John Buell
John Buell 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 Tuesday, September 12, 2017 Naomi Klein and the Quest for Environmental Justice More than a program for economic and ecological renewal Naomi Klein’s No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need is a thoughtful analysis of how we have arrived at this point in our politics. Both rigorous and readable it is hard to put down. It spares no one,... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, May 17, 2017 Is Trump’s Infrastructure Plan an Attack on Democracy? President Trump has pledged that his administration will soon propose a really big infrastructure program. Congress will likely debate its size and whether it will be financed through deficits or taxation. There are other issues at least as important. With our highways, sewers, bridges, and tunnels... Read more |
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Views Monday, May 01, 2017 Rural Consciousness and Democratic Politics The loss of the so-called flyover states was the key—and very surprising—factor in Hillary Clinton's loss of last year's presidential election. Some pundits attributed the outcome to racism among white rural voters and even blamed these voters for supposedly making choices harmful to their own... Read more |
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Views Thursday, December 22, 2016 Fake News and the New McCarthyism One of the most potent worries about the coming Trump presidency is concern about free speech. Trump’s willingness to tolerate or even encourage violence against nonviolent critics of his agenda and personnel choices is alarming. The Washington Post recently carried a chilling cautionary tale about... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, November 02, 2016 Trade, Democracy, and the Politics of Backlash One bit of good news came across my computer screen in the days leading up to the termination of this repellant campaign. It appeared that the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and Europe (CETA) was headed for defeat. That good news was soon reversed as treaty advocates made... Read more |
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Views Monday, February 22, 2016 The Supreme Court’s Ultimate Coup: It Makes the Most Consequential Decisions The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia should be an occasion to re-examine one of his favorite themes: the intent of the Founding Fathers. In one sense, Scalia did serve their principles in his Citizens United decision. Frequent invocations of the Constitution by the corporate media in... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, May 19, 2015 Trans-Pacific Trade Deal Is Latest Threat to Our Democracy Conservatives warn us that deficit spending will turn the U.S. into a fiscal basket case, like Greece. No longer truly independent, Greece is ruled by the IMF, the ECB, and the European Commission. What conservatives seldom point out is that membership in the Eurozone cost Greece control of its own... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, November 19, 2014 Why Myths of the "Free Market" Survive - And How To Resist Them Fewer than half of the US population owns a single share of stock and even fewer Americans are in a position to start their own businesses. Nonetheless, at least in rhetoric this nation remains the land of the self-made man—and occasional woman. Many believe they still have the opportunity to be... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, July 02, 2014 Towards Full Employment and the Democratic Prospect Despite all the talk about economic recovery, the US remains mired in slow growth and persistent unemployment. That we are far from full employment becomes clear if we recall recent history. During the final months of the Clinton Administration, unemployment dipped below 4% Those on the bottom of... Read more |
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Views Monday, March 17, 2014 Comcast Merger Threatens Our Democracy as Much as Our Pocketbooks Much business news is pretty opaque to many citizens. Terms like leveraged buyouts, puts, and calla seem to be the stuff of expert financiers or con artists. Nonetheless, the media have recently reported a story that hits home for many. Number one Cable and broadcast conglomerate Comcast proposes to purchase number two Time Warner. Read more |