Source: Jacobin

An anti-caste, pro-land reform movement in Modi’s home state suggests a way forward for progressive forces in India.

Several weeks ago, on a drizzly monsoon morning, the bustle of a busy intersection in Mehsana, Gujarat was replaced with the quiet tension of a police lockdown. Guarding each entrance to the intersection, police officers stood warily, lathis in hand. As protesters gathered in other parts of Mehsana, they were warned not to venture to the intersection alone, since the police would find it easy to arrest those arriving in small groups.

Mehsana, a small city in western India, was meant to be the starting point of a seven-day “Azadi Kooch” or “Freedom March.” The march’s main demand was redistribution of land to Dalits, those historically at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy, formerly known as “untouchables.” A rally with several nationally known political figures had been planned in Mehsana on July 12 to kick off the multiday march. Organizers had received state permission for carrying out the rally and march, but this permission had been revoked at the last minute, with government officials vaguely referring to concerns about the “law and order” situation. read more

Source: Truthout

Anna Callahan is an organizer with infectious energy and an unceasing desire to act. The Berkeley resident was so motivated by Bernie Sanders’s presidential run in 2016 that she quit her job and volunteered for the campaign full-time. Since the campaign ended, she got a tattoo of Sanders’s iconic hair and glasses and has continued to fight for his agenda — this time from the bottom up.

Callahan, who is speaking about this approach at the Democracy Convention this week, recently co-founded a new group called the “Incorruptibles,” which aims to build a progressive base in cities and towns across the nation to help run candidates for local offices: in state houses, city councils, planning commissions, select boards and more. “There is only one Bernie Sanders,” she told Truthout. “Our goal is to create thousands of Bernie Sanders and fill all levels of government with incorruptible service leaders who represent the needs of the 99 percent.” read more

Source: Truthout

In the following excerpt, originally published at Truthout in January 2017, shortly before Donald Trump’s inauguration, Chomsky discusses the historical and political factors that have created and maintained such a shamefully profit-driven health system in the United States.

C.J. Polychroniou: Article 25 of the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) states that the right to health care is indeed a human right. Yet, it is estimated that close to 30 million Americans remain uninsured even with the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in place. What are some of the key cultural, economic and political factors that make the US an outlier in the provision of free health care? read more