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?
Visit the archives.
Ron Jacobs -
When I got on the bus last April after Barack Obama's primary victory in North Carolina, the conversation was naturally enough about that victory. Despite its southern location, the town I live in -- Asheville, NC -- is known for its liberal politics and social tolerance. Consequently, the overriding tone was one of exuberance. Young black men and older veterans of the desegregation struggles of the 1960s smiled knowingly at each other. Indeed. one fellow said to...
The final debate between American presidential candidates is over. Analysts say Obama gained the confidence of independent voters. Here's a summary of candidate's responses to key issues such as the economy, tax cuts, healthcare, education, energy, foreign policy, Columbia and 'Sarah Palin'.
What can just one person do to change the world? "You get up off your butt and you take action. There is nothing magical about change. It is getting up off your ass and caring enough to take the first step to contribute to an issue you care about." says Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams. Williams is the co-founder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Her work contributed to the new International Treaty to Ban Cluster Munitions.
Ibrahim Steyn -
Protagonists of Jacob Zuma describe the ANC’s 52nd National Conference in Polokwane as an historic moment in the life of the organisation intended to hand back power to the masses over its body politic. Democracy inside the ANC had to be extricated from the strictures of the authoritarian bureaucratic style of politics personified by Thabo Mbeki.
However, as already observed by many analysts, the recent political parlance and practice of the high ups in the Zuma camp have cast...
Glenn Ashton -
The time has come to shift towards a more equitable society.
The present disruption in the marketplace will continue to rock the global financial system for years. This economic shake-out signals many things, perhaps even the end of capitalism as we know it. After all, free market capitalism is meant to stand on its own two feet, independent of state interference. It was never meant to have been rescued by taxpayers funds, as is now the case. The average citizen was never consulted about...
Shortly after the G7 meeting last Friday, US Secretary Paulson announced that the Bush administration would move to 'sort of' nationalise some banks. But Pepe Escobar argues that this won't be enough to calm the markets in the current financial crisis, particularly as everybody is ignoring the elephant in the room - the massive US trade deficit. Corporate US offshores everything. With a smaller US deficit, the world would not have been so polluted by so many toxic US finance instruments,...
