Posts published in “Issue: April 2021”

A warrior Republican President, Dwight Eisenhower spoke clearly about the link between our military spending (see the back page pie chart for details) and the reasons we choose to impoverish so many working people: “To amass military power without regard to our economic capacity would be to defend ourselves against…

WIP has received a grant to print book reviews in 2021. How will it work?  Each month we’ll publish a list of books (see right column). If you’d like to be considered to review one of them, email us and put BOOK REVIEW in the subject line. We will buy…

Work that’s its own reward For years it was home to an abandoned building. In 1997 the City paid to demolish the building, leaving the lot vacant. It was the last unoccupied parcel located at the intersection of two busy arterials on the Westside—Harrison and Division. Early one May Day…

The Commons is a documentary film about communities re-asserting sustainable futures using consensus, equity, and shared resources—ancient Commons principles. The film offers many examples of how it is possible to take the inspired path toward a communal future so many are drawn towards.

REFLECTION: The federal minimum wage in the United States, signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1938, has been a topic of debate ever since. Its purpose was to protect workers from being paid a wage lower than what is necessary for survival....

Members of the public had an opportunity to talk to the City Council about the viability and desirability of facilitating the introduction of an “urban village”—a 470-unit apartment/townhouse-retail-commercial complex — between West Bay Drive and the edge of Budd Inlet at the site of a former plywood plant.

Reading Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste provides a foundational perspective to address the questions about Trumpism. As indicated by the subtitle, The Origins of Our Discontents, her work is an etiology, a search for origins and causes. We live in a time of deep social discontent. To understand the origins of our discontents, Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste should be required reading.

How novel to be together, scattered safely across Jean’s yard on Oly’s Westside, potting up perennials once again. It’s our annual plant sale to raise money for scholarships for students in our sister town of Santo Tomás, Chontales Nicaragua. Every weekend from mid-March through April, masked volunteers will be chatting…

Working single moms in the pandemic: One thing has become clear over the past year, the pandemic didn’t affect everyone equally.

This dam idea isn’t new Although I’ve lived and worked in the Chehalis Basin for fifteen years, I did not experience the 2007 and 2009 floods first hand. But I vividly remember the footage of catastrophic property damage: dead cattle and images of people and their families devastated by the floods.…

Washington state has two potential tracks toward a 21st century rail future, with starkly different outcomes. One provides higher speed, climate-friendly passenger service linking as many as 13 communities on the Cascadia corridor, with increased capacity for freight trains. It has been in development since 1991 and some elements have…

Like most private corporations, railroad companies are continuously trying to do the same work with fewer employees. In the case of freight trains, the goal has been to get down to a single crew member running an entire train. Automation can take care of the rest. The goal would have…