Category: Domestic

A Culture of Ignorance: How Humans Are Bringing About Their Own Demise

Sophia Singh

We hear the word “climate change” thrown around a lot today, but when asked to define it, few can speak beyond “global warming, right?” In reality, climate change is far more complex. The phrase refers to the alteration of aggregated patterns of weather, meaning averages, extremes, timing, and spatial distributions of what we consider the different aspects of weather. The reason global warming is most people’s immediate go-to on the subject is that global average temperature is one way to check the state of the holistic climate. Climate change accelerated…

The Legacy of Robert Moses

Allyson Ryan

Robert Moses’ legacy has survived long past his death. It is seen in every corner of New York City, from his highways, to his private and public housing projects, to his contributions to major New York landmarks. Moses is accountable for the extravagant building projects of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the United Nations headquarters building, Shea Stadium, campus buildings for the Pratt Institute and Fordham University, and the since demolished New York Coliseum. Along with these projects, Moses ensured the construction of parks and playgrounds around the city…

“Pro Not-Dying”

J Elizabeth Mascoli

February 14th, 2018:  Nikolas Cruz kills seventeen people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. May 18th, 2018:  Dimitrios Pagourtzis kills ten and wounds ten in his own high school in Santa Fe, Texas. October 25th, 2018: Gregory Bush kills two black men in a supermarket after being denied access to a predominantly black church in Jeffersontown, Kentucky. October 27th, 2018:  Robert Gregory Bowers kills eleven people in the Tree of Life Synagogue on the Jewish Sabbath in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. November 2nd, 2018: Scott Beierle kills two women and wounds…

Right-Wing Extremism is the Most Dangerous Threat to American Democracy

Anastasia Lacina

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.” – Pastor Martin Niemoller, Holocaust survivor (1955) On October 27th, 11 people were murdered and six were injured in the…

Pink, White, and Blue: The Most Recent Transgender Fight

J Elizabeth Mascoli

The LGBT community has made great strides in the past few years with the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, as well as the growing visibility and awareness of LGBT issues.  However, the community does still face discrimination and ignorance, and the latest example of this is the reckless fervor with which the Trump administration is attempting to roll back rights.  The Department of Health and Human Services is currently trying to establish an “explicit and uniform” definition of gender.  According to a memo obtained by the New York Times that…

The Complications of Simple Majorities

Ryan Slattery

“I don’t believe that I can support a cloture resolution providing for cloture by a simple majority vote. The difficulty with any cloture is that it changes the entire character of the debate, and that it is liable to great abuse on the part of a bare majority.” – Robert A. Taft Let’s have a recap of the past two years in the U.S. Senate. Republicans took control of the Senate back in the 2016 election, holding 52 seats. With the help of the Senate Finance Committee, a new tax…

Are We Facing a Democratic Party in the Process of Radicalization?

Austin Sacker

Evident within the past decade or so, perhaps coinciding with the advent of social media platforms and greater media attention to our national political divide, the more radical elements of the right and left have gained major time in the American political spotlight. I am referring especially to the groups known as the “alt-right,” “Antifa,” the “alt-left,” and the like. While these groups are ostensibly ideologically opposed, they nonetheless share common methodological values: a diminished regard for civil discourse, a preference for informal political avenues of action, and on some…

A Conversation about Politics with Tim Penny

Jacob Linker

Fordham Libertarians President Jacob Linker had the opportunity to have an over the phone conversation with former Minnesota Congressman Tim Penny. It may not seem particularly far-fetched for a former Democratic congressman to become a libertarian Cato Institute Fellow after leaving elected office. The ideological overlap between Democrats and libertarians extends to issues such as civil liberties, immigration, and drug policy. But fiscal policy? Such a Democrat would have to be fairly unique. Former Minnesota Congressman Tim Penny is that unique figure. His record is by far one of the…