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Dear friends of VTIPG and the Community Change Collaborative,
We share five articles each week that we find timely and meaningful that address significant concerns related to the state of our democracy and civil society. We aim to offer pieces that illuminate a wide array of dimensions of our country's policy and governance challenges and the state of social norms that sustain the possibility of addressing them successfully. Please note, the views expressed in these essays do not necessarily reflect the perspectives of VTIPG faculty or staff or of Virginia Tech. We also upload these articles and stories to our website. You may find the archive for this series at News and Opportunities at http://ipg.vt.edu.
If you would like to suggest an article for consideration, please contact the editor at the address below.
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Our first piece this week, from Cardinal News, discusses the Town of Blacksburg's collaboration with Development Strategies, a consulting group, to craft a plan that balances the community's growing housing needs with conservation of the agricultural assets of the Toms Creek Basin.
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Our second selection, from NPR, examines Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz's new book in which he contends that the dominance of neoliberal thinking has led to the rise of authoritarianism globally.
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A third story, from CNN, examines former President and presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's history of employing Nazi/Neo-Nazi rhetoric.
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Our fourth article, from the Montana Free Press, highlights the fact that funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law passed under the Biden administration has resulted in major improvements at the Missoula Montana Airport. Montana is widely considered a "Red State."
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Last, we feature a story from BBC News that profiled the Yuturi Warmi, an all-female Ecuadorian patrol group that protects the portion of the Amazon rainforest where they reside from illicit mining activities.
Brief synopses of these articles appear below. We hope the perspectives they offer encourage reflection and conversation!
Best wishes,
Billy Parvatam
VTIPG Communications Coordinator
pbilly97@vt.edu.
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Photo: The Toms Creek Basin. Credit to Town of Blacksburg. |
Blacksburg initiates Toms Creek Basin planning study
This article, by Mark Robertson of Cardinal News, describes the Town of Blacksburg's decision to hire a consulting group, Development Strategies, to develop a plan for its 4,000 acre tract known as Toms Creek Basin, in an effort to responsibly address the community’s housing needs. The firm will craft a strategy by February 2025 that balances the need for residential development in the area while seeking also to preserve its recreational and agricultural uses and benefits.
Robertson, M. (2024, May 7). "Blacksburg initiates Toms Creek Basin Planning Study." Cardinal News. https://cardinalnews.org/2024/05/07/blacksburg-initiates-toms-creek-basin-planning-study/
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Photo: From left to right: former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, former U.S President Donald Trump, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Credit to the Boston Review. | |
Neoliberal economics: the road to freedom or authoritarianism?
This story, by Greg Rosalsky, describes Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz’s new book entitled, The Road to Freedom, in which he contends that authoritarianism is rising throughout the world because governments are doing too little to protect their citizens against unemployment, rapid globalization, technology change, and migration. Stiglitz also argues that the practice of "Neoliberalism," a view of political economy that has become synonymous with free-market ideology, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, has been responsible for creating financial volatility and economic crises globally for the past several decades.
Rosalsky, G. (2024, May 7). "Neoliberal economics: The road to freedom or authoritarianism?" NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2024/05/07/1249203297/neoliberal-economics-the-road-to-freedom-or-authoritarianism
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Photo: Former President Donald Trump. Credit to the White House. | |
The latest example of Trump's seeming obsession with Nazism
This opinion piece by CNN commentator Dean Obeidallah examined former President Donald Trump's history of using Neo-Nazi rhetoric, including his recent comments that President Joe Biden is running a "Gestapo administration," a reference to the notoriously violent and cruel Nazi political police force. Obeidallah points out that Trump has also said he would be dictator on "day one" of his new administration should be prevail in November, has called his political opponents "vermin," and has suggested that immigrants are "poisoning the blood" of the United States, just in the last year. Obeidallah asks Americans to consider which presidential candidate truly supports democracy and the Constitution, and which is seeking to emulate or re-create the features of a truly ugly chapter in world history.
Obeidallah, D. (2024, May 6). "The latest example of Trump’s seeming obsession with Nazism." CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/05/opinions/biden-gestapo-administration-trump-imagination-obeidallah/index.html
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Photo: U.S Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg touts the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill at the Missoula Montana Airport on May 6, 2024. Buttigieg noted that the airport has received $41 million in grants arising from that legislation to help it to improve and expand. Credit to Montana Free Press. | |
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Buttigieg heralds infrastructure bill, expansion of Missoula airport
This story by Katie Fairbanks in the Montana Free Press reported on U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's recent visit to Montana to highlight the funding the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 has brought to that state. Buttigieg pointed to the $41 million in federal assistance that has helped to fund the improvement and expansion of Missoula Montana’s Airport. Those changes have included renovation of the facility’s check-in and screening areas as well as concessions and restrooms. Federal support has also permitted an expanded number of gates and additional boarding areas. Last year, approximately 913,000 individuals used the airport, breaking a previous record.
Fairbanks, K. (2024, May 6). "Buttigieg heralds infrastructure bill, expansion of Missoula Airport." Montana Free Press. https://montanafreepress.org/2024/05/06/buttigieg-heralds-infrastructure-bill-expansion-of-missoula-airport/
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Photo: The Yuturi Warmi. Credit to the Latin America Bureau. | |
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The all-female patrol guarding Ecuador's Amazon rainforest
This article from BBC News profiled the Yuturi Warmi, an all-female patrol group created in 2020 that monitors the threat of illegal mining activities on their community's land in Ecuador’s Amazon Rainforest. The group's surveillance of their homeland to prevent illegal mining and pollution has resulted in several court victories to stop illegal and unlicensed extraction activities. The group’s members meet weekly to discuss updates, to ensure effective monitoring of their land and to plan advocacy efforts on behalf of its unspoiled preservation.
Barzallo, G. (2024, May 7). "The all-female patrol guarding Ecuador’s Amazon Rainforest". BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240503-the-indigenous-women-fighting-mining-in-ecuadors-amazon
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