Category: United States

Defying the Spies: Free Thought as Resistance in the Age of Surveillance

Defying the Spies: Free Thought as Resistance in the Age of Surveillance

By Benjamin Dangl Published on May 3, 2016 Source: Toward Freedom Artwork by Banksy. Now that it is common knowledge that the US government has been spying on millions of people’s everyday communications and online activity in the US, Europe and beyond, how has that fact shaped the way people talk, think, communicate and even dream? Power…

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How Bernie Sanders and Occupy Wall Street Cracked Open America’s Political Imagination

How Bernie Sanders and Occupy Wall Street Cracked Open America’s Political Imagination

By Benjamin Dangl Published on April 28, 2016 Source: Toward Freedom A shift is happening outside the spotlight of the corporate media and our rigged political system. Socialism was the most looked-up word in the Webster dictionary last year. A recent poll conducted by Harvard says a majority of millennials do not support capitalism – and 48% believe healthcare is a…

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Photo Essay: Burlington, VT Greets Trump’s Hate With Boisterous Protests

Photo Essay: Burlington, VT Greets Trump’s Hate With Boisterous Protests

By Benjamin Dangl Published on January 8, 2016 Source: Toward Freedom Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gave a campaign speech at the Flynn Theater in downtown Burlington, VT this evening. The event was greeted outside by boisterous protests which denounced Trump’s hate-filled campaign. Benjamin Dangl is the editor of the Burlington-based progressive news and analysis…

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Who Rules the World? How a concentration of wealth and political power undermines democracy

Who Rules the World? How a concentration of wealth and political power undermines democracy

Published on November 19, 2014 Originally published at TeleSUR English With a $4 billion price tag, the recent US midterm election was the most expensive in the country’s history. For the first time in eight years, the Republicans gained complete control of Congress, as well as won victories in key Senate and gubernatorial races across…

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Overkill: How the Pentagon Militarized the US Police Force

Overkill: How the Pentagon Militarized the US Police Force

By Ben Dangl Source: Toward Freedom August 19, 2014 “Have no doubt, police in the United States are militarizing, and in many communities, particularly those of color, the message is being received loud and clear: ‘You are the enemy,’” writes Tom Nolan, who worked for 27 years in the Boston Police Department. “Many communities now look…

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Argentina to Wall Street: Latin American Social Movements and the Occupation of Everything

Argentina to Wall Street: Latin American Social Movements and the Occupation of Everything

By Ben Dangl Originally published on October 14, 2011 in TowardFreedom.com Massive buildings tower over Wall Street, making the sidewalks feel like valleys in an urban mountain range. The incense, drum beats and chants of Occupy Wall Street echo down New York City’s financial district from Liberty Plaza, where thousands of activists have converged to…

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From Collapse to Action: Grassroots Solutions to American Crises

From Collapse to Action: Grassroots Solutions to American Crises

By Ben Dangl Originally published on JULY 14, 2011 in TowardFreedom.com When the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression hit the US on September 15, 2008, filmmakers S?lvia Leindecker and Michael Fox began a journey across the country to see how the economy was impacting people’s lives. Their interviews, which span two years and…

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Justice Follows Direct Action: Former Boss of Occupied Factory Jailed

Justice Follows Direct Action: Former Boss of Occupied Factory Jailed

By Benjamin Dangl September 14, 2009 Richard Gillman, the former CEO of Chicago’s Republic Windows and Doors factory where over 200 workers organized a victorious sit-in last year, has been sent to jail on eight charges including felony, theft, fraud, and money laundering. After the judge announced the $10 million bail, the shocked and dazed Gillman,…

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