Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen

Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen

By Burt CohenSociety & CultureNewsPolitics
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Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen episodes

  • There Is Enough to Go Around. But Not the Way We’ve Been Doing It
    The earth itself is today paying the price for the 20th century fossil fuel bonanza. Now instead of continuing to have all humanity in service to that powerful sector, it’s time to pay the climate and colonization debt. When George W Bush declared “our way of life is not up for debate,” he was quite wrong. On this show, author Stan Cox discusses his article in Yes! Magazine: Enough for Everyone. Rationing such as we had in WWII successfully steered production to meeting real needs. We can no longer afford unlimited growth and unrestrained profits for the few.
    59 min
  • Must We Do the Cold War Again?
    It’s so easy for the national security state to just paint the same old picture for Americans: Russia and China are military threats. But in truth they are not. They are rising economically in large part because we have wasted trillions on wars and bases all over the world, which have only served to weaken America from the inside. On this show international journalist Dave Lindorff  explains that Red Scares are indeed ludicrous but play quite well for the Pentagon. Not only do most Americans want peace, the Chinese are not happy with their own fascistic government and the people of Russia also want peace and international cooperation. The last Cold War ended thirty years ago. We need to ask Biden: why do it again?
    1 hr
  • Decolonize Philanthropy: What Does That Mean?
    Philanthropies came into being to launder a plutocrat’s reputation. It’s become an industry today whose goal is preserving great wealth and maintaining dominance and control. According to our guest Edgar Villanueva, philanthropy has to be more than a wealth building opportunity, it needs to transform into medicine that actually heals. His new book is the second edition of Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance. Instead of hoarding power and wealth, foundations should reflect on and address the source of the money. And boards of foundations need to reflect the communities they serve. And it works; there is evidence of positive change. Give a listen.
    1 hr
  • Are We There? How Empires Fall
    The prospect of losing the power of empire brings out fear which can lead to police states. Or it can be seen as an opportunity for significant improvement. On this show, Matt Wehmeier, who spent recent years in the former East Germany, sheds light on why the Iron Curtain fell and what came after. The Wall was seen as stopping fascism. Not everyone was anti-socialist.  As Wehmeier explains, a well trained and armed police force can’t always stop the political dam from breaking. Our exit from the “graveyard of empires” (Afghanistan) presents an opportunity for a new beginning.
    1 hr
  • 20 Years after 9/11: Are We Any Smarter?
    Have we learned that the military is not necessarily the best tool for the job? On this show New Republic journalist Jordan Michael Smith talks about the self imposed failures, squandering America’s power.  Right after the attack, the world was with us but by going it alone, other countries also facing jihadists were left out. Acting as the world’s bully has alienated former allies and  proved remarkably counterproductive. Sure the non-state attackers trained in Afghanistan, but they also trained in Florida.  We never addressed the root causes. Smith says of the four approaches taken by presidents, Trump’s was Jacksonian: all non-whites are savages.  By Biden deciding not to kick the can down the road, he is standing up to the war-fixated foreign policy establishment. Perhaps we have finally learned from history.
    1 hr
  • Plagues and Extremism: The Perfect Storm
    The assault on science and reason:we’ve seen it before. In the plagues of the 1300s and in 1918, as well as Covid-19, fear and uncertainty combine to draw out extremism. On this show professor of history at Messiah University (an evangelical school) John Fea shares his insight into how the pandemic led to the extreme certainty as acted out on January 6th. Anger at not opening churches and requiring masks contributed to the insistence that Satan has control.
    1 hr
  • The Biggest, Most Inhuman Power in America: Amazon
    The dehumanized Amazon warehouse as pictured in the movie Nomadland is more benign than reality. There is an “existential bleakness” where every instant is being watched, humans serve robots, and one can be fired by algorithm. In his powerful new book: Fulfillment, Winning and Losing in One-Click America, ProPublica reporter Alec MacGillis paints a picture of a company which overshadows American government. Amazon demands subsidies and takes over cities where they locate facilities from Seattle to Washington. With knowledge about Amazon, CEO Bezos’ stranglehold on the country can be broken.
    58 min
  • A Benefit From Covid? 4 Day Work Week
    With the pandemic throwing everything up in the air, there are new opportunities for us to shape the way it all lands. Going back to the old “normal” is not the only option. On this show Joe Ryle a leader of the 4 Day movement in the UK, reveals what their research has shown. A four day, 32 hour work week is already yielding better mental health as it increases productivity. Businesses support it, as more leisure time helps the economy and boosts overall happiness. It reduces our carbon footprints, and it also helps strengthen families, with unpaid but essential work more able to be shared. It can happen on this side of the Atlantic too, if we make it so.
    1 hr
  • Now They Must Govern: Prospects for the Taliban
    Anything but monolithic, the newly victorious Taliban have internal divisions and are desperately seeking stability. Many confuse the Taliban with Al Qaeda and even ISIS, but the truth is ISIS was the Taliban’s enemy, and the country of Afghanistan is so vast it’s possible the Taliban did not even know international terrorists were using it as a base. On this show national security and foreign policy journalist Mutaza Hussain says the international response to the rise of the Taliban will shape Afghanistan’s fate. Now in power, they want stability and need to govern better than the American bureaucracy in Kabul. One thing the Afghans want is to reassert their unique identity. And regarding their new moderate tone, specifically on the rights of women, only international access can verify their claims. But isolating them can work no better than it did with Cuba.
    59 min

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