In West Virginia, teachers whose wages had stagnated for years struck for--and received--a 5% pay rise. In Britain academics struck for--and it appears shall receive, at least for now--the continued maintenance of their defined benefit pension plans. But in much of America the students are walking out not to fight for public education but to fight for gun control. At a time when American students are saddled with unsustainable student loan debt, when voucher programs divert public investment away from public schools, and when states respond to teacher shortages by lowering standards and hiring scabs, American students are focused on a social issue. [ 872 more words ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/march-for-our-lives-the-li…/

My Facebook is flooded with folks talking about Cambridge Analytica, the firm that bought access to Facebook user data and used it to help design political propaganda for organisations seeking to help the Trump campaign. But you know what I find most surprising about this story? The fact that people find it surprising in the first place. This possibility was always implied by Facebook's business model. [ 1,146 more word ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/facebook-isnt-that-differe…/

A lovely piece from my friend Nathan Robinson, discussing how fraught left wing life advice is--references my 9 Rules for Living in Sad Times:

In reading Nathan Robinson's piece on Jordan Peterson, I was struck by something Robinson said: But here the left and academia actually bear a decent share of blame. Why is Jordan Peterson’s combination of drivel and cliché attracting millions of followers?...Who else has a serious alternative? Where are the other professors with accessible and compelling YouTube channels, with books of helpful advice and long Q&A sessions with the public? [ 1,441 more word ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/9-rules-for-living-in-sad-…/

In Spring 2019, the UK is meant to leave the EU. Prime Minister Theresa May soldiers on, but many think she can't get the job done. Former Prime Ministers John Major and Tony Blair gave ruthless speeches again May, and EU's lead Brexit negotiator accused May of being "vague" and "not credible". Major--a member of May's own party--was especially vicious: [ 2,077 more words ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/3-brexit-futures-stories-f…/

The University and College Union (UCU)–Britain’s trade union for academics–has gone on strike. The strike is about the University Superannuation Scheme (USS)’s decision to switch academics from “defined benefit” pension plans to “defined contribution” plans. As a PhD student at Cambridge I write this piece at home, having skipped a couple events I really wanted to go to today, because this strike is so important, both to academia and to the cause of working people more generally. [ 1,143 more word ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/the-british-academic-strik…/

The University and College Union (UCU)–Britain’s trade union for academics–has gone on strike. The strike is about the University Superannuation Scheme (USS)’s decision to switch academics from “defined benefit” pension plans to “defined contribution” plans. As a PhD student at Cambridge I write this piece at home, having skipped a couple events I really wanted to go to today, because this strike is so important, both to academia and to the cause of working people more generally. [ 1,244 more word ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/the-british-academic-strik…/

The University and College Union (UCU)--Britain's trade union for academics--has gone on strike. The strike is about the University Superannuation Scheme (USS)'s decision to switch academics from "defined benefit" pension plans to "defined contribution" plans. As a PhD student at Cambridge I write this piece at home, having skipped a couple events I really wanted to go to today, because this strike is so important, both to academia and to the cause of working people more generally. [ 1,127 more word ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/the-british-academic-strik…/

I know, right? Depressing headline. But it's true. After some years of writing about gun control, I can't do it anymore. As a society, we've made our choice--we've decided that it's worth it to have a much more dangerous society in the name of freedom. But if that's the principle, I want to abolish the TSA and go back to 90s airport security. [ 946 more words ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/im-ready-to-give-up-on-gun…/

There's a story we tell about social media. Once upon a time politics wasn't so divided and polarized. But then, social media came along--it let people retreat into bubbles, where they only talked to people who thought as they did. This caused them to get all extreme and nasty. And then the alt-right and the Russians figured out that they could inject fake stories into these bubbles and turn social media users into Trump supporters! [ 1,209 more word ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/the-war-for-social-media-t…/

I'm no great fan of state of the union addresses (as long-time readers are sure to know). They are platitudinous affairs in which presidents tell a long series of anecdotes about particular people they claim their policies have helped. The responses from the opposition are no better, full of vague rhetoric that sounds as if it were recycled from old 90s stump speeches. [ 1,059 more word ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/trumps-first-year-was-real…/

A few people have asked me lately--what do I think of Jordan Peterson? Peterson is a Canadian psychologist who has written a book called 12 Rules for Life. He's become very popular on YouTube and generated something of a following. I can see why--the particular kind of philosophy he's advocating is unfamiliar to many people and feels transgressive in a modern context. [ 1,624 more word ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/jordan-peterson-is-a-garde…/

I've long argued that the Democratic Party needs to use its time in the wilderness to remake itself so it can pursue and deliver real benefits for poor and working class voters and be seen to do so in its campaigns. This remaking necessarily requires a period of disunity and chaos within the Democratic Party--central questions about what being a Democrat is for need to be asked, and different people will and should give different answers. [ 1,161 more word ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/dont-fear-trump-fear-the-n…/

One of the inherent difficulties the #MeToo movement faces is the strong incentives the media has to ruin the whole thing. The initial incidents--the abuses of power by people like Trump, Weinstein, and C.K.--are useful insofar as they start a conversation about policy and principles. But the risk is that #MeToo will be reduced to the little more than the quest for more high-profile allegations, because nothing sells ads like celebrity gossip. [ 1,047 more word ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/metoo-needs-to-be-about-pr…/

In the United States we usually don't like to think about ourselves as members of economic classes. Most of us, when asked, identify as middle or upper-middle class. But of course there are class differences, and in recent years we've started to talk about them a little more. People like Thomas Frank have drawn attention to "the professional class" as distinct from "the working class". [ 1,764 more word ]

http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/an-american-class-divide-t…/