4th Day of Riots in Swedish Capital
Hundreds of youths have been rioting for the fourth day in a row in Stockholm, Sweden, protesting against police brutality and inequality. The riots appear to have been instigated by the police shooting of a 69-year-old man in the Stockholm suburb of Husby this month, in which Police said was an act of self-defense, but it has triggered accusations of police brutality. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt blamed the violence on “hooliganism” and appealed for calm. According to local media reports, a police station in another suburb was set on fire, but no one was injured in the incident. Two schools,…
The un-Real America
There’s a place in the middle of the desert where everything stops. All movement ceases. The rocks, beaten into submission by centuries of harsh desert winds, look on wearily as though part of a silent jury. The temperature climaxes around 110 degrees Fahrenheit, distorting the surrounding air and giving the whole scene an otherworldly feel. The place is a stretch of road in Arizona lying between Tucson and Phoenix. Cars inch along endlessly; the line trailing for miles. For most of the time, the reason for the slowdown remains a mystery. Only until the cars climb the last ridge do…
Extreme Inequality Becoming a Global Danger
According to the most recent Oxfam* report published on January 18, 2013, the world’s 100 richest people earned a $240 billion in 2012, an amount that is enough to end extreme poverty worldwide four times over. The report underlines the causes and effects of extreme inequality and explains how it can be economically inefficient, politically corrosive, socially divisive, environmentally destructive and unethical. The report states that rapidly growing extreme wealth and inequality are harmful to human progress because consolidation of so much wealth and capital in few hands depresses demand; meaning fewer people can afford more things. If the earnings…
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