When a corporation does something that we might consider courageous – taking an action that might hurt their bottom line or invite harsh criticism from previous supporters – we should hold them up, recognize their actions and thank them. At the moment, this applies to Dick’s Sporting Goods, which has recently taken the following steps […]
European economy
Helping Small Businesses Succeed: Initiatives from the Left
November 26, 2016, has been designated “Small Business Saturday.” This is a good time, then, to contemplate an area where both conservatives and liberals/progressives can probably agree: small business is extremely important to the US economy. How to support small business, however, is often a sticking point. While conservatives might argue that the “government needs […]
Workfare versus Welfare: The European Approach to Social Support Services – and Life
Let’s face it: our “war on poverty” and “war on drugs” haven’t worked very well. As Senator Bernie Sanders has pointed out time and again during the current presidential campaign, most new wealth in our country goes to the top one percent of Americans, there is vast income inequality (and has been for awhile), and […]
The American Workplace 5: Wages, Savings and Debt
How is your dollar doing? A look at some statistics about wages, savings and debt in the US is instructive. If you are not doing terribly well financially, you are not alone – and there are ways out of our collective problems, if we are willing to look seriously at ideas from other nations and […]
“Socialisms” and Harnessing Capitalism for the Common Good
While I am not an economist or political scientist, I am a US citizen and believe that it our responsibility as US citizens to know about different socio-economic systems and to be engaged in discussions about civic, economic and social issues. Whether we know it or not, these systems deeply affect our everyday lives. Especially […]
At-will employment and root causes of poverty
In November 2013, I lost my administrative job at the Smith College School for Social Work with no notice and no warning: they simply eliminated my position and sent me packing. Their ability to do this is a direct result of the all-American employment practice of at-will, which is not found in any other Western […]
Initial Thoughts on the Common Good
In this blog, I will be referring frequently to the common good. While there are political, economic and philosophical ways of discussing this concept, I would like to keep it simple and straightforward. I will also be placing it in a theological context, since that is my training – and also since much of our […]