’s birth.
The Collapse of Syria’s Dictatorship Poses Many Questions
MEL GURTOV – Rebel groups that seize power invariably get caught between conflicting aims on the use of their new authority: revenge or governing? HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) could wind up being another jihadist regime, bent on eliminating enemies and building an authoritarian state; or it could focus on human security and friendly relations with all its neighbors. We’ll probably find out soon enough which path HTS is going to take.
This Year’s Nobel Peace Prize Focuses on Nuclear Weapons Abolition
PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – In Japan, the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are known as Hibakusha. The Hibakusha have worked heroically and successfully to prevent any additional wartime nuclear attacks. Today in Oslo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.” Nihon Hidankyo translates as “The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations.”
University of Toronto students score a win for the climate – and campus protests more broadly
NICK ENGELFRIED – As student dissent faces widespread crackdowns, a victory over fossil fuel influence at the University of Toronto offers hope and inspiration.
Salmon Return After Dam Removal
HALLIE GOLDEN – Salmon return to lay eggs in historic habitat after largest dam removal project in US history
World’s Richest Man Pays to Screw America DOGE-style
TOM H. HASTINGS – Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are partnering to create a new US government agency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk underwrote the Trump campaign with $200 million in donations (AP estimate) and his own brand of buying votes.
In times of crisis we need more people power – mass trainings are the key
PAUL ENGLER – For movements trying to harness the energy that emerges during political upheavals, mass training provides a crucial means to develop leadership and bring in new participants.
Donald Trump’s Tariff Fantasies
MEL GURTOV – Donald Trump thinks the world of tariffs. But Vice President Kamala Harris referred to her opponent’s tariff policy as a “Trump Tax.” She’s right: Several independent studies have found that the new tariffs, if implemented, would raise costs for the average middle-class family anywhere between $1,350 and $3,900 a year. And J.D Vance claimed that when Trump was president and raised tariffs on Chinese goods, “prices went down for American citizens. They went up for the Chinese but they went down for our people.” Totally wrong. In fact, the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing opposed Trump’s tariffs precisely because US importers would have to pass along higher prices to consumers, making their goods less competitive. But Trump wasn’t listening.
We can stop the MAGA nightmare from becoming a permanent reality
LISA GILBERT and ROBERT WEISSMAN – If we fight — with everything, every damn thing, we’ve got — we *will* prevent at least some damage, and there is every reason to think we can stop the MAGA nightmare from becoming a permanent reality.
Community Support Helps Keep the Orca Book Cooperative Stay Afloat
DAMON ORION – When COVID-19 hit, U.S. bookshops were an endangered species. Olympia, Washington’s largest independent bookstore survived by embracing the co-op model.
Evaluating the Role of Right-Wing Christianity in the Election and Its Aftermath
BOB TOPPER – The problems we face are real. Solutions will come from realists who make rational decisions based on science and facts. Fantasies and superstitious fears will only perpetuate them. Anyone who doubts that should consider the tragic outcomes of religious fanaticism throughout history from the Inquisition to Heaven’s Gate, and then compare the well-being of people living in liberal democracies to those living in the theocratic and autocratic nations, especially those in the Middle East.
Eight Reasons Why Marco Rubio Would Be a Disastrous Secretary of State
MEDEA BENJAMIN and NICOLAS J. S. DAVIES – Of all Trump’s choices for his foreign policy team, Marco Rubio is the least controversial to the neoconservative foreign policy establishment in Washington, and the most certain to provide continuity with all that is wrong with U.S. foreign policy, from Cuba to the Middle East to China.
Some Amount of World Government Desperately Needed
LAWRENCE S. WITTNER – The time has come to transform the United Nations into a federation of nations that can effectively uphold international law―a government for the world. With such a government, we would have a much better chance of restraining outlaw nations and averting the nuclear catastrophe that looms before us.
The BRICS Summit Should Mark The End Of Neocon Delusions
JEFFREY D, SACHS – The majority of the world does not want or accept U.S. hegemony.
How the Dutch Climate Movement Won an Environmental Breakthrough
PAUL ENGLER – An innovative Extinction Rebellion campaign to end fossil fuel subsidies offers key lessons for the global movement.
A New Wave of Movements against Trumpism is coming
MARK ENGLER and PAUL ENGLER – Our past experience tells us that coming months and years will offer moments that trigger public revulsion. Social movements provide a unique mechanism for responding, creating common identity and purpose between strangers and allowing genuine, collective participation in building a better democracy. If we are to make it together through Trump’s second presidency and emerge in its aftermath to create the world we need, this may be our greatest hope. Indeed, it may be our only one.
We Have a Sacred Duty – All of Us
RIVERA SUN – On Election Night, I did my civic duty and held it sacred. Now, I’m asking you to do your civic duty and hold it sacred. Stand up for your fellow citizens and human beings. Reject the politics of hate and policies of discrimination. Join us in reclaiming that profound and sacred aspiration of being a country of respect and decency. It’s not just the fate of our nation at stake. Your reputation is also on the line.
A Call to Post-Election Action
PETER BERGEL – What works in Oregon may not work in Ohio, but we desperately need to come together around a vision that allows us to survive. Without that vision, as the Tao says, the people perish.
Montana’s First Worker Cooperative Is In It for the Long Haul
DAMON ORION – The custom steel fabrication and design company Crucible built a “gravel road” for other Montana worker co-ops to follow.
Five Ways to Approach the Election with a Movement Mindset
RAE ABILEAH and ANDREW BOYD – Distilling hard-earned lessons from election dilemmas faced by earlier social movements, here are five key insights to consider.
This activist group chat has been blocking a weapons shipment to Israel for weeks
MADISON BANNON – A South African WhatsApp group working with Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, has sparked a movement to block a ship carrying military explosives bound for Israel.
An Open Letter to Vice President Kamala Harris on US Middle East Policy
MEL GURTOV – The Palestinian people have the right to a peaceful future, and you, candidate for President of the United States, might well say, “it is my intention, as President, to do everything possible to give them that. They, the Israeli people, and all others in the Middle East cannot benefit from endless war.”
Amazing True Story About Mutual Understanding on the Abortion Issue
JOSH SABEY – When political rivals meet behind closed doors, positive changes can occur in everyone involved,
What’s Certain About Results of the Presidential Election
NORMAN SOLOMON – While the name of the next president is unknown, some outcomes of the election can be foreseen.
War’s Victims Speak the Deepest Truth
ROBERT C. KOEHLER – “The past carries unforgettable trauma and pain across the land and among generations of refugees; yet we choose to transform victimhood into agency. We want to be the authors of our future.” Let these words resonate. In a sense, they’re all we have — if we oppose war and envision a future that transcends it. I’ve quoted these words of Ali Abu Awwad before. They’re part of the Palestinian Nonviolence Charter, but they reach beyond Palestine: deep into the soul, and the hope, of all humanity.
Israel Intensifies Its Disregard of World Opinion; Targets the UN
MEDEA BENJAMIN and NICOLAS J. S. DAVIES – Each new week brings new calamities for people in the countries neighboring Israel, as its leaders try to bomb their way to the promised land of an ever-expanding Greater Israel. A US arms embargo against Israel and an end to U.S. obstruction in the UN Security Council could tip the political balance of power in favor of the world’s collective efforts to resolve the crisis.
Vote Climate U.S. PAC Announces Release of 2024 National Climate Change Voter’s Guide
KARYN STRICKLER – Because American voters want to prioritize climate-action in the voting booth, Vote Climate U.S. PAC is releasing our 2024 Presidential, Congressional and Gubernatorial, Voter’s Guide, making us the only website in the country to provide a climate change Voter’s Guide for candidates for POTUS, Governors, U.S. House, U.S. Senate and Statehouses (partial) all in one convenient, user friendly site.
Men Voting to Support Reproductive Rights Could Help Send Kamala Harris to the White House
ROB OKUN – The clock is ticking. “Do something!” Michelle Obama exhorted us. Talk to the men and young men in your life. Encourage them to speak out—and to vote. The lives of their daughters, partners, wives, aunts and sisters, depend on it.
Kris Kristofferson: His Anti-War Legacy Amidst His Musical Career
CHRIS HOUSTON – American country musician Kris Kristofferson was a military veteran and anti-war activist. He continued his advocacy against the Gulf Wars and benefit concerts for Palestinian children despite the negative impacts that both had on his career. Kristofferson died on September 28 at his home in Hawaii, aged 88. Stephen Miller’s 2009 biography quotes Kristofferson, “I found a considerable lack of work after doing concerts for the Palestinian children and for a couple of gigs with Vanessa Redgrave and if that’s the way it has to be, that’s the way it has to be. If you support human rights, you gotta support them everywhere.”
In the Heart of Wall Street, Rights of Nature Activists Put the Fossil Fuel Era on Trial
KATIE SURMA – What would the world look like if legal systems rendered decisions based on what was best for the integrity of ecosystems? A people’s tribunal on the “rights of nature” is providing a model.
Georgia’s Repressive Tactics Unravel In ‘Stop Cop City’ Case
FIGHT BACK! NEWS – Georgia’s aggressive prosecution of activists in the Stop Cop City case is part of a larger trend across the U.S., where the state increasingly treats protest movements as threats to national security rather than expressions of democratic dissent.
Court Rules U.S. Nuclear Weapons Production Plan Violates Federal Law
MEDIA CONTACTS FOR NEWS RELEASE – On September 30, United States District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis ruled that the United States Department of Energy (“DOE”) and its semi-autonomous nuclear weapons agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration (“NNSA”), violated the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) by failing to properly consider alternatives before proceeding with their plan to produce plutonium pits, a critical component of nuclear weapons, at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (“LANL”) in New Mexico and, for the first time ever, at the Savannah River Site (“SRS”) in South Carolina. The Court found that the plan’s purpose had fundamentally changed from NNSA’s earlier analyses which had not considered simultaneous pit production at two sites. These changes necessitated a reevaluation of alternatives, including site alternatives, which Defendants failed to undertake prior to moving forward while spending tens of billions of taxpayers’ dollars.