Living Democracy, Feeding Hope

The US has become a deeply polarized nation. One idea to overcome this is to pay people to disagree. Originally Published in Common Dreams, August 15, 2026. People talking around a picnic table in San Francisco. (Photo by Chiara Coetzee) America is a polarized nation. Recent polls find that nearly half of us consider members of the opposing party to be “downright evil.” Perhaps this helps explain why more and more of us are choosing to live in towns and cities that match our

Two major reports released this year tell a grim story: Global freedom continues to decline and the US has lost its longstanding classification a liberal democracy. But hope lies in the data. Originally Published in Common Dreams, May 17, 2026. Protesters hold signs as they participate in a “No Kings” protest in Manhattan on March 28, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) The US score on the University of Gothenburg’s V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index decli

In 2026, the federal government is telling us how men should be men, with devastating effects on our health and planet. Originally Published in Common Dreams , March 17, 2025. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) In January 2026, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr . announced the Food and Drug Administrati

If we want to make progress on either front, we need to understand just how deeply our climate and democracy crises are connected. Originally Published in Common Dreams , Jan 10, 2025. Climate activists hold signs outside U.S. billionaire Bill Ackman’s Manhattan residence during “Bye Bye Billionaires Block Party” protest on Earth Day in New York, U.S. on April 22, 2025. (Photo: Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images) Right now, Americans are rightly alarmed by profound assa

Perhaps the most important takeaway from Mr. Mamdani’s campaign is this: Hope grounded in possibility is the fuel for democracy. Originally Published in Common Dreams , Nov 8th, 2025. (Photo Credit Bingjiefu Hu/Creative Common) Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory on Tuesday is a bright light in this otherwise terrifying political time, and the messages propelling his political ascendance offer many lessons. One particularly is music to our ears—indeed, it’s a song we’ve long be

New data about global food consumption confirms what we know: our meat based diets are our downfall. Originally Published in Common Dreams , Oct 15th, 2025. Earlier this month, the Eat-Lancet commission released new data about global food consumption. Its findings are sobering but not at all surprising. The report highlights the extreme destruction driven by our meat-based diets, emphasizing not only the threats to our health but the many environmental harms. We learn that