'The patient, our home planet Earth, is in critical condition'

'Planet Earth is in critical condition. These are the steps the world must take to change that.'

Johan Rockström at Time

The planet is "moving rapidly towards the red high-risk zone, where risks of permanently damaging life support on Earth increase fast," says Johan Rockström. If we "continue on this path, human health and wellbeing, economic prosperity, social stability, and equality, are all at risk." The "only way to keep them safe for humanity is by combining local action and national regulation with collective global governance." This "calls for a fundamental and urgent reset of our relationship with the planet."

Read more

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

'How high school voters can impact the 2024 election'

Jelinda Montes at The Nation

Barriers "still prevent high school students from registering to vote," and when families "don’t emphasize voting as a milestone in young adults' lives, civic action takes a backseat," says Jelinda Montes. Over "4.4 million Americans are currently 18 years old — many of them in high school — yet their value as a voting bloc is severely underrepresented because of historically low turnout rates." While there has been a "recent uptick in youth participation, many still feel alienated."

Read more

'The decline in constructive disagreement is a national crisis. Universities should help.'

Tomiko Brown-Nagin and Eric Beerbohm at The Boston Globe

People in college "must cultivate habits of mind, social norms, and practices that promote reasoned disagreement, engage a range of ideas, and facilitate robust exchanges," say Tomiko Brown-Nagin and Eric Beerbohm. But "how do universities create environments where students and faculty feel both empowered and safe engaging in open dialogue?" Colleges "can be a primary locus for innovative solutions." There is a "need for innovations that preserve the classroom as a space for candor, risk-taking, and making mistakes."

Read more

'Do we still need vice presidential debates?'

Aron Solomon at The Hill

Vice presidential debates have "long been a fixture," says Aron Solomon, but "do these debates help voters make more informed decisions, or are they just an exercise in political theater with little actual relevance?" Few people "make their voting decisions based on the vice-presidential candidate," as Americans are "choosing the person at the top of the ticket." Vice presidents "don't make or break campaigns; they're essentially political afterthoughts." So "why do we even bother with these vice-presidential debates?"

Read more