The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Frances Coppola -
The Greek deal on Friday achieved two things.
Firstly, it confused everybody. Not much seemed to have changed since the angry meetings of the beginning of the week, and yet all the protagonists seemed to emerge happy.
Secondly, it allowed everyone to preserve their previous opinions. People who thought that Germany should win, thought it had; people who thought that Greece should win, thought it had. People who wanted Greece to stay in the Euro, thought it would; while people who wanted...
Greg Palast -
Europe is stunned, and bankers aghast, that the new party of the Left, Syriza, won Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Greece.
Syriza won on the promise that it will cure Greece of leprosy.
Oddly, Syriza also promises that it will remain in the leper colony. That is, Syriza wants to rid Greece of the cruelty of austerity imposed by the European Central Bank but insists on staying in the euro zone.
The problem is, austerity run wild is merely a symptom of an illness. The...
"Where is democracy today and where is it likely to go tomorrow?" asks Marwan Bishara of Al Jazeera. He argues that democracy, together with capitalism, has brought astonishing levels of prosperity. So why is it in trouble, not only in the West, but in all regions of the world? Is the concentration of wealth a threat to democracy? Are we seeing the return of a more radical right based on ethnic nationalism with xenophobia and racism thrown into the mix? Is there a renewed desire...
Al Jazeera's Witness features the docudrama of filmmaker Demetri Sofianopoulos who tells the story of the Greek crisis through the eyes of a dog called Bruno. Following the fate of many real-life dogs in Greece, Bruno was thrown out by his owners as a result of the economic crisis. In this distinctively filmed parable, Bruno’s hardships are exquisitely portrayed to reflect the many difficulties that the people of Greece now face.
Sofianopoulos drew the inspiration to use a dog as the...
Conn Hallinan -
Back in the 1960s, the U.S. peace movement came up with a catchy phrase: “What if the schools got all the money they needed and the Navy had to hold a bake sale to buy an aircraft carrier?” Well, the Italian Navy has a line of clothing, and is taking a cut from a soft drink called “Forza Blu” in order to make up for budget cuts. It plans to market energy snacks and mineral water.
Things are a little rocky in Europe these days.
Unemployment is over 25...
Sarah Anderson -
European ministers didn't even have to take a formal vote because it was obvious that there was sufficient support to move ahead.
EU finance ministers were scheduled to vote January 22 on whether to authorize 11 member states to proceed with the introduction of a financial transaction tax (FTT). As it turned out, the ministers didn’t even have to take a formal vote because it was obvious that there was sufficient support to move ahead.
The 11 countries are Belgium, Germany,...
