In a recent column, I argued that the right wing uses anti-immigrant rhetoric in part to divide people against a pro-corporate agenda that’s terribly unpopular with voters. This week in OtherWords, Jen Moore and Karen Spring show how the two issues are linked even more closely than that.
Pro-corporate trade policies, they explain, can have devastating effects on impoverished countries, displacing people and forcing them to emigrate to get by. They show how using a simple example familiar to many U.S. readers: toll booths. So when the right bashes those same migrants, they’re actually empowering some of the very actors that are driving displacement in the first place.
Pushing past rhetoric like that is essential to getting people behind the investments that would actually improve our lives — like a solid social safety net or reliable public transit.
For example, Annabelle Ortiz shares a compelling personal story about the discouraging lack of services to prevent homelessness in this country. And Tony Iovieno talks about how a heartbreaking loss in his family laid bare our leaders’ refusal to guarantee workers paid leave. Surely we can do better on both counts.
Also this week, Jessica Dauphin surveys the recent climate disasters across the South and says now is the time to invest in more public transit — both to reduce carbon emissions and to improve our quality of life, no matter where we live.
New This Week…
Highway Robbery: How Bad Trade Policies Make Life Unaffordable | Jen Moore and Karen Spring
A lawsuit over toll booths in Honduras shows how corporate trade policies make life unlivable in poor countries — and send people fleeing north.
There Just Aren’t Enough Services to Prevent Homelessness | Annabelle Ortiz
When I worked with people experiencing homelessness, I kept hearing about the obstacles to help. Then I experienced them myself.
All Families Suffer Tragedies. All Deserve Paid Leave. | Tony Iovieno
Most workers don’t get dedicated paid family leave. Take it from me: That’s terrible for families and needs to change.
Public Transit is Essential — We Need to Fund It Now | Jessica Dauphin
As our country comes to grips with the climate crisis, transit is how we fight back and improve our quality of life at the same time.
CARTOON: A Balanced Middle East Policy | Khalil Bendib
Sometimes bipartisanship is bad.
In Case You Missed It…
Meet the Newest Abortion Rights Supporters: Men in Red States | Martha Burk
When pregnancies go wrong, more men are seeing their partners suffer the horrors of delaying or forgoing care. And they’re speaking out.
Caring for a Child Shouldn’t Cause Financial Ruin | Iletha Jones
My family is still financially recovering from the birth of my daughter 14 years ago. Child care and paid leave should be election issues.
The Christian Right’s New Rallying Cry: Don’t Feed the Children! | Jim Hightower
Doesn’t sound very Christlike, does it?
Hold GOP Officials Accountable for Illegal Voter Intimidation | Sonali Kolhatkar
GOP officials continue to falsely accuse, harass, intimidate, and even prosecute voters of color. This is quintessential voter intimidation.
