Imperialism
Israel
Palestine
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[1] fair use.
Peter Beaumont, “Angry relatives of Hamas captives and ex-hostages confront Netanyahu,” Guardian, December 5, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/05/angry-relatives-of-hamas-captives-and-ex-hostages-confront-netanyahu
Loveday Morris, “Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas. Yet the group remains largely intact,” Washington Post, December 5, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/05/israel-military-offensive-hamas-destruction-gaza/
Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel’s Netanyahu is fighting two wars, and may not win either,” Washington Post, December 5, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/05/netanyahu-wars-win-lose-political-endgame-career/
Steve Hendrix, Miriam Berger, and Hazem Balousha, “Israel touts civilian warning system, but for Gazans, nowhere is safe,” Washington Post, December 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/06/israel-gaza-civilians-protection/
John B. Judis, “Yes, Israel Is a Colonialist State. But Does That Matter Today?” New Republic, December 6, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/article/177306/israel-colonialist-state-history-today
Guardian, “US highlights ‘gap’ in Israel’s commitment to protect civilians in Gaza,” December 7, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/08/us-israel-hamas-war-gaza-civilian-protection-anthony-blinken
Nataliya Vasilyeva, “IDF strip Palestinian men and parade them through square once used by Hamas,” Telegraph, December 7, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/12/07/palestinian-men-stripped-to-underwear-gaza-idf/
Russia
Ukraine
Fig. 1. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[2] fair use.
Washington Post, “ In Ukraine, a war of incremental gains as counteroffensive stalls,” December 4, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/04/ukraine-counteroffensive-stalled-russia-war-defenses/
Washington Post, “Miscalculations, divisions marked offensive planning by U.S., Ukraine,” December 4, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/04/ukraine-counteroffensive-us-planning-russia-war/
Neoliberalism
Academic repression
Student loans
Fig. 1. Unattributed and undated image via James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal,[3] fair use.
Adam S. Minsky, “Biden Approves $5 Billion In Student Loan Forgiveness For 80,000 As Key Deadline Nears,” Forbes, December 6, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2023/12/06/5-billion-in-student-loan-forgiveness-just-got-approved-for-80000-as-key-deadline-nears/
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Infrastructure
Fig. 1. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
It took’em long enough.
Hallie Lauer, “Pittsburgh infrastructure commission holds its first meeting since the group was created nearly two years ago,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 6, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2023/12/05/pittsburgh-infrastructure-committee-bridge-repairs-inspections/stories/202312050108
Illiberalism
Gilead
White Christian nationalism
Fig. 1. If one weighs by geography rather than population, Pennsylvania is very much a white Christian nationalist kind of place. Photograph by author, January 5, 2023.
It’s not just that Donald Trump’s supporters are “America too.”[4] It’s that they are human.[5] It’s not a very pretty picture of the U.S. or of homo sapiens. And as I explain in my forthcoming book, we are all going to have to figure out how to coexist with people we find absolutely reprehensible.
Mark Leibovich, “Trump Voters Are America Too,” Atlantic, December 8, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/01/trump-2024-win-american-identity/676143/
- [1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [2]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
- [3]Richard K. Vedder, “Eliminate or Radically Restructure Federal Student Loans,” James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, September 16, 2020, https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2020/09/eliminate-or-radically-restructure-federal-student-loans/↩
- [4]Mark Leibovich, “Trump Voters Are America Too,” Atlantic, December 8, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/01/trump-2024-win-american-identity/676143/↩
- [5]Adam Serwer, “The Cruelty Is the Point,” Atlantic, October 3, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelty-is-the-point/572104/↩