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The article discusses the similarities between the current political climate in the United States and the decline of the Roman Empire. It highlights the use of distractions, violence, and regressive policies by the MAGA movement and other extremists, who promote culture wars and extremist policies under the banner of Christian nationalism. The article also introduces Project 2025, a plan to maximize presidential power and implement regressive policies such as military expansion, social welfare cuts, and restrictions on reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ rights. The article emphasizes the negative impact of these policies on marginalized communities and calls for a focus on jobs, homes, and peace instead. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the case of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which focuses on whether unhoused individuals can be punished for simply living outdoors without shelter. The city of Grants Pass, Oregon, outlawed resting or sleeping on public property, even with a blanket, effectively forcing unhoused residents to leave the city or face punishment. The Supreme Court is considering whether this law violates the Eighth Amendment's restrictions against cruel and unusual punishment. The article also highlights the broader housing crisis in the United States, with millions of people facing housing insecurity and the lack of affordable housing options. The authors argue for a compassionate response to the crisis, prioritizing housing over punishment. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the "great unwinding" of Medicaid expansion programs in the United States, which has resulted in millions of Americans losing healthcare coverage. Since March 2023, 16 million Americans, including four million children, have lost healthcare insurance as states redefine eligibility for Medicaid. The article highlights the impact of these cuts on states like Georgia and Texas, where hundreds of thousands of people have lost Medicaid coverage. It also discusses the closure of hospitals, the growing medical debt crisis, and the potential cuts to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The author argues for a complete overhaul of the healthcare system and the recognition of healthcare as a basic human right. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on grassroots organizing and solidarity efforts in Kensington, Philadelphia. Topics include the neighborhood's response to deindustrialization, the emergence of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) through collective survival tactics and the influence of the Black Panthers' survival programs on their approach.

A FULL UNDERSTANDING of what Jesus meant by 'the poor you will always have with you' (Matt. 26:11) requires familiarity with Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is the Old Testament book most cited [...]

In the face of rising voter-suppression efforts across the country we are witnessing a growing movement that builds on the proud history of the 1960s civil rights era. To be [...]

In late August, hundreds were arrested outside the Senate Hart building near Capitol Hill while participating in nonviolent direct action to demand voting rights, put an end to the filibuster, [...]

At the podium was David, a leader with New Jerusalem Laura, a residential drug recovery program in North Philadelphia that was free and accessible to people, no matter their insurance and income status. MAY 5, 2023 "In order to fully recover, we must first recover the society that has made us sick." The Pandemic as a Portal In the early weeks of those Covid-19 lockdowns, Indian writer Arundhati Roy reflected on the societal change often wrought by pandemics in history. [Extracted from the article]

But as Archbishop Tutu's deeds and words have shown, to change our world and bring this nation to higher ground means being brave enough to wrestle with both the politics and the soul of the nation - which, in reality, are one and the same. - Archbishop Desmond Tutu The world lost a great moral leader this Christmas when Archbishop Desmond Tutu passed away at the age of 90. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the topic of White Christian Nationalism in the United States. It highlights the influence of Christian Nationalism on American politics and policy, including issues such as abortion rights, voter suppression laws, and the Russian Orthodox Church's influence in Ukraine. However, the article also acknowledges the existence of progressive movements within Christianity that challenge systemic racism and advocate for the rights of marginalized groups. It emphasizes the historical roots of a liberative form of Christianity that promotes justice and equality. The article concludes by urging readers to confront Christian Nationalism and work towards a more compassionate and inclusive society. [Extracted from the article]

Indeed, that filibuster potentially stands directly in the way of billions of dollars in infrastructure and job-development funding that would buoy the Mountaineer State, as well as many other states across the country. To tie it all together, the state politicians of that moment had used thinly veiled racist claims of voter fraud (sound familiar?) to pass the worst voter-suppression laws in a generation. JUNE 24, 2021 West Virginia, a state first established in defiance of slavery, has recently become ground zero in the fight for voting rights. [Extracted from the article]

For the first time in American history, job and income losses in an economic crisis have been worse for women than for men. MAY 14, 2021 One hundred and fifty years ago, in the bloody wake of the Civil War, the abolitionist Julia Ward Howe issued a "Mother's Day Proclamation." Claire McClinton, a long-time Flint community organizer and leader, summed up the crisis this way: "They could not have taken our water away without taking our democracy first." But the true depth of this crisis can't be measured by job numbers and frontline risks alone. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses Abundance: The Gospel is Indeed Good News for the Poor- Even in a Crisis of Poverty, which includes that demands for human rights and human dignity are both politically inconceivable and impossibly expensive. They quote the Bible, arguing that since Jesus said, "the poor will be with you always," it can't be God's will for everyone to share in the abundance of our world.

While the language of human rights is still with us today, the old battle lines remain stubbornly drawn as economic rights are cast as impractical and unenforceable and civil rights reduced to statements of unity, while voting rights, immigrant rights, and indigenous rights are mercilessly abridged. FEBRUARY 17, 2021 In June 1990, future South African President Nelson Mandela addressed a joint session of Congress only months after being released from 27 years in a South African apartheid prison. [Extracted from the article]

'We know our nation has a heart problem when our elected leaders would rather fight a war on the poor than a war on poverty.' --The Rev. Dr. William Barber [...]

The article discusses the issue of extreme economic inequality in the United States, focusing on the city of New York. It highlights the stark contrast between the luxurious residential complexes known as "Billionaires' Row" and the high levels of poverty and inequality in the surrounding areas. The article argues that poverty is a policy choice and calls for decisive government action to address the issue. It also emphasizes the need for a more comprehensive and accurate measurement of poverty that takes into account all essential expenses. [Extracted from the article]

The best way of tackling global inequality is to tax the rich. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the days leading up to his birth, a militarized police force had pushed migrant people back to their lands of origin so that the authorities could demand taxes and tributes. At the same time, a revived pro-democracy movement has also begun to emerge, committed to fighting for free and fair elections, the rule of law, and the peaceful transfer of power. Results from ballot measures in the midterm elections reflect a similar reality, whether it was people in various states voting to protect the right to abortion, passing higher minimum wage laws, or expanding Medicaid. [Extracted from the article]

In the American ethos, sacrifice is often hailed as the chief ingredient for overcoming hardship and seizing opportunity. Of course, given our ever hotter planet and the role this country has played in it as the historically greatest greenhouse gas emitter of all time, anything less than legislation that will lead to net-zero carbon emissions is a far cry from what's necessary, as this country burns, floods, and overheats in a striking fashion. To start with, the passage of the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) promises real, historic advances when it comes to climate change, health care, and fair tax policy. [Extracted from the article]

In states that limit or ban abortion, poor women and others will now face an immediate threat of heightened health complications, as well as the long-term damage associated with abortion restrictions. When I was the age that my daughter is now, my favorite sweatshirt had the words "Choice, Choice, Choice, Choice" in rainbow letters across its front. In fact, the Victorian-era campaign to make abortion illegal was driven as much by physicians and the American Medical Association, then intent on exerting its professional power over midwives (mainly women who regularly and safely carried out abortions), as by the Catholic Church. [Extracted from the article]

A Poor People's Pandemic A new report about the disproportionate effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on poor communities has just been issued by the Poor People's Campaign (which I co-chair with Reverend William Barber) and the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. It reveals that Covid-19 has, in fact, been a poor people's pandemic, one that exposes the depth of the racism, poverty, and ecological devastation that preceded it in poverty-stricken communities. Yes, the organizing of the poor and dispossessed should be considered at least one antidote to the pandemics, literal and figurative, plaguing our society as we grieve for almost one million Americans dead of Covid-19 and more than six million people globally. [Extracted from the article]

Poverty Amid Plenty According to the Supplemental Poverty Measure of the U.S. Census, there are 140 million people of different races, genders, and ages from all over this county who are poor or low-income. The Culture of Poverty American anthropologist Oscar Lewis first suggested there was a culture of poverty in the mid-1960s, an idea quickly championed by the political right. As if killing the Child Tax Credit, blocking voting rights, gutting key climate legislation, and refusing living wages wasn't enough, West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin is now promoting legislation that further punishes the poor and marginalized. [Extracted from the article]

The article presents the discussion on country being on the path to a new war on poverty. Topics include paid sick leave, reducing prescription drug prices, expanding child tax credits, expanding earned income tax credits for those without children; and Republican vote for the bill being the largest assault on voting rights since the post-Civil War Reconstruction.

The article focuses on crisis of democracy with the most significant attack on voting rights since Reconstruction; a climate crisis with lives and livelihoods upended in the Gulf Coast and the Northeast by extreme weather events. It mentions economic crisis in which millions are being cut off from Pandemic Unemployment Insurance, even as August job gains proved underwhelming. It also mentions Supreme Court let a law go into effect that makes abortions nearly impossible in Texas.