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?
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World-famous primatologist and author of The Bonobo and the Atheist, Frans de Waal, argues that human morality is not imposed from above but instead comes from within.
Human morality is older than religions. Religions have only been around for 2,000 – 3,000 years, but our ancient ancestors functioned within a moral system a hundred thousand years ago, or more. They had rules about how you should behave, what is fair and unfair, caring for others, and so on -- all of these tendencies...
Pepe Escobar -
Is this the Turkish Spring? No, at least not yet. Is Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan the new Mubarak? No, at least not yet.
History keeps warning us it takes just a spark to light a political bonfire. The recent spark in Istanbul was provided by a small group of very young environmentalists organizing a peaceful sit-in, Occupy-style, in Taksim Square to protest the planned destruction of one of the city center's few remaining public green spaces, Gezi park.
Gezi park's...
The military trial of Army whistleblower Bradley Manning at Fort Meade, Maryland, began Monday, 4 June 2013, with the defense and prosecution presenting starkly contrasting accounts. Manning is accused of giving a cache of 700,000 secret U.S. government documents and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks in the largest leak of state secrets in U.S. history. Democracy Now! interviews Michael Ratner, president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a lawyer to Julian Assange and...
Richard Pithouse -
Just before midnight on the 5th of September 1877 an American soldier ran his bayonet into Thasunke Witko's back in Fort Robinson, Nebraska. In June the previous year Thasunke Witko, known as Crazy Horse in English, had led his people to victory in the Battle of Little Bighorn against the US Seventh Cavalry under George Custer. The battle was won when Thasunke Witko charged directly into Custer’s lines, split his forces and brought the battle into the close combat better suited to the...
Jane Duncan -
The images of 22 year old Londoner Michael Abedowale, hands dripping with blood from his fatal attack on soldier Lee Rigby, created shock waves around the world, including in South Africa. His explanation for his actions, caught on camera, portrayed the attack as revenge for the excesses of British foreign policy in prosecuting the war against terror.
This incident, and the recent bombing of the Boston marathon, have given Britain and the United States (US) the justification to continue...
Roman Krznaric -
The idea of fulfilling work—a job that reflects our passions, talents and values—is a modern invention. Open Dr. Johnson's celebrated Dictionary, published in 1755, and the word “fulfilment” doesn't even appear. But today our expectations are higher, which helps explain why job satisfaction has declined to a record low of 47 percent in the U.S., and is even lower in Europe.
If you count yourself amongst those who are unhappy in their job, or at least have that...
