by Hank Van den Berg
UNL Professor of Economics
I am writing this column on the airplane while returning from a conference at the University of Massachusetts organized by the “International Coalition of Associations for Pluralism in Economics” (ACAPE). This is an idealistic organization that brings together economists from a wide variety of fields and perspectives in order to help the profession escape from the narrow cultural bias that currently dominates economic thinking. This organization is the polar opposite of the mainstream economics organizations which mostly propound the same failed ideas that led to the Great Depression, the 2008 Great Recession—and the next failure of our economic system. I found it stimulating to experience the defiant mood among these economists from the Marxist, libertarian, institutional, historical, structural and other heterodox schools of economic thought. Their defiance no doubt stems from the fact that many of them foresaw the current economic crash and recession.
Now, while mainstream economists continue to ignore reality and ‘cautiously’ suggest that economic recovery is underway, the economists assembled in Amherst were not so blind. They saw that unemployment is not getting better, government debts are still growing, investment is insufficient to maintain critical infrastructure, education was being cut at all levels, incomes were not growing for most people, and carbon emissions were still rising rapidly. They were not afraid to point out that the economic system has failed. These heterodox (non-orthodox) economists accordingly voted overwhelmingly to “occupy economics.”
Read morePosted in: Civil Rights & Economic Justice
by Kerry Beldin, Associate Professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and NFP board member
This past holiday season, the family of Ben Lewis had to celebrate without him. In November, the 15-year old Lincoln East sophomore took his own life at his grandmother’s home. According to the family, Ben’s suicide was yet another tragic end to ongoing victimization and bullying by peers. Stories such as this have become sadly commonplace as the topic of bullying has garnered increasing attention both at the national and local level.
According to KLKN TV Channel 8 in Lincoln, Ben’s history and profile are not surprising. Diagnosed with Asperger’s Disorder, a condition that can make academic environments challenging and social interactions difficult, Ben had left an Omaha school to avoid the bullying he had experience there. Following his death, his family states they wished he would have spoken out, wish he would have told others he was experiencing bullying. Ben’s uncle, Jeremy Bibelheimer is quoted by the news channel as saying, “Schools advocate 'We have a zero-tolerance policy against bullying' and what exactly does that mean? Yes, you have a zero-tolerance policy but what does that mean? What are the resources? What's that you know?"
Read morePosted in: Turn Off the Violence
America owes a debt of gratitude to the activists who opposed the Iraq war from the start, and who kept the pressure on.
By Tom Hayden
Los Angeles Times
December 15, 2011
As the United States completes its withdrawal from Iraq, it is worth pausing to remember the determined peace activists who opposed the war from the start, including one who took up their cause and became president.
Read morePosted in: Anti-War & International Law
by Paul Olson
NFP President Emeritus
Understanding Washington would appear to require only understanding how money, bribery, political elites and pure meanness work. But understanding Washington, in these mean days, also requires understanding where people live and what they live for intellectually.
Read morePosted in: Speaking Our Peace
Annual Peace Conference Speaker Urges
Cuts in Military Spending to Fund Domestic Needs
Peace Action Executive Director Kevin Martin was the featured speaker at the 2011 Annual Peace Conference this past October 15 in Lincoln. Martin, who has headed up Peace Action’s Washington, D.C.-based national office since 2001, made this visit to Nebraska in part to personally welcome NFP as an affiliate member to what is the largest peace organization in the U.S. with 100,000 members nationwide.
The following article, written by Martin specifically for the Nebraska Report, touches on the main points of his annual conference address, and Peace Action’s timely new campaign during the federal deficit debate to “Move the Money!”
Read morePosted in: Anti-War & International Law
