AlternativeRadio

We are at a dangerous moment in human history. Philosopher and thinker David Korten says, “We stand at a crossroads between two possible futures. In one future, we continue on the path of separation and likely bring the human chapter of creation’s journey to an untimely end. In the other future, we find our rightful place as responsible, loving members of the Earth community in an ecological civilization, helping to guide creation’s journey into a future of harmony and new possibilities.” The choice could not be more profound. It is, in a real sense, a test of what it truly means to be human.

The United States today has the dubious distinction of being the only major country not to guarantee health care for its population. Some 85 million Americans are uninsured, half a million go bankrupt every year because of medically related debt and we have one of the lowest life expectancy rates of any rich country. One out of four patients are unable to afford the medicine their doctors prescribe because we pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Bernie Sanders says Medicare for All would save $650 billion a year and provide quality health care for everyone. There’s plenty of money for the Pentagon but little for ordinary people. We need accessible and affordable health care. Now.

Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, is a historic Armenian area located in the Caucasus Mountains. In 2023, Azerbaijan invaded and ethnically cleansed the millennial-old Armenian population. The so-called civilized West looked the other way. Looking away has been harder to do in Gaza because of the enormity of the Israeli attack and the sheer scale of death and destruction. The Israeli goal in Gaza and the Azerbaijani goal in Artsakh is cultural and physical erasure. Both Artsakh and Gaza are reported as though they are just happening in a vacuum. By not providing context and background, journalists are guilty of media malpractice. The recording was taken from a National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)/ Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Lecture Series on Contemporary Armenian Issues webinar, co-hosted and co-moderated by Marc A. Mamigonian, Director of Academic Affairs at NAASR, and Henry Theriault, PhD, Associate Provost at Worcester State University.

The right-wing war on education is well-documented. The battleground extends from elementary and middle school all the way up to Harvard and Columbia. Books have been cut from curricula and pulled from school library shelves. Teachers have been fired. Schools that teach critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion are being threatened with defunding. The radical right wants to control what is being taught. They want to turn the educational system into an indoctrination machine. Their goal includes plans to abolish the Department of Education. Students who peacefully protest and exercise their First Amendment rights have been, in some cases, suspended, expelled, and even denied their diplomas. Some international students have had their visas cancelled and may face deportation. Jesse Hagopian says what’s at stake is the freedom to expose injustice and to tell the truth.

The U.S. is an imperial power. After World War II, it emerged as the global hegemon. The right turn accelerates under Reagan and continues today. Its salient features are a massive transfer of resources from the poor to the rich, an increase in state power and an aggressive interventionist foreign policy enabled by a huge military apparatus with bases all over the world. The empire’s activities are hidden under layers of deceit and subterfuge. A sophisticated propaganda system keeps the public basically unaware. No one has done more to expose actual U.S. domestic and foreign policy than Noam Chomsky. Recorded at the University of Colorado.