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Posts published in “Issue: November 2020

Thoughts on the Theme — November/December 2020 — How to politic… beyond the status quo

As mass protests have taken place all over the nation, the images of well-armed and flak-jacketed police facing off against protesters and violently subduing them while remaining encased in protective gear stands in stark contrast to our desperately under-equipped health care workers who have been vainly trying to save as many lives as possible during the coronavirus pandemic.

Estabilizar la economia con inversions

La pandemia de coronavirus ha dejado al estado de Washington no solo frente a una emergencia de salud pública, sino también a una crisis presupuestaria que dará forma a las políticas públicas en los próximos años. En el pasado ya hemos visto una secuela económica como esta en nuestro estado,…

On turning blue

Washington’s Democratic legislature and Republican Secretary of State have made it easy for any citizen to vote in Washington State. Easy to register, easy to get a ballot, easy to vote, easy to return your ballot. One result is that Washington is a predictably blue state: Washington voters have checked…

City leaders: Please get your act together

The letters below were sent to members of the Olympia City Council after they asked Governor Inslee to change state laws to provide severe penalties for people who form private armed militias—complaining that existing penalties were insufficient. The fact that Olympia’s city leadership hadn’t enforced even those penalties struck some citizens as a problem.

Building a politics that serves the many

It’s a tall order trying to build a more humane world and save ourselves from ecological collapse. In the Olympia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), we know that the solutions to our biggest problems must come in the form of working people organizing from the bottom-up, to protect and build power for ourselves.

How things played out at home…

While ballots were being counted in many states days after election day, here in Washington State, our legislature remains solidly in Democrat hands. However, as everyone knows, all Democrats are not equal. The question is, how well will we do in the upcoming legislative session? The answer, from a progressive…

The on-going assault on representative democracy

Our government prides itself—officially—on the idea that its authority is based on the consent of the governed. We rely on elections to manifest this consent: the more of those governed who vote, and the more the majority vote is reflected in the government, the more legitimate is the authority of the government.

Community Spotlight — November/December 2020

Scientists on the Go ♦ Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons ♦ West Central Neighborhood Park ♦ Vigils -- not vigilantes ♦ Olympia Tribune ♦ Olympia Mutual Aid Partners ♦ International Migrants Day ♦ Electronics recycling at Best Buy ♦ Orca Books ♦ The Shower Bus ♦ Olympia Free Clinic ♦ International Day of Solidarity