A Progressive Viewpoint

  Curtailing immigration has been a linchpin of former President Donald Trump's platform. His simplistic solution has been to shut down the southern borders of the United States, using the slogan "Build the Wall" as a rallying cry for his supporters. For Trump and his surrogates, this rhetoric masks deeper racial motivations, as it disproportionately targets people of color. Immigrants, particularly those from Latin America, are often painted as the source of all societal ills. This tactic mirrors the vilification of Jews preceding Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Nazi Germany. Trump's followers, many of whom align with the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement, often overlook these historical parallels, blindly following a demagogue who offers scapegoats for complex problems.   To Trump, immigration represents an existential threat to the American way of life, and his solutions reflect this fear. By focusing on racial and nationalistic fears, the far-right ...

  The wars in Gaza and Ukraine are not just tragic; they are a moral outrage, and yet again, we see who benefits from this suffering. It’s the same story we’ve seen time and time again: the wealthy and powerful profit while ordinary people suffer. Defense contractors like Honeywell, Northrop Grumman, and others are profiting billions of dollars from these conflicts. And this is just unacceptable. According to a recent report in El País , the stock values of these major defense companies have skyrocketed due to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Let’s think about what that means for a second. These companies are making a killing—literally and figuratively—off of human suffering. When bombs drop and people are killed or displaced, their profits go up. That is the disgusting reality of our military-industrial complex. We have to ask ourselves: who is the government really serving? Is it serving the people, or is it serving the interests of a handful of massive corporations and their ...

  New Banksy graffiti is popping up in London, and a recent article in The Guardian discusses the impact of these works: The Guardian . Banksy is clearly making a statement, but is it simply to say, “Lighten up, the world is too serious?” I think the meaning of art varies for everyone and serves as a way to spark wider conversations. The spontaneity of his artwork and the randomness of the locations bring moments of delight to the ordinary daily life of London residents and visitors. However, it’s clear that Banksy carefully selects these locations, and his message, though not always obvious, is deliberate. Then, opportunistic capitalists either try to make money by removing the art, or it’s labeled as an eyesore and destroyed. Maybe Banksy expects this reaction and is subtly criticizing our corrupt capitalist system. Like other graffiti artists, Banksy is bringing art directly to the public. Many people don’t have access to art galleries or don’t want to visit them because ...