John Buell
John Buell has a PhD in political science, taught for 10 years at College of the Atlantic, and was an Associate Editor of The Progressive for ten years. He lives in Southwest Harbor, Maine and writes on labor and environmental issues. His most recent book, published by Palgrave in August 2011, is "Politics, Religion, and Culture in an Anxious Age." He may be reached at jbuell@acadia.net
Articles by this author
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Views Monday, September 21, 2020 The Many Ugly Faces of Climate Science Denial In the midst of a global pandemic, forest fires now take unprecedented area of West Coast real estate, and several hurricanes have battered the East and Gulf Coasts. The continuing and intensifying episodes of climate crisis may provide the sort of shock Naomi Klein has identified as tools to... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, September 15, 2020 In Praise of Public Debt Even as California burns, the states of the Gulf of Mexico brace for another hurricane, a global pandemic rages, an influential segment of DC political opinion wants the populace to focus on the national debt. Employing arguments that go back at least as far as Andrew Mellon, Herbert Hoover’s... Read more |
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Views Monday, August 24, 2020 The Triumph of Monopoly Capitalism is Hurting American Workers’ Life Expectancy As summer comes to an end the economic news is strangely bipolar. Business Insider reported that From March to June 2020, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos saw his wealth rise by an estimated $48 billion. The journal might also have added that 40 million workers had filed for unemployment compensation and... Read more |
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Views Monday, August 03, 2020 Republican Senators Commit Political Suicide by Holding Up Stimulus in Election Year Be thankful for small favors. When the Covid-19 depression hit like a brick, almost no one advocated austerity as a cure. For the first time since Richard Nixon proclaimed that we are all Keynesians, budget deficits and a burgeoning national debt were accepted as crucial to mitigate the extent and... Read more |
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Views Monday, July 13, 2020 Unless We Take Urgent Action, Covid-19 Won't Be the Last Virus That Jumps From Animals to Humans President Trump's misinformation campaign regarding Covid–19 serves only to highlight his gross incompetence and callous disregard for human life. It also has the unfortunate consequence of obscuring some of the deeper causes of pandemics, perspectives that will require much more attention if... Read more |
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Views Monday, June 29, 2020 Amid Pandemic and BLM Protests, Why Minimum Wage Must be Defended and Expanded You can’t fault them for lack of effort. Having lost a series of political, legislative, and legal battles to defeat minimum wage increases in cities and states all across the nation, business lobbies are turning to an innovative strategy.. Covid-19 leaves businesses so burdened as to be unable to... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Is Mitch McConnell Blocking State Aid to Enrich Vulture Funds and Bolster Corporate Control of the Economy? Has the Senate Majority Leader lost his faith in the wisdom and predictability of markets? Crude partisanship may underlie his reluctance to enact further Covid Depression relief assistance, but the reason given was extraordinary. The Senator professed a desire to wait for the effects of the first... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, May 12, 2020 The Trump Depression Could Be Worse Than the Great Depression Friday May 8 unemployment statistics were as dire as many had expected. The US Department of Labor released an unemployment rate for April of 14.7%, the worst since the Great Depression and far surpassing the worst days of the Great Recession. In light of these numbers it is not surprising that... Read more |
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Views Thursday, April 16, 2020 Ventilators: Even Equal Access Leaves Vital Questions As the bodies in New York City, the world’s media and financial capital, accumulate it is understandable that physicians, nurses, and medical technicians would strive to do all in their power to close the wound. Nonetheless these very pressures can lead healers to take dangerous risks and—worse yet... Read more |
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Views Monday, March 30, 2020 Corporate Media Ignores How Privatization of US Hospitals Explains Lack of Beds, Ventilators The escalating total Covid 19 deaths in New York City and the frantic quest to obtain life saving medical gear has rightly captured media attention. New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s impassioned plea for more federal assistance and a need-based system for allocating aid among the states was covered... Read more |