One Hell of a Gap
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. An updated graph showing the income share of America’s top %0.01 from 1913 through 2007 reveals that income inequality…
Politics
1281 posts
Writing on politics at The Rumpus!
The Lures of a Younger Land
I live in a young country but it seems like we’ve aged like no other place in the world, despite our obscene superabundance. Nowhere is this more apparent than in…
Real Choice in Afghan Election
A look at the upcoming presidential election in Afghanistan by Tamim Ansary, author of Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes. I have this recurring nightmare in…
A Reaction Sauce
Yesterday we linked to Malcolm Gladwell‘s most recent New Yorker essay, “The Courthouse Ring,” in which Gladwell discusses Atticus Finch, Alabama Governer “Big Jim” Folsom, race, and “the limits of…
Afghanistan Rocks the Vote
We’re not ones to write about pop stars, but NPR is reporting that Afghan “musical hero” Farhad Darya is performing numerous free concerts “to encourage his countrymen to vote in…
Gladwell on Finch
“If Finch were a civil-rights hero, he would be brimming with rage at the unjust verdict. But he isn’t. He’s not Thurgood Marshall looking for racial salvation through the law.…
Why Writers Should Not Run for Office
In this article about the political fortunes of writer, country singer and gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, The Guardian reminds us that if history is any indication, writers should be wary…
A Field Guide To Military Urbanism
“I mean, when you’re forced to smuggle, by sheer necessity of survival, due to forces completely outside of your own control, when the power to decide your own destiny has…
One Widow’s Mural for Health Care
“These days you can usually find Regina Holliday in a parking lot between the BP station and the CVS near the Politics and Prose bookstore. She’s painting a 20-foot-high mural,…
An Agrarian Revolution In Detroit (And Oakland)
“Were I an aspiring farmer in search of fertile land to buy and plow, I would seriously consider moving to Detroit. There is open land, fertile soil, ample water, willing…
Over at the Splinter Generation
“It starts to put the world in perspective. You start meeting real people. You meet moms, and you meet children, and you meet dads, and uncles, and grandpas, and you…
The Afghan Women’s Writing Project
After visiting Afghanistan for the second time last year, the novelist Masha Hamilton started the Afghan Women’s Writing Project. The project connects Afghan women with American writers and teachers and gives…